Students returned from winter break to find The Roost, one of the most popular restaurants on campus, closed.

The restaurant was closed from Dec. 14 to Jan. 6 for renovations and reopened to the public on Jan. 8 after restaurant employees went through training to adjust to the new equipment.

“The restaurant underwent kitchen equipment upgrades over the winter break with the goal to improve the volume of production. Renovations were meant to begin in July of 2015 but were postponed until Dec. 14 due to facility teams lacking sufficient time to renovate the space,” Dining Services Director Dave McKay said.

The kitchen remodel stemmed from the PUB redesign project when the Steering Committee began to look at other locations on campus that would benefit from some upgrades. “We looked at the popularity of The Roost and saw that bigger, faster equipment would really improve product output,” McKay said.

In order to maximize production, improve efficiency and decrease customer wait time, kitchen hardware was added and upgraded. The number of sauté burners was doubled from eight to 16 to increase the volume of food production.

In pursuit of increasing efficiency and avoiding congested meal preparation areas, food preparation stations were reallocated by designating separate areas of the kitchen for different orders. For example, Tapingo, a mobile-based food ordering service on campus, was given a separate preparation station in the kitchen to allow space for non-Tapingo orders to be filled simultaneously.

Not only was the kitchen remodel done with the improvement of customer service in mind, but the changes will also affect any future refurbishments. The counter that separates the dining area and the kitchen was redesigned so that a section of it may be removed in order to either remove and replace machinery or simply provide easier access to the kitchen.

With the renovations that were made, McKay said The Roost hopes to increase the variety of menu options in the future, McKay said. As of now the restaurant has not changed what it offers to its patrons aside from improved customer service.