If you’re a Pitt student returning to an on-campus residence hall, one thing is probably on… If you’re a Pitt student returning to an on-campus residence hall, one thing is probably on your mind: another year of school, another year on the same old meal plan. Well, your luck is about to change. Opening this fall, Market Central is the newest addition to Pitt dining facilities. Boasting “all you can eat” restaurant-style food, made-to-order selections and lounge areas complete with new televisions, Market Central is ready to tackle your taste buds.

Market Central has been under construction since March 2007. Dubbed by some students as the “Stephen Colbert Dining Facility,” this brand new dining hall is located beneath the Litchfield Towers dormitories, replacing Eddie’s Cafe and the Marketplace, Pitt’s former all-you-can-eat cafeteria. Market Central has six concept areas, each named after a specific style of food, as well as a convenience store, pre-prepared meals and a Taco Bell express. The six new concept areas include:

360 Degrees- a large, circular grill serving Pan Asian-style food

Basic Kneads- as the name suggests, this concept is your one-stop shop for baked goods ranging from pastries to paninis

Bella Trattoria- an Italian concept serving up pastas, salads and other Mediterranean favorites

Flying STAR Diner- From pancakes to cheeseburgers, this concept captures the ’50s-diner Americana atmosphere and cuisine.

Magellan’s- A unique concept with a menu that changes on a daily basis, Magellan’s is a place to sample tastes from around the world.

Tutto Fresco- a health-food option for students, serving salads, rice dishes and other healthy goods

Now, I’m sure you’re all asking, “Market Central sounds great, but how will it work?”

Gone are the days of meal blocks and block shopping. Keeping with the modern theme, meal blocks have been replaced with dining passes. Dining passes only work at Market Central, and, unlike meal blocks, dining passes are good for the entire semester. That said, students don’t have to worry about passes running out if they don’t eat at Market Central most nights of the week.

Every other on-campus dining facility (Schenley Cafe, the Petersen Events Center, etc.) will now only accept dining dollars. How many dining passes and dinning dollars you have depends on what mean plan, or tier, you purchased. All students living in a campus residence hall are required to have a meal plan, and there are different plans for each meal tier, depending on how much you want to spend on food:

Ultimate Access Tier- Ultimate Access ($2,200 per semester) gives you unlimited access to Market Central for the entire term. Ultimate Access with 150 dining dollars is $2,325 a semester, and Ultimate Access with 300 dining dollars is $2,450 a semester.

Tier 1- 250 dining passes with 225 dining dollars; 225 dining passes with 325 dining dollars; 185 dining passes with 600 dining dollars. Each of these plans costs $1,975 per semester and comes with 10 bonus dining passes for guests.

Tier 2- 185 dining passes with 250 dining dollars; 150 dining passes with 500 dining dollars; 125 dining passes with 675 dining dollars. Each of these plans costs $1,675 per semester and comes with six bonus dining passes for guests.

Tier 3- 125 dining passes with 400 dining dollars; 95 dining passes with 600 dining

dollars; 75 dining passes with 735 dining dollars. Each of these plans costs $1,475 per semester and comes with three bonus dining passes for guests.

Tier 4 (Available to upperclass students only)- 110 dining passes with 75 dining

dollars; 95 dining passes with 175 dining dollars; 55 dining passes with 500 dining dollars. Each of these plans costs $1,085 per semester.

Whichever meal plan you choose is entirely up to you. Just like last year, students will have a few weeks to try out their meal plans and decide whether they want to upgrade or downgrade, depending on how much campus food they think they’ll be eating.

Students who spend most of their time on Upper Campus should consider more dining dollars than dining passes, while students based in Schenley Quad should consider more dining passes than dining dollars. While this tier system is a bit more confusing than it should be, the new additions to campus dining should more than make up for it. New food, new dining facilities and new lounge areas are just the tip of the iceberg that Market Central brings to Pitt.

More meal-tier pricing and information can be found here:

http://www.pc.pitt.edu/dining/mealplans/mealplan_ultimate.html

http://www.pc.pitt.edu/dining/mealplans/mealplan_pass.html

Sample Market Central menus can be found here: http://www.pc.pitt.edu/dining/menus/marketcentral/marketcentral_menu.html