For those students who populate Missouri Western’s food court in Blum Union on a regular basis, the most striking of the latest renovations have been Burger Studio, the new, technologically advanced replacement for the Grill Works.

Aramark, having recently signed a new contract with the university, wanted to keep the grill concept as part of the latest round of renovations in the food court.

“Of everything we do at the food court, the grill concept will always be the mainstay,” said Campus Dining Director Jim Maides.

According to Brian Tarr and Laura Eisenbaum, retail managers for Aramark, the ideas and concepts that shape Burger Studio came not from the company, but from student input.

“It came from the Dining Style Survey,” Eisenbaum said. “Aramark gathered students from various institutions and asked them, ‘if you could have one concept campus wide, what do you really want?’ This is what the students came up with. The students even picked the name.”

While the menu might still have the same basics such as burgers and fries, what makes Burger Studio unique is the way students can order. Instead of telling the person behind the counter what they want to order, students are now able to order their meals on one of two ordering kiosks. There, students can also customize their burger with the build-your-own concept.

“If you want a fried egg on your hamburger, you get a fried egg on your hamburger,” Tarr said. “They’re in control of what they can get.”

Furthermore, Burger Studio doesn’t skimp on freshness; everything they serve is fresh and made to order for the customer.

“There are so many different options,” Eisenbaum said. “That’s very unique for this type of concept. Everybody does [burgers and fries] from McDonald’s to an upscale restaurant, but we’re really fresh.”

While the Burger Studio is clearly being noticed, there is one aspect of this burger and fries shop that has gone unmentioned. Burger Studio is a pilot program; that is to say, a brand new, undeveloped concept that is being tested out on different institutions across the country.

“It’s a test to work out all the kinks and the bugs and when it goes live to various institutions in the future, they’ll know exactly what to look for…,” Eisenbaum said. “We’re the guinea pigs basically.”

Missouri Western is one of four institutions that are currently using Burger Studio, along with Middle Tennessee State, University of Hartford and University of Delaware; the Western Burger Studio, however, is the only one located in the Midwest.

“The fact that we are the only one in the Midwest means we’re the only university ready to make that jump,” Maides said.

In recent weeks, Maides and his staff have been working to smooth out the kinks that students were raising at the beginning of the semester. While they feels things have improved, issues such as speed of service and the complexity of the ordering kiosks remain potential problems.

“Although the kiosks are very techno savvy, if the printer decides to stop working that means there’s only one kiosk left for all the students to order on,” Eisenbaum said. “Whether that takes 20 seconds to fix or 20 minutes, that’s a big problem.”

Nevertheless, things are looking up for Burger Studio. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive of late; whether it be the techno savvy ordering kiosks, the ability to personalize their burger or just the overall rise in quality, students seem to love their new burger and fries shop just as much as the people who are making it work.

In fact, there are already ideas floating around for expanding the menu, as Tarr explains.

“We’re discussing regional favorites and currently working with Aramark to add them to the menu,” Tarr said. “That would depend on what student feedback is. If they say, ‘hey we really, really want this,’ then that’s what we push to get on for regional favorite.”

Among some of the food items being mentioned are mozzarella sticks, jalapeno peppers, philly cheese steaks, and a wider variety of sauces and seasonings for fries.

Furthermore, the company is already planning to expand the Burger Studio concept all across the nation; according to Maides, 38 universities will be prepared to put Burger Studios in their food courts within the next two semesters. And as Burger Studio is in the very early phases of development, there’s no telling what the future holds.

“I really think that Burger Studio is here to stay,” Maides said.