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Tulane students will have several new on-campus meal options because of an increase in Dining Service’s selections this year.

Dining Services has changed menus at Baja Fresh, Le Gourmet and Byblos this year and has expanded the vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free selection at Bruff Commons. A new 24-hour diner will also open on campus.

Executive Chef Travis Johnson said the dining staff is making many additions to the vegan and gluten-free menus in Bruff in order to accommodate the dietary needs of Tulane students.

“It really comes down to the guest’s experience and making sure that our guests have the best options available to them,” Johnson said. “We have a really great culinary team here. We’re geared up to meet the challenges. We have some great culinary innovation.”

New options in Bruff include vegan burgers, a 100 percent vegetarian salad bar, a gluten-free pantry accessible to students, and fresh grains and fruits and vegetables delivered daily from local produce vendors.

“On the grill side of Bruff, there’s new additions with a new vegan menu, including vegan Thai burgers, Mediterranean chickpeas, and other items where everything is cooked on a separate grill from the meat,” Thomas Beckman, general manager of Tulane dining, said.

Students with dietary restrictions and health-conscious eaters are excited for the new options and for purely vegan dishes cooked separately from the meat items in the kitchens.

“It seems like there’s a wide variety of healthy options,” freshman Katie Ewing said. “I would really enjoy having healthy options so that I can hopefully avoid the freshman 15.”

In addition to making improvements at Bruff, Dining Services has made menu changes at multiple restaurants around campus, and the new 24-hour City Diner will open in the basement of the Lavin-Bernick Center at 8 a.m. Saturday.

“The new City Diner will be open 24 hours a day,” Beckmann said. “It will serve breakfast all day, homestyle favorites like chicken fried steak and eggs benedict, seafood dishes and a 16 oz. pancake that’s 14 in. in diameter and comes in a pizza box, among other foods.”

This fall, students will have plenty of Bruff alternatives, and most of the on-campus dining options have undergone a transformation during the summer to prepare for a new year.

“The dining options have been revamped this year,” Marcus Faison, director of operations for Tulane Dining said. “Everything now looks sleek and modern. We’ve added some pieces that we were missing last year.”

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