Quizno’s and Pete’s Arena at the Student Center have shut down to make room for their 2011 spring semester replacements, Subway and Damon’s Grill.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to change out, so we thought that this would be ideal,” said Greg Jarvie, vice president of Enrollment and Student Affairs.

There have been some concerns and complaints about the long lines and slow service, which Jarvie said was another big reason why they replaced Quizno’s with Subway.

“The opportunity arose to make a change and we thought Subway would be a refreshing transformation,” said Richard Roldan, director of Dining Services, in a press release.

Senior integrative health studies major Jordan Rutz said he is a fan of getting rid of Quizno’s.

“I like having Subway in there.” Rutz said. “I used to go to Pete’s a lot when I still lived on campus, but I think Damon’s will be better.”

Even with the new Damon’s, they are still keeping the Rathskellar bar and programming.

“We wanted to blow some life into the Rathskellar,” Jarvie said. “We figured one of the best ways to do it is make it a destination for students to go to, and to do that, we needed to revamp everything.”

Dining Services emailed a survey out to all Kent State students last spring toward the end of the semester, asking which restaurants they would rather see here at Kent State.

Fast food choices on the survey included Jimmy John’s, Subway and those of the like.

With over 3,000 respondents, Subway received the highest score as another submarine sandwich restaurant.

Damon’s, which also comes to Kent State as a result of the survey, offers ribs, chicken wings and the typical food choices you would find on their menu.

Dining services is not completely removing pizza from the options to eat at the Student Center; they have moved their pizza options to Kent Market 2.

Both Subway and Damon’s will accept student meal plans. Jarvie said the price difference is not expected to keep student’s business away.

“If anything, students are going to find that Subway is cheaper, because we go with the national pricing.” said Jarvie.

The Student Center’s new Subway will continue its signature $5 Footlong.

They will have the same hours of operation that the prior restaurants had and they will keep the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. rule in tact. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., students who have regular meal plans will not be able to use them at these two locations.

Jarvie said that he is confident that Damon’s will have extended hours, because of a late night menu that they will be offering. He’s also hoping to keep Damon’s open on the weekends as well depending on their traffic flow.

“I just felt as if we were missing something down there,” said Jarvie.

Higher education and administration major Earl Coburn expressed his excitement for the two new restaurants, explaining that he’s a fan of both Subway and Damon’s.

“I’m excited for them. I think that it will be a good fit for Kent,” Coburn said. “I’m a little bummed out that they got rid of Pete’s. I enjoyed going to Pete’s when I was an under grad.”

The two additions are expected to begin serving students this week.

“I can’t give you a hard date, but within a couple days into classes both operations will be up and running,” Jarvie said.

Contact at Brittney Trojanowski [email protected].