Thousands of University of Memphis students flock to the Tiger Den, Richardson Towers Café and the University Center Market Place everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
But how does The University of Memphis rank in terms of restaurant dining compared to other Tennessee colleges and universities?
The U of M campus restaurants have an average health score of 93. In the most recent inspection, the Tiger Den scored a health score of 94, R.T. Café received a 96 and the Market Place earned a 90, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
“We’re doing what we can to meet the criteria of the Health Department,” Dining Services Director Chuck Wigington said. “Our goal when I came here was to update health scores and serve quality food.”
The U of M’s health scores beat out those of other West Tennessee colleges, including Rhodes College, which scored an average of 87; LeMoyne-Owen College, which scored an 85; and University of Tennessee at Martin, which scored 91.
U of M business major Courtney Dixon said The University’s high scores did not surprise him.
“I eat on campus quite often, and the restaurants on campus are nice, clean environments,” Dixon said. “The food’s pretty good too.”
Wigington said he thinks efforts to improve food service over the years has lead to an improvement in the way students think about university dining.
“In general, the perception seems to be good,” he said. “We’ve gotten better, and there’s always room to improve.”
The Tennessee law states that restaurants are required to have an unannounced inspection at least once every six months to determine if the institution is in compliance with the Health Department’s rules and regulations at the time of inspection.
Tennessee uses a 44-item inspection sheet with a maximum of 100 points. Thirteen of the 44 items are considered critical. If a restaurant fails, earning below a 70, owners are given 10 days to correct critical items.
Director of U of M Catering Tracy Moss said everything from the loading dock to food temperature to chemical storage is used to evaluate restaurants. The department doesn’t just look to see if the cooks are wearing gloves and hairnets.
“It’s important for students to keep up with any restaurant’s inspection score, not just campus restaurants,” Moss said. “Students should know because it’s possible to get ill from restaurants with bad scores.”
The U of M had no follow-up inspections while Rhodes, Lemoyne Owens and Tennessee State did.
Southwest Tennessee Community College (Macon Campus) outscored The U of M by two points, and Vanderbilt University received a 99.
Students can view inspection scores of any Tennessee restaurant on the Tennessee Health Department Web site.
“You’re always as good as your last health inspection score, and we’re going to keep working at it,” Wigington said. “We’re just trying to meet the needs of students.”
