Bob's Place chef Chris Crozier serves up some shrimp creole to a University of Idaho student during lunch hour. Tyler Macy/Argonaut

In addition to Wallace Food Court officially being renamed Bob’s Place, there are a few other changes at Campus Dining’s main hub. 
Bob’s originally attained its name when the Residence Hall Association decided to honor a prized employee who died of a heart attack.  The Robert “Bob” Krueger Dining Hall evolved into what students commonly refer to today as Bob’s.
According to Mike Thomsen, Campus Dining’s director of operations, after a while, people didn’t know the reason their dining hall was even named Bob’s.
“We weren’t doing a very good job of honoring him, because it was like we lost the meaning of why we named it Bob’s in the first place,” Thomsen said.
Three years ago RHA decided to change the name back to the Wallace Food Court. Thomsen said part of the reason was Campus Dining and RHA didn’t feel they were properly displaying Krueger’s name. 
He said calling the dining hall Bob’s confused many of the incoming freshmen who didn’t know the story behind the name. This year, RHA has decided to make another change.

In addition to Wallace Food Court officially being renamed Bob’s Place, there are a few other changes at Campus Dining’s main hub. 
Bob’s originally attained its name when the Residence Hall Association decided to honor a prized employee who died of a heart attack.  The Robert “Bob” Krueger Dining Hall evolved into what students commonly refer to today as Bob’s.
According to Mike Thomsen, Campus Dining’s director of operations, after a while, people didn’t know the reason their dining hall was even named Bob’s.

“We weren’t doing a very good job of honoring him, because it was like we lost the meaning of why we named it Bob’s in the first place,” Thomsen said.
Three years ago RHA decided to change the name back to the Wallace Food Court. Thomsen said part of the reason was Campus Dining and RHA didn’t feel they were properly displaying Krueger’s name. 
He said calling the dining hall Bob’s confused many of the incoming freshmen who didn’t know the story behind the name. This year, RHA has decided to make another change.

A UI student looks on in hunger as his sandwich is created by one of the servers at Bob's Place. Tyler Macy/Argonaut

“We have changed it to Bob’s Place now because it kind of gives it the connotation of a place to hang out and a community, and that’s really important,” Thomsen said. “This isn’t just a place to eat — this is a part of the living community of campus.”
Wallace Food Court was also a misleading name because it didn’t imply that the Theophilus Tower residents and residents from the Living and Learning Communities eat there, too, Thomsen said.
Bob’s Place has received some cosmetic touch-ups in the last few months as well, Thomsen said.  There is new and brighter lighting as well as a fresh coat of paint here and there, he said. 

“We changed a couple of names, and we are fixing a few concepts,” Thomsen said. “Nothing major. I mean, pizza is still pizza.”
The biggest change overall, Thomsen said, is a boost in customer service.  He said for the last few years, working at Bob’s Place hasn’t been the hottest job on the market.  With higher wages and a more employee friendly atmosphere Bob’s Place is now a more popular place to work,” Thomsen said.
“The last thing I say that we are excited about, that we are really focusing on, is our customer service,” Thomsen said. “We are really emphasizing having fun. If our employees are having fun and being vocal and goofing around, you feel that when you walk in.”

At this point in the semester the food is basic, but as the year progresses, there will be a wider variety of food to choose from, Thomsen said.
“Our theory is, if we start out with the basics, most of the freshmen have never seen just that,” Thomsen said. “So, then as people get bored, we can expand the menu and do specials and things like that because at first, especially the freshmen, they are like, ‘I can’t believe this!’ and two weeks in they are like, ‘Is this it, is this all you’ve got?’”
With two executive chefs this year instead of one, there will be a chef cooking at Bob’s Place seven days a week, Thomsen said. He said having two chefs gives Campus Dining the freedom to better train inexperienced workers and help make operations and food preparation run more smoothly. 

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