Colorado State University’s Aspen Grille continues to offer take-out meals and reduced capacity, in-house dining for the Spring 2021 semester.
The restaurant serves as a teaching classroom for students in the Hospitality Management Program in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. This semester’s menu will include new and diverse dishes and will have a special menu in February to honor of Black History Month.
“The menu is small to limit food waste, but has a little bit of everything for everyone,” said Ken Symsack, an instructor in the Hospitality Management Program. “With most of our regular clientele working remotely, we tried to attract new customers with a more diverse menu. There is a Mexican take on a French dip on the menu, inspired by the Red Birria tacos that are taking over Los Angeles. Our consummate star, the salmon poke, and even a PB and J with bacon and banana – a nod to Elvis Presley’s favorite sandwich. Everything on the menu is designed to be held in to-go containers with little loss of quality.”
The Aspen Grille is located on the upper level of the Lory Student Center. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. starting Feb. 9 and will close on April 8 for the remainder of the semester.
Reservations can be made through OpenTable or through the Aspen Grille’s website. The restaurant is accepting phone calls to place take-out orders as well – it can be reached at (970) 491-7006 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. All food is made to order and takes 20-30 minutes to complete. Takeout orders can also be placed online through an ordering app.
Celebrating Black History Month
The Aspen Grille has prepared a menu to honor Black History Month with appetizers, entrees, and desserts to love. This menu will be featured on Feb. 11 and 12.
Appetizer: Corn bread and honey butter
One entrée: Carolina-style pulled chicken sandwich | Fried catfish sandwich w/remoulade
Two sides: Sweet potato fries | Red beans and rice | Mac and cheese | Green beans
Dessert: Rum cake
Health measures
To ensure that the health of students, customers, and faculty is prioritized, the Aspen Grille will be accepting in-house dining at reduced capacity through reservations only. Much of the course lecture and discussion is focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the restaurant industry and how to adapt.
“We had to split the classes in half to comply with county regulations,” said Symsack. “This significantly reduced our students’ time to train in person, so many digital supplementary materials had to be created to set the students up for success.”
The restaurant has also put up Plexiglas protectors for the host stand and bar, sanitizes the restaurant twice a shift, and has spaced both the tables and kitchen equipment to practice social distancing.
The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
