Steak 'n Shake is coming to campus — but first on wheels

Students can soon be sipping on a classic Steak ‘n Shake shake as they walk to class.

Although the restaurant’s permanent location will not be ready at the beginning of the fall 2018 semester, Steak ‘n Shake will be available to students right away.

Instead, there will be a Steak 'n Shake truck on campus on the first day of fall 2018 classes.

Steak 'n Shake Truck

“We knew the construction was going to be a little more extensive than we hoped given the time frame,” said Glenn Loughridge, director of Tiger Dining. “Just to be able to get done all the things that had to get done, we felt that was one of the things that was going to stretch out further.”

The truck is temporary, Loughridge said.

“The crew that is going to be working in the Steak ‘n Shake truck is going to come inside,” Loughridge said. “We will stop offering [the truck] when we open up in the Student Center.”

The truck will feature a limited menu that will include shakes.

“Service is important,” Loughridge said. “Our desire is to always do the most we can do for students. But if you do too much and make it too complex, then you start interrupting the time. It starts causing much difficulty getting people through lines. We want to be fast and efficient.”

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The truck is quite large and requires a lot of power to operate it, Loughridge said.

That’s why it will be always be parked on the corner of the Thach and Haley Concourse next to Tichenor Hall. That spot will be able to provide the truck with adequate power each day, Loughridge said.

“It will have a permanent spot,” Loughridge said. “That one (the truck) doesn’t fit just anywhere. We also have to be really cognizant of not blocking anything.”

Loughridge and his team at Tiger Dining are excited to be able to offer Steak ‘n Shake on the first day of the fall semester.

Student Center

He does not want to not have a dining location in the Student Center, a high traffic building.

The current plan is to open a temporary custom pizza shop called Oath Pizza at the beginning of the semester on the second floor of the Student Center where Papa John's was and where the permanent Steak 'n Shake will be.

“We would do that and then start the renovation so that when everybody gets back and lines are at their worst, we have all of the food we can possibly put out there,” Loughridge said.

Once the craziness of the beginning of the new semester has settled down, sometime between October and November, Oath Pizza will close so that construction can begin on the permanent Steak ‘n Shake location, Loughridge said.

Students will be able to find Oath Pizza at Terrell on the Hill starting at the beginning of the fall 2018 semester. The Terrell location of Oath pizza is permanent.

“It’s a grilled pizza dough,” Loughridge said. “It would be a little more made-to-order where you can have one customized for you as well as we’ll have some that are grab and go.”

Loughridge plans to open the Steak ‘n Shake location in the Student Center at the beginning of the spring 2019 semester.

The Steak ‘n Shake truck will not leave campus until the permanent location is up and running, Loughridge said.

“The whole point here is how can we serve students best,” Loughridge said. “I know that from the leadership team at Student Affairs, everyone is of the mind that we will have Steak ‘n Shake in some form right off the bat. The best thing we can do is have as much food as possible in the Student Center. I think it’s the best way to serve students.”

Student Center Steak 'n Shake

As for the permanent Student Center Steak ‘n Shake location, Loughridge already has most of the design layouts, though he is looking to use less red and more orange and blue.

The student center location will feature a much larger menu than the truck. It will include multiple shakes and steak burger combos.

The menu will not exactly reflect the menu of another Steak ‘n Shake, meaning that there will be some items served at other Steak ‘n Shake restaurants that are not served at the Student Center location.

“For speed of service, all of their top sellers will be there, but they won’t have every single thing,” Loughridge said. “Most people just want a burger and fries so we're going to do a lot of those. We’ll have plenty of a selection of those.”

This is to ensure that the entire dining process, for ordering and cooking to getting the food out to the customer, can go smoothly and quickly to fit students' tight schedules, Loughridge said.