Hospitality revamps catering

USC Hospitality unveiled a new website this week for its express catering service, which will replace the USC room service website and include a larger menu.

Erika Chesley, the USC Hospitality associate director for special events, sales and marketing, said the new express catering service will focus on delivering prepared food and drinks anywhere on the University Park or Health Sciences campuses.

“During this summer and up to this point, we worked on creating a brand-new menu for the new concept,” Chesley said. “We deliver freshly prepared meals that are for groups anywhere from 10 to 500 guests, and pretty much everything is either cold or room temperature service, with exception to the coffee.”

Chesley said one of the main changes will be the new website, which she said is an improvement upon the old USC room service site.

“The new website is phenomenal,” Chesley said. “The website we had for room service was very outdated … this new site is very easy to use and it only takes a couple clicks to get your order.”

Chesley also said the express catering service’s menu will be different from the original room service menu since USC Hospitality plans to offer more selections in the new menu, as well as upgraded versions of old menu items.

“We’ve expanded the menu and there are more breakfast selections that are available now,” Chesley said. “When it comes to the lunches, we’ve really upgraded the sandwiches, so there’s a wider variety of sandwich options now than there were before.”

Some faculty members, such as Associate Director of the Marshall Undergraduate Advising Office Aba Cassell, have praised the service for being a convenient meal option.

“I use the express catering because it’s convenient, and because in terms of service, I believe they do a good job,” Cassell said.

Cassell did, however, voice concern over the quality of the service.

“In terms of placing the order and paying, it can be a bit difficult, though, because it seems they are short-staffed,” Cassell said.

Some students said they would not use the service because of its price.

“I saw the [updated] USC express catering website from an email from USC Hospitality, and it seemed to be easy to use and well put together,” said Nicole Matthews, a sophomore majoring in political science. “The only issue that I have with the whole service is that it’s pricey for a college student on a budget and frankly, it’s unreasonable unless you work for a department at USC and need something convenient.”