Campus dining options expand with the opening of Fertitta Cafe

With the beginning of the school year well underway, USC students have been flocking to Fertitta Cafe, located in the brand new Jill and Frank Fertitta Hall. Boasting of Asian-themed dining menu, one can find anything from dumplings to banh mi to sushi. Along with a wide variety of made-to-order dishes, customers can choose to purchase packaged snacks from a selection of popular Asian brands.

A favorite among many students at Fertitta Cafe, items such as pudding and mochi from local vendor Phoenix Dessert can be found in line to check out.

Danning Huang, a junior majoring in communication, chose the mango pudding during her visit and admitted her love for the brand.

“I’m Chinese, and I actually really like this brand,” she said of Phoenix, a popular Cantonese food brand. “Before this year, I could only get this food outside, but now we got this kind of food here, so I think it’s very convenient, and I like it.”

Convenience definitely appears to be a reason for many students to visit Fertitta Cafe — whether it’s because they have classes in Fertitta Hall or because it offers a large selection of Asian food all in one campus location.

A business administration major, senior Cullen Mo has already spent a decent amount of time in Fertitta Hall for his classes and has stopped by the cafe for a meal twice. Like most other students, he agrees that the food is tasty, but he also shared his thoughts about the setup of the ordering stations.

“I don’t think it’s laid out as well as it could be,” Mo said. “It just seems like it piles up towards the doorway, so I don’t know if they could direct some traffic towards the left or figure out a better payment system.”

Fertitta Cafe has six stations that serve bao, banh mi, dim sum, bowls, salads and sushi. It also sells snacks in line such as Pocky, Hello Panda, wasabi chips and shrimp chips.

Due to its popularity this past week, it is difficult to navigate through the crowds of hungry students trying to order their food at the multiple stations and lines. However, after passing through the hectic checkout line, customers are greeted with a calm, ambient seating area.

Like the rest of the building, Fertitta Cafe showcases a number of innovative design features —from touchscreens in the adjacent lounge to automatic spoon and fork dispensers in the dining area.

Many new dining venues peak in popularity when they first open, but Fertitta Cafe appears to be on its way to becoming a campus favorite.