By Jackie Springgay
Students don”t have to go bowling to take advantage of one of the best kept secrets on campus: Orville and Wilbur”s where the chicken products and the new Cougar Dog are top sellers.
Orville and Wilbur”s, located in the BYU Games Center, is available for everyone.
“People eat here because they are bowling,” said Jeff Tolsma, student manager in the Cougareat. “It is not only for people bowling, but for anyone who wants to eat here. I feel it”s the best kept secret on campus.”
The food at Orville and Wilbur”s is of great quality and the price is inexpensive compared with other restaurants, Tolsma said.
Orville and Wilbur”s offers many chicken products, such as chicken wings, chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches. It also now offers the new Cougar Dog in beef or polish, a high quality, 7-inch hot dog, Tolsma said. It replaces the 99-cent hot dog of less quality.
“People like hot dogs,” Tolsma said. “Instead of just a plain hot dog, people will come buy a better quality hot dog.”
The hot dog is served on a homemade bun with cheddar cheese on top from the Cougareat kitchen. The Cougar Dog offers more options now, so people can make their own style of hot dog. If a Chicago-style hot dog with sauerkraut and tomatoes, is what students want, the staff can make it. If a New York style hot dog with mustard and ketchup would please the palate, that option is available too.
Cougar Dogs are currently being sold in the Twilight Zone also, and the Zone has a new condiment bar for the dog. The only difference between getting it in the Twilight Zone over the actual restaurant is that the bun and dog are pre-made for easy pick up.
Orville and Wilbur”s is currently operated by the Cougareat Management Team under BYU Dining Services, so many of their products are available in the Cougareat.
The chicken products, such as tenders and wings, are available at Cougar Express. They will also be available at the Grab and Go when it opens during Education Week.
A full condiment bar is available in the two locations, so any style is always available.
Currently at Cougar Express, only a three-piece chicken tender and a 10-piece chicken wing are available. In the restaurant, a three-piece, six-piece, 10-piece or 24-piece chicken wing order is available.
The chicken also comes with sauces to please just about everyone.
“People have different tastes,” Tolsma said. “East coast people tend to like the hot sauce better, and west coast people tend to like the buffalo sauce better.”
And the chicken itself is different.
“The chicken is replacing the old KFC chicken, so we hope to have combo meals,” Tolsma said. “Such as doing chicken, a drink and salad instead of the KFC potato, chicken and roll in a box.”
The combo meal sides are still being approved.
Tolsma said it is good for the Cougareat to replace KFC with Orville and Wilbur”s products because they are able to order from their own store and will know what they are getting.
“We have more control,” Tolsma said. “And it is better for our business. There are no outside sources, and we can ensure product quality.”
Unlike the Cougareat, where food is prepared in mass, Orville and Wilbur”s cooks the food on the spot.
With Orville and Wilbur”s awaiting changes, they hope to have their own Web site instead of being connected to the bowling alley Web site, Tolsma said.
On the new Web site, Orville and Wilbur”s hope to make an online order option available. The order will be sent to the restaurant so patrons can come in to get it ready to go. Calling in an order is available to anyone now.
New menu boards are also in the works. Orville and Wilbur”s has many sauces to choose from that are new because it wants to cater to different tastes, such as sour or sweet. These will appear on the new menu board.
“The new menu will be more customer friendly,” Tolsma said. “We will be able to change it constantly so we can put promotions on it.”
May was a slow month for Orville and Wilbur”s. During this month, the staff tested products they want to have in fall.
“They are going to go through a big remodel phase, just as Subway will,” Tolsma said. “By Education Week we hope both will be completed.”
The restaurant is in a location where entertainment is readily available. Not only is there always music playing in the bowling alley, but many events, like Acoustic Explosion, also take place in the lobby adjacent to the restaurant.
The lines are always short, and the wait time is never long, Tolsma said.
“The main concern is speed,” he said. “We don”t want any one waiting more than 5 minutes, so we train our employees very well.”
Only one employee, sometimes two, work at a time, so they need to be extremely motivated and able to work by themselves, Tolsma said.
“Sometimes it can be hard when you have seven or eight orders going and you”re all by yourself, but it”s still fun,” said employee Elisabeth Stuart, a social studies teaching major from San Jose, Calif.
The challenge of the restaurant is that it is isolated from the food court so people don”t see it as an option.
“We would like to see the store get busy,” Tolsma said, “and have people vanquish the title of ”the best kept secret on campus.””
Stuart agreed.
“It would be great if people even knew that we were here in the Games Center,” she said. “We have a lot of good options for lunch or a snack, so people should stop by.”
