The sights and sounds are familiar: Ladles clanging, children sliding their trays, loud conversations and sipping of milk.
It may be a school cafeteria, but Sto-Rox Food Services Director Lisa Hatton wants it to feel like a restaurant.
“Our goal is to make sure everyone leaves full, and enjoys lunch. I think every student should enjoy lunch,” she explained.
The district is currently in the middle of its summer food program. During the summer, the district provides free breakfast from 8:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m. and free lunch from 11:00 a.m. to Noon. All students receive free lunches during the school year, as the district is part of the USDA’s National School Lunch Program. No paperwork is required, and students are automatically enrolled.
Whether it’s summer or back-to-school time, Hatton wants students and their parents to know they have a lot of food to offer.
“The idea is that the students, when they walk through the lunch line, they grab every component,” she said. “I think the kids go through, they see that pizza, they grab it, and they’re out. And then they’re hungry.”
That is the last thing Hatton wants students to be. As she explained, the district offers two hot entrees per day during the school year. That’s often something like chicken parmesan with a breadstick, or a chicken patty sandwich with fries. That’s not the end of the meal, though.
“We have the salad bar so they can make their own salads with fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. We encourage them always to take fruit,” she said, though she’s also realistic. “Not everyone is going to take broccoli,” she laughed. The same logic applies to cookies, too.
“Whole wheat cookies - they’re delicious!” As it turns out: The pizza is whole wheat, too.
The district also provides juice and milk to Upper Elementary and Jr./Sr. High School students, while Primary Center students only receive milk. In addition, the district sells items á la carte including iced tea from fifty cents to a dollar.
“We have variety,” said Hatton, “and it changes with those extras, each week.”
She also has a favorite lunch food at Sto-Rox, in another example of the district’s variety of food: General Tso’s Chicken with steamed rice.
Hatton’s instinct for serving students comes from serving customers. Before she came to Sto-Rox five years ago, she was the general manager of Max & Erma’s Mt. Lebanon location. She takes her service seriously.
“The most important part of my job is speaking with the students,” she said. “I like to go into classrooms, and I give them surveys and we just have a very open discussion about what they like and what they don’t like. And I appreciate it.”
Hatton’s restaurant background also led to a transformation of the cafeteria when she came on board.
“I think every student should enjoy lunch.”
Lisa Hatton, Food Services Director
“We came in and we did a fresh coat of paint. The cafeteria used to have these horrible long, white tables with chairs that were connected, but they were broken,” she explained. “When we were able to buy new equipment, I was like, ‘Can we make it look like a restaurant? Can I have booths? Can I have high-top tables.?’” She got all of those things. She has also developed a staff that knows they have a role to play, aside from making food.
“The staff here is very friendly. They’re very outgoing, they like to get to know the students. I think everyone’s very approachable.”
Ultimately, Hatton wants students and their parents to understand she and her staff work for them.
“We want you to try something new, something different. We want that input. We want to know if you like it or don’t and why?”