A Middle Eastern eatery, Moby Dick

A year after Steak Escape closed up shop in Stamp Student Union’s food court, officials said last week that Moby Dick: House of Kabob — a local Middle Eastern restaurant — will take its place in January.

Student union officials began searching for a Steak Escape replacement in the spring, launching surveys as well as a suggestion box where students, faculty and staff could name what restaurant they wanted to see at the food court.

In the surveys, students identified Moby Dick as their preferred tenant, at which point the university began to court the Washington-based chain for the space, student union Director Marsha Guenzler-Stevens said.

Moby Dick’s Persian fast food will be the first Middle Eastern offering in the student union, she added.

“We definitely have not had one in the Stamp,” she said. “This will be new for us, which will be terrific.”

Hamid Rizi, manager of the university’s Moby Dick, said he is excited the local business will join the university.

“Most students who live in the area have been to a Moby Dick,” he said. “It’s good exposure for Moby Dick, too.”

The restaurant signed on to be a part of the student union food court in April but had to wait until January 2011 to open because they were still in negotiations with the university, Rizi said. The final agreement was signed in late October, Guenzler-Stevens said.

The restaurant franchise started in Bethesda in the late 1980s, Rizi said. It expanded to various other locations in Washington, Virginia and Maryland. However, Moby Dick does not yet have a restaurant in College Park — the closest is in Silver Spring.

Rizi said Moby Dick fans can expect to get their favorite falafel patties and chicken kabobs at the campus location, but the restaurant will have more of a cafeteria feel and dishes will be served at “student-friendly” prices.

“It’s going to be cheaper” than other Moby Dick restaurants, he said.

Guenzler-Stevens said Moby Dick should be an attractive option for students for its various meat and vegetarian dishes at affordable prices.

“I think folks will find that Moby Dick has a really wide variety of items that are priced in an affordable way,” she said. Exact prices have not yet been announced.

Guenzler-Stevens said while the university searched for a permanent replacement, Dining Services operated InTheMeantime, serving such food as hot dogs, grilled cheese and frozen custard last spring.

“It was there literally short-term, operated to provide a new food option while we looked … to provide for a new restaurant,” Guenzler-Stevens said.

Students already familiar with the restaurant said they were excited they won’t have to trek to Krazi Kebob near Route 1 to satisfy their craving for Middle Eastern food.

“I think it’s a really good addition,” junior electrical engineering major Alvin Hua said. “We don’t have many kabob places near the campus.”

Even some students who hadn’t previously been to a Moby Dick said they were still excited about having a Middle Eastern restaurant as an extra option for hungry students.

“I’ve never eaten there,” junior accounting major Eugene Gimose said. “But having more options is always a plus.”

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