After a summer of remodeling in Davies Center, Sodexho Campus Services opened its food shops Tuesday with a new look and different menu items for students.

The UW-Eau Claire food provider also set out to establish itself as a worthy replacement for Chartwells, which the university officially replaced May 27.

“(Sodexho is) very much aware that we had a good food service,” Chancellor Donald Mash said last week. “So they know that they’ve got to try to prove themselves.”

Except for the Taco Bell in Hilltop Center, all other campus food shops received changes or were discontinued.

In Davies Center, the former Burger King and Hotshots space turned into the “Market Place” area. It features a Blimpie sub sandwich stand, the Sky Ranch Grill and the pizza venue, Pete’s Arena.

All three businesses in the Market Place will use a central register to allow customers to pay for items from the three venues together.

The dining area near The Cabin in Davies Center now offers a Freshens yogurt stand and Jazzman’s Coffee Shop.

Blimpie and Freshens stands also are featured in Hilltop along with Mein Bowl, a Chinese food shop.

The upper and lower campus Sodexho-run cafeterias also are different from the standard cafeteria style, Vice Chancellor Andy Soll said.

“It’s a little bit more of a restaurant approach to the style of service,” he said.

Sky Ranch offers hot breakfast items and Jazzman’s sells pastries. The two replaced Little Niagara’s breakfast service.

The non-frozen hamburger patties that Sky Ranch Grill offers are one example of the food improvements, Soll said.

He said he thinks the switch to Sodexho is a “step up in quality.”

“It’s a fresher product being prepared more on a demand basis,” Soll said.

Last spring, 624 students signed a petition against the university hiring Sodexho over accusations that the company owns prisons. Sodexho officials denied the allegation at a Chancellor’s Roundtable on campus.

In relation to another concern last spring over job stability for Chartwells union workers, Sodexho offered jobs to the union members. Sodexho honored the workers’ previous salaries, benefits and seniority, Soll said.

The summer construction, which likely will cost near $750,000 when finished, also included work at Higher Ground on upper campus and Haas Fine Arts Center’s food cart area.

The installation of a new duct system is the most complex and expensive aspect of the project, Soll said.

The previous ventilation system likely was not in compliance with health standards, he said.

“This time we’re going to be in full compliance,” Soll said. “Some of the things we’re doing here really needed to be done.”

The Blimpie and Sky Ranch venues have doubled operations in the Market Place area to improve their service.

Junior Daniel Brunson ate from the Sky Ranch Grill on Wednesday and said he was “not terribly impressed” with the new food venues.

“Gotta work on the lines,” Brunson said.

The food shops officially opened on the worst day of the school year, Soll said.

“I hope that people will be a little bit patient while we work out the system,” he said.

Long lines existed with Burger King, Soll said, and there always will be lines. The new operation is coming together.

Brunson said that Sky Ranch Grill employees asked customers in line for their orders.

“They were trying hard,” Brunson said, “and there is a better selection now.”

Sophomores Dan Palus and Brandon Nienow ate at Sky Ranch Grill on Tuesday but did not approve of the area.

“It’s more expensive than last year,” Palus said, “and not really better quality at all.”

Nienow said the Market Place is “not Burger King – the selection is way down.”