University News

Western Lites Offers Upscale Dining Experience at WIU

October 9, 2008

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MACOMB, IL - - Take a break from your daily lunch routine and have a healthy bite at the Western Lites Cafe. Provided by WIU students in the dietetics, fashion merchandising and hospitality (DFMH) department, Western Lites Cafe offers tasty, health-conscious lunchtime fare from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday beginning Oct. 14-Dec. 11 in Knoblauch Hall 239. (Western Lites Café will be closed Nov. 25 and 27 during fall break.)

According to Sheryl Boston, the DFMH associate professor who supervises the cafe, the experience provides the campus community with meals low in fat, moderate in calories and high in fiber and teaches her Quality Food class students real-world skills.

"Western Lites Cafe gives students hands-on experience with running a foodservice facility. They have practiced and perfected the recipes, making them healthier and better tasting. It teaches them about all the foodservice steps -- menu development, cooking, customer service and ordering and serving food," Boston said. "This year patrons will have more choice, too. We're offering two main entrées and a vegetarian entrée. Patrons are encouraged to bring a thumb drive at the end of the semester, and I will provide them with a cookbook of the meals we prepared and served," she added.

Western Lites Cafe provides an upscale dining experience -- with cloth linens, seasonal décor and a relaxing atmosphere -- at a moderate price with extremely fast service, Boston explained.

"We will be offering lattes and espressos later in the semester, and fruit smoothies are coming too," she noted.

On Tuesday, Dec. 9 and Thursday, Dec. 11 buffet dinners will be served; a special turkey holiday dinner will be served on Dec. 9.

Meals are $6, and optional desserts will cost $1 extra. Reservations can be made through Boston at SJ-Boston@wiu.edu. Carry outs are also available.

Menus for the eight-week Western Lites Cafe include:

  • Oct. 14: Pasta compresse* or chicken Caesar salad, side salad, Tiramisu
  • Oct. 16: Beef enchiladas or taco salad, Tex Mex rice, cinnamon churros
  • Oct. 21: Beef chimichanga* or hot chicken salad on toast, calico beans, apple crisp with cinnamon ice cream
  • Oct. 23: Downtown New Yorker pizza*, broccoli cheese soup, side salad, blueberry pizza
  • Oct. 28: Individual quiches* or fried chicken salad, apple grape salad, bosco sticks, raspberry cheesecake shot
  • Oct. 30: Moo Goo Gia Pan or steamed veggies, egg drop soup or vegetable broth, fortune cookies and spiced peach purée
  • Nov. 4: Sausage Stromboli* or French bistro salad, broccoli cauliflower salad, caramel coffee flan
  • Nov. 6: Italian beef on roll or broccoli casserole, dilly potato salad, ice cream Snicker pie
  • Nov. 11: Chicken Cordon Blu puff or oriental ginger broccoli salad, green been salad, homemade pretzel, Twinkie cake
  • Nov. 13: Sheppard pie, baked potato meal, spiced apple rings, angel biscuits, banana split dessert
  • Nov. 18: Chicken pecan salad, Asian salad with cheese puff, potato soup cup, no-bake peach pie
  • Nov. 20: Cheeseburger soup or pasta Alfredo soup, grape salad, cinnamon hot bread, chocolate lasagna
  • Dec. 2: Chicken kabobs or Cobb salad, wild rice, oat bran cracker, apple meringue tart
  • Dec. 4: Chili con carne or Swiss vegetable medley soup, relish tray, cheese stick, Purple Lady dessert
  • Dec. 9: Turkey holiday dinner, mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed green beans with mushroom sauce, Coca-Cola salad, relish tray, hot rolls and jelly, pecan pie
  • Dec. 11: Ham balls, steamed sweet potatoes, pear line salad, wild rice stuffing, pumpkin bread, caramel apple cake

*Indicates there will be a vegetarian version option

For more information, contact Boston at (309) 298-1085 or SJ-Boston@wiu.edu.

Posted By: Teresa Koltzenburg (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing