Restaurants

The story of the first group feeding class is noteworthy. In 1918, President Winthrop E. Stone stated the department could offer a real-life service course as long as it didn’t cost the university “one cent.” From 1918 to 1923, under the guidance of student managers, two lunches a week were served. The students were in charge of planning and executing the meal and were required to sell forty tickets at forty cents each. During that time, not one service operated at a loss, fulfilling President Stone’s requirement of not costing “one cent.”

Over the years, the scope of the group feeding class has continued to evolve and improve. The John Purdue Room now offers student-served lunch service, with the oversight of chef instructors, teaching assistants and professors. While designed to have continued appeal to our patrons, the menu has also matured into a comprehensive instruction tool. Students learn different cooking and service methods as well as menu planning, budgeting and marketing techniques. The front-of-house operations have also been harnessed to not only provide actual food service experience but also sommelier service, customer relations and managerial decision-making.

Just as our curriculum has elevated, so have our facilities. For decades, Stone Hall was home to the John Purdue Room, but in 2012, Purdue’s White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) moved to our current facilities in the state-of-the-art Marriott Hall. Now featuring two food service labs/restaurants with full kitchens, a demo-classroom and premium event space, HTM students receive hands-on learning experiences and real-world management opportunities. Thanks to the support of patrons like you, Purdue HTM is developing graduates who will shape the hospitality and tourism industry!

The HTM Foodservice Kitchen is a student teaching laboratory providing food for the John Purdue Room, Boiler Bistro and LavAzza café. As such, we try to accommodate all dietary and allergen requests in a manner that satisfies our customer and honors our teaching requirements. Production facilities are limited, so please be advised that food prepared in our classroom kitchens may contain or be exposed to these food allergy ingredients: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree Nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Please inform your server of any dietary concerns.

Legend: V=Vegetarian; VG=Vegan, GF=Gluten-Free; DF=Dairy-Free; LO=Lacto-Ovo