By Diana Hall
The student hotspot Salad King will find a home at Ryerson on Sept. 19 when it kick-starts the operation of its new kiosk in the Hub Cafeteria in the Podium Building.
“They are such a desired location among students on campus,” says President Sheldon Levy, “I even go across the street sometimes.”
Salad King general manager Alan Liu is eager for the kiosk’s opening saying that since talks began in June, “we’ve just been moving full tilt and trying to get things going.”
The original Gould Street Salad King location was forced out of its existing home in April 2010 after the collapse of the building’s outer façade. It was the same site that was gutted by a six-alarm fire in January 2011, resulting in the demolition of the building following the subsequent police investigation. It has since reopened on Feb. 22 at 340 Yonge St.
The focus for Salad King is to provide students with more meal choices, says Liu. Running on a four-day menu cycle, the kiosk, appropriately named “King at the Court,” will offer one meat dish (such as orange or basil chicken), one stir-fry dish (such as pad thai), and one vegetarian dish each day (the vegetarian foods may include fish sauce).
Mango salad and spring rolls will be available during the operating hours of 11 a.m. – 2 p.m Monday through Friday. As part of the Hub cafeteria, students will be able to use their OneCards to purchase food.
“I think this is kind of neat being able to have Thai food [accessible] — and not only just any Thai food, good quality Thai food,” Liu said. “It’s definitely going to make a difference. It’s going to give students a really good choice.”
Grace Hawkins, a recent graduate of the radio and television arts program at Ryerson, said Salad King was a favourite restaurant she and her friends liked to go to on campus before it shut down.
“It’s really great that it’s on campus now, I just wish it would’ve been sooner,” Hawkins said. “Salad King is amazing — I hope it’s not just a shitty kiosk.”
Liu says he sees it as an opportunity to introduce Salad King to campus life once again and for the restaurant to regain its popularity among students and staff.
“For us, the fact that we’ve been here for the past 20 odd years at Ryerson — we know we’re going to be successful there [again],” he said.
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