Three years ago, Lisa Ferrara ate ramen noodles and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches three times a week. Ferrara, a Weinberg senior, said she preferred to eat in her dorm room rather than at 1835 Hinman her freshman year.

“They had foods by different names,” Ferrara said, “but they all tasted the same.”

But Ferrara said she now eats campus food more often.

Across the board, students are using more of their meal plans, said Sodexho District Manager Paul Komelasky. He credits renovations, as well as an expanding number of made-to-order sandwiches, salads, stir-frys and pizza stations in the dining halls with the increase.

Elder Hall saw the largest spike in attendance, at 28 percent, Komelasky said. The cafeteria was repainted and refurnished this year. Elder is also the dining hall for this year’s new Freshmen Quad, a configuration of three all-freshman dorms.

Another significant change was its food. Elder Manager Jamie Woodruff said he created this year’s menu based on successful dishes he introduced late last year, such as hot subs and made-to-order salads.

“Normally, at this time of year counts around campus tend to go down,” Woodruff said. “We’ve been holding steady.”

Certain dining halls, such as Allison Hall, have seen decreases, but the total increase exceeds the losses, Komelasky said. Sodexho and Northwestern food-service managers declined to give specific numbers of meals served.

Hinman introduced stir-fry, hot sandwiches and made-to-order pizzas over the last few years, the manager, Richard Giger, wrote in an e-mail. Attendance there rose 12 percent this year.

The numbers are not limited to students living in dorms.

“I actually paid $7 to eat here last week because the way I see it, I would pay that much in Evanston,” said Serena Jain, a Weinberg junior who lives off campus. “If you don’t eat here every day there’s a lot of variety.”

Sargent served 7 percent more meals this year, and the Foster-Walker Complex saw a 4 percent increase, Komalesky said.

Students also say they go to the dining halls for the personal service.

Elder resident Matthew Deutschman, a Medill freshman, said he likes to eat at Foster-Walker because servers there remember his taste for blue cheese and mushrooms on his burgers.

“The ladies who do the burgers and quesadillas are funny,” he said. “They know me.”

Students at Hinman cited the salad bar, the made-to-order food and staff attitude as their reasons for eating there.

At other dorms, “you go down the line and they plop (food) on your plate,” said Andy Kim, a Weinberg junior who lives in Sargent. “I always tell people that at Hinman the food is cooked with love.”

Anne VanOsdol, the assistant food service director at NU, said the dining service focused on student comments this year. She reviews some of the dining hall comments each week.

“We want students to feel like they’re getting good value for their meal plans,” she said.

Ferrara, who used to avoid her dining hall, said Caesar salad dressing appeared in Hinman’s salad bar after she requested it.

In another tactic, Willard manager Terrance O’Neill said he began regular meetings with students last month to discuss food quality. Sargent holds similar meetings, he said.

But some students doubt whether Sodexho cares if they spend their meal plans or not.

“They have no incentive” because students prepay their board, said McCormick sophomore Leslie Gittings.

Komelasky said this is not the case.

“We try to gear the program to encourage students to use their meal (plans) more,” he said. “We don’t reward our managers for having lower meal counts.”

Reach Daniella Cheslow at [email protected].