A new, outside food-catering company will replace The Hawk’s Nest Grill & Deli by June 30.

AACC’s Executive Director of Finance Andrew Little said he is overseeing the process of hiring an outside company to take over The Hawk’s Nest on the ground floor of the Student Union Building.

CDL Inc., which runs a food venue at the College of Southern Maryland, is the finalist, Little said, but the college is still negotiating the arrangement.

Little said the two managers of The Hawk’s Nest—Wanda Grace and Dan Gechter–are retiring on June 30. Grace said AACC officials told her they want to hire another company because The Hawk’s Nest won’t be the same without the pair.

Grace said she opened the college-owned Hawk’s Nest in 2000 as Union Deli. A year later, Gechter came on as assistant manager.
“Dan and I have run the business from the get-go,” Grace said, “and the fact that [we are] hands- on managers … we handled all the paperwork, we handled all the ordering, the production, the catering.”

CDL will be on campus on May 4 for a food tasting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in SUN 102.

Students, faculty and staff will participate on six, 25-member focus groups that will spend 30 minutes tasting and evaluating the company’s food based on portion size, presentation, price and quality, according to Steve Pegg, the director of auxiliary services.

Pegg, Little, Grace and Christine Storck, the director of student engagement, will review the tasters’ feedback.
Pegg said CDL has proposed serving buffet-style, and will sell by weight, which can help students control how much they spend.

“It will definitely be a different variety,” Little said about what CDL would bring to dining services. “They’re very interested in a hot bar area. … I think it’s just something different.”

Some students, however, disagree with replacing The Hawk’s Nest.

Guillermo Roldan, a first-year transfer major, said The Hawk’s Nest has a “wide selection of food” and he “doesn’t think there is anything to change.”

“I really like The Hawk’s Nest because it has some really good food for a community college,” Dallas Coleman, a second-year music major, said. “I’m uncertain [about the replacement] because I don’t know who it is or if they will keep things the same. … I’d rather it stay the same.”

To participate in the food tasting on May 4, email Pegg at smpegg@aacc.edu.

Pegg will accept the first 150 evaluators who email him, so anyone attempting to sign up too late will not be able to grab a spot on the day of the food tasting,