Renovations are underway at Leonard Dining Hall that will help create an optimized dining experience for Queen’s students.

Phase two of the renovation began in May 2023 and is set to be completed by December 2023, with full access to dining halls, including meal plan options for students not in residence, expected to resume in January 2024. This long-planned renovation to the dining hall will improve functionality and speed of service.  When completed, the renovation will also offer an increased menu to respond to the evolving needs of the diverse student population and will enable improved operational waste collection systems.

The improvements to Leonard Dining Hall include:

• The relocation of the dish room and service points throughout the dining hall to enhance traffic flow.
• Additional service areas featuring healthy options and highlighting the range of choices available for students with special or restricted diets, interactive food stations for teaching and cooking demonstration.
• Increased made-to-order and prepared-for-you menu options.
• The optimization of food production spaces (front and back of house).
• New and/or upgraded production and service equipment.

For the fall 2023/24 term, Leonard Dining Hall – including most of the seating area – will remain open for first-year students on the mandatory Residence Meal Plan, and will offer a variety of menu stations, featuring a rotation of student favourites. It will operate for two meal periods daily, with temporarily served buffet meal stations featuring fixed menu options for lunch and dinner as well as self-service beverage, salad, and dessert stations. To ensure continued access to food services during the renovations:

• Residence Meal Plans have been increased from a weekly allotment of 19 meals to 21 meals per week.   
• Students will receive 50 additional TAMS, 250 from 200, to increase retail meal opportunities.
• Ban Righ Dining Hall will be open with extended hours and offer continuous food service throughout the day and evening.
• The Jean Royce dining hall on the west campus will also remain open.
• Both Ban Right and Jean Royce dining halls will continue to offer the all-you-care-to eat model, provide a self-serve gluten-free friendly pantry, and both will offer options for students with food allergies and other dietary needs: a true balance station and chefs on-site to assist with accommodations at Ban Righ, as well as customized meals and true balance recipes by request Jean Royce Hall.
• New temporary retail locations will open in September, including Zapies, a new flatbread pizza location in the Queen’s Centre, as well as expanded hours of operations at select food locations, including those in residence buildings (Lazy Scholar and Location 21).
• Optional TAM Meal Plans are available for students living off-campus to purchase for dining in retail food locations on campus.

To mitigate service delays and line ups at the dining halls during the renovation, students can explore the “meal plan hacks” developed by Queen’s Hospitality Services.

Hospitality Services welcomes student feedback any time, implements some changes in response to input, and reports back to students on their We Heard You webpage.

Learn more on the Queen's Facilities website.