This semester, Creative Dining Services (CDS) rolled out an updated Johnny’s menu and elevated prices for the first time in around four years, with the previous $5 burger and sandwich now costing $8. The new menu keeps some reliable classics while also emphasizing food inspired by other countries. Chimes had the opportunity to meet with Food Service Director Todd Kurtz and Executive Chef Ryan Hartman to try some of Johnny’s new menu items and discuss the reasoning behind the changes. 

In the new menu, several dishes take inspiration from Korean, northwest African and Mediterranean flavors. Their Falafel Corndog incorporates the traditional spices of falafel into a corndog batter, topped with Middle Eastern-inspired tangy crema sauce. The new menu also features the Persian-inspired Mezze burger, which includes garlic toum aioli, whipped goat cheese and pickles.  The new menu also includes classic American dishes. For example, the menu features the Gastro burger, a more elevated take on a typical bacon burger, with garlic toum aioli and smoked gouda, served on a brioche bun. 

CDS chose to expand to American dishes with internationally inspired flavors — instead of authentic international dishes — to keep them “recognizable” to students, according to Hartman. “If I were to put an authentic Korean dish on the menu, I think there would be a very large proportion on our campus that wouldn’t know what that is … Johnny’s is a burger spot, and we can accentuate on that while still offering some of those flavors,” said Hartman.

CDS emphasized that the price changes are due to the general increase in consumer prices over the past few years. Since the prices hadn’t been changed in such a long time, they were out of line with current consumer pricing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased by a total of 21.2% from 2020 to 2024, with food and beverages rising by a total of 25.1%. 

Hartman and Kurtz stressed their willingness to be flexible and adapt. Hartman noted that, for example, they’ve realized that the price of the falafel corndog is too high, so they’ve decided to increase the quantity of each order to two corn dogs instead of one. He and Kurtzalso indicated that they plan to continue changing their menu in the future instead of letting it remain stagnant. They plan to frequently roll out LTOs (limited-time offers) and noted a desire for student ideas on different countries, regions and dishes that should be featured.

Clara Parker, a freshman education major, expressed extreme distress over Johnny’s menu change. “I wanted to cry. I dragged my friends over to Johnny’s to look at the menu with me in disbelief,” she said. Parker was specifically upset about the removal of the breakfast burger. “The breakfast burger and I had a special relationship,” she said. “You have a fried egg, you have bacon, you have cheese, you have a patty, you have a hash brown. You get all your protein and it’s $5, which was the best thing … The breakfast burger was my Roman Empire.”

Parker noted that since the menu change, she has only purchased Johnny’s line items once. “I used to go probably about once a week; I’d go get a breakfast burger,” she said. “To take away the breakfast burger is unfair to humanity.”

Though Parker tried one of the new menu items — the Gastro burger — she indicated she was not particularly impressed. “It was fine,” she said. “It was not worth $8. Like knowing that I could get a Chipotle burrito for $8 and you’re gonna hand me this piece of bread with some arugula and a patty on it.”

When asked about other students’ opinions, Parker noted that many others wanted the breakfast burger back as well, but “the biggest complaint is the upcharge, like the $3 upcharge for a burger when they used to be $5.” While she recognized the obvious increase in consumer prices over the past few years, she also said that dining services should “ease us in slowly, like $6.50.”

Hartman indicated that they have heard a lot of feedback from students about the breakfast burger. “It’s definitely going to be something that’s going to make a comeback, whether it’s in an LTO (limited time offer) format, or it might make the menu back again,” Hartman said. 

Ryan Williams, a freshman business and entrepreneurship major, also expressed frustration at the change in Johnny’s menu but particularly in their prices. “I just was disappointed, you know, a lot of my favorites are gone. Just not really what I’m looking for. The prices are very high,” Williams said. “It feels like they’re taking advantage of students who don’t have a car.”

Williams indicated that since the change in prices, he hasn’t been back to Johnny’s. “I would never go there for a meal at this point,” he said. “Might as well just wait and go to Chick-fil-A or something with a friend if possible. It’s about the same price for significantly better quality.” Williams suggested an ultimatum: “Make the prices reasonable for the quality of food offered, or improve the quality of the food.” 

CDS has indicated that with the change in menu, quality is what they’re being careful to focus on. “Johnny’s menu has pretty much been stuck in that classic Americana,” Hartman said. “There’s a huge population on campus that have a very refined palette and want something a bit more high-quality.” 

Kurtz stressed the importance of student feedback, noting that their process would be impossible without it. Students are encouraged to fill out Johnny’s feedback forms, accessible through the QR code on their monitors, or the Creative Dining Services general form on the QR code in the dining halls.