RIT Dining announced on Feb. 30 that Gracie’s menus will be replaced for the 2026 fall semester. This update follows reports from students and faculty that the food is starting to taste better.
Marisol Adams, a third year student majoring in Business, shares with Distorter, “The food’s actually starting to taste better. I remember when I was a freshman, the food was terrible.”
“I understand the community’s concerns. I have heard it all. We are still changing our menu to adhere to our commitment to serving bad food,” shares RIT Dining chair Gene Fieri. When asked to explain more, Fieri said, “No. It doesn’t have to make sense to you.”
On March 3, a PawPrints titled “Keep Gracie’s Bad!” was launched, and in less than five hours, it reached 500,000 signatures — most from alumni — breaking PawPrints records. The petition was made by Vivian Woodinson, a first year Biology student. “I wasn’t expecting edible chicken. This is not what I spent my tuition on. Bring back gray chicken!” Woodinson exclaimed.
While there are a few people in favor of Gracie’s improved food quality, they are few and far between. A counter-petition, titled “We Love Gracie’s Food! Keep it good!”, was launched immediately after. As of writing this article, it still hasn’t received over 50 signatures. The petition author, Emily Choi, a Communications graduate student, tells Distorter, “I’ve been here for five years now. I’m happy to see that Gracie’s is starting to taste better. After all, it’s the only actual dining spot dormside.”
In response to the petition, RIT Dining has launched a task force serving as an intermediary between the department and interested members of the community. Ibrahim Abbas, a first year Applied Mathematics major on the task force, shares with Distorter, “If I wanted good food, I would have gone to U of R instead!”
The task force’s first order of business was to stop all spice orders and their use in food. “Salt? Stopped. Pepper? Cancelled. MSG? Refunded. Garlic? Rejected!” shares dining operations manager Jemina Brown. The task force viewed this initiative as something that can bring us back to previous flavors. With the initiative, the task force published a report. They reported a 200% increase in flavor in three years, running contrary to the expected yearly 10% decrease. This likely reflects an abundance of culinary experience, with staff averaging more than15 years of service in the kitchen. In response to this, the task force is actively seeking underprepared, incompetent chefs. “Our goal is to avoid experienced chefs,” shares Abbas, “We don’t want people who know how to cook in the kitchen.”
