Viva La Waffle recently opened up a location on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s campus, in the Agnes Food Court. There are plans in the future to add a Chick-Fil-A in the Student Union.
Renee Burgess, general manager for Sodexo, said, “We did not replace Chick-fil-A, we are building a full Chick-fil-A restaurant instead of having the Chick-fil-A Express. We are putting a full Chick-fil-A in the Student Union, in the coming months.”
Burgess continued, “I think that’s important because there’s a lot of talk on the street. We didn’t replace it, we just added Viva La Waffle and we’re building a brand new fully licensed massive Chick-Fil-A.”
The owners of Viva La Waffle have a strong connection with the university, giving them a chance to partner up and bring in a local business.
“We chose Viva La Waffle because the folks who own it have a very strong relationship with the university and a strong history with the university,” Burgess said. “Everybody is a UL grad. They’ve had family who has been in the administration. Viva La Waffle was a super popular food truck a few years back, and we know that it had a pretty great student following.”
Burgess further shared that selecting Viva La Waffle was a great opportunity to bring in a local vendor to UL Lafayette’s campus.
The process wasn’t troublesome, but lengthy. There has been a lot of positive feedback from staff, students and faculty on campus regarding Viva La Waffle.
Burgess said, “So what we have done with them is Sodexo is running it, it’s Sodexo staff. We just signed an agreement with Viva La Waffle to be able to basically follow the recipes, serve their products and things like that.”
Burgess continued, “We’ve gotten feedback every single day about the quality of the food and how excited people are.”
There will be a lot of incentives in the months to come, including things like hats and t-shirts, and there will also be an official grand opening some time in mid-February with free samples and giveaways.
There were a few students on campus who didn’t know that Viva La Waffle had opened on campus, however, they were still excited about having one.
“I didn’t know it was on, I hadn’t heard about it. I enjoy eating there so I will most definitely go check it out whenever I get the chance,” Chris Dejean, a freshman majoring in business management, said.
Erin Chevalier, a freshman nursing major, said, “I haven’t really had the opportunity to eat there yet, but I’m excited to go check it out.”
Some students have already gone and enjoyed it a lot.
Mason Gallien, a freshman nursing major, said, “I think it is pretty cool, I enjoy the food they serve so I’m excited that they have a place on campus. It also gives us more food options.”
Armoni Thompson, a freshman nursing major, said, “Viva La Waffle is, it’s the best thing that has happened on campus this semester, especially from a food standpoint such as the different types of chicken flavors you get with that juicy waffle, for example, the ranch and buffalo flavor. However, Viva La Waffle is a 10/10 for sure.”