The New Lair: Worth the Wait

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If you’ve ever lived through a kitchen remodel, you know the middle chapter is not the glamorous one.

There’s dust. There’s improvisation. There’s that strange week when you’re making dinner with one working outlet and wondering whether eating on the porch has quietly become your new personality.

This spring, LMU enters that middle chapter with the Lair. For a stretch, dining will shift outdoors while crews get to work. On April 27 to be exact.

And this is not a small operation. The Lair is not a side character on campus. On a typical weekday, it serves between 2,500 and 3,000 meals. At 12:30 p.m., it hits its peak—one of those familiar moments when it feels like half the university had the same idea at the exact same time. It is equal parts dining hall, meeting place, recovery station, and social hub.

If you want to understand campus culture, you could do worse than starting with what students eat—or perhaps more importantly, how they eat together.

All renovations have a similar feel, but our approach here is different. We are going to great lengths to make this as smooth, well-supported, and intentional as possible. A tremendous amount of planning has gone into ensuring students continue to have strong options, reliable access, and a dining experience that still brings people together—even in a temporary setting.

That said, let’s keep it real. There will be moments of inconvenience. There are always “those moments” with projects like this.

But that middle chapter is not the point.

What matters is what comes next: a brighter, more flexible, more social Lair—one built around how students actually eat and gather.

More Than a Dining Hall

Dining halls sit at the center of campus life in a way few places do.

They catch the quick lunch between classes, the dinner that turns into a two-hour conversation, the post-practice refuel, the homesick first-year reset, and the spontaneous “want to grab something?” that becomes community.

They also reveal a lot about us.

At LMU, for example:

• The most popular station right now is LAX, our global cuisine station—because, of course, in Los Angeles, we travel the world without leaving campus.
• The most popular salad dressing is ranch (no surprise).
• The condiment we restock the most? Ketchup. By a comfortable margin.
• Each day, we prepare approximately:
  • 60 pounds of chicken
  • 60 pounds of French fries
  • 10 gallons of soup

At that scale, volume and responsibility go hand in hand. There’s a continuous effort behind the scenes to manage portions, reduce waste, and be thoughtful stewards of the resources that go into every meal.

There are also the quiet surprises. Acai bowls, for example, have become one of the most unexpectedly popular items on campus—because sometimes the healthiest-looking option is also the most in demand.

And then there are the constants. Chicken tenders remain undefeated. Some traditions never change.

All of this adds up to something bigger than food. It’s about rhythm. Routine. Familiarity. Community.

That’s why this renovation matters.

A Place That Has Always Evolved

The truth is, campus dining at LMU has never stood still.

The Lair appears in university records as early as 1961 as a “snack bar and lounge.” Over the decades, it has taken on different forms, different layouts, different operators, and different menus. Saga. Marriott. Sodexo. Now, Aramark.

If you’re an alum, your version of the Lair depends on when you were here. But the pattern is the same.

The formats changed.
The names changed.
The student habits did not.

Meet up. Eat. Linger. Repeat.

Even today, that instinct shows up in new ways. Students are asking for protein-forward, fiber-rich options. They want flexibility. They want to try new things without committing to a single plate. They want spaces that feel good to be in—not just efficient to move through.

The new Lair is designed with exactly that in mind.

From the renderings, the new Lair looks like it is solving two long-standing dining hall challenges at once: not enough light and not enough reasons to stay.

The biggest change may be what you feel when you enter the space.

There will be new skylights bringing natural light into the main dining area. A warmer palette of natural colors and wood finishes—driven directly by student feedback. A new entrance that improves flow and arrival.

Seating will increase by about 10% indoors, but more importantly, it will diversify:

• Booths
• Banquettes
• Standard tables
• Higher-top seating

Spaces for quick meals. Spaces for conversations that go longer than planned.

Outside, a significant portion of the patio will be enclosed, making it a more consistent part of the experience—not just a nice-weather option.

And then there are the features students will notice immediately:

• A new grainery station with cereals, baked goods, and a self-serve waffle station—alongside a self-serve yogurt kiosk, both of which we expect will have lines on day one.
• A dining model that encourages exploration—try something, go back, try something else—without feeling like every decision is a transaction.

This is the shift to all-you-care-to-eat in action: more flexibility, more variety, more opportunity to linger.

The Middle Chapter (Yes, the Porch Phase)

Before we get there, though, we get the porch.

Beginning April 27, the Lair, Qdoba, and Malone C-Store will close, and dining will move to a large tent on Alumni Mall.

Inside the tent, you’ll find simplified versions of:

• LAX (global cuisine)
• True Balance (allergen-friendly dining)
• The Grille
• Sandwich stations
• A modified salad bar

Outside, two food trucks per meal period will help carry the load.

Late-night options will remain strong, with Iggy’s, LA2Go, Kikka Sushi, and a late-night food truck still available.

And importantly, True Balance will continue, along with access to LMU’s on-site dietician, so students with dietary needs will continue to be supported throughout the transition.

Will it be perfect? No.

But it will be functional. And in its own way, a little bit communal. There is something slightly unifying about everyone navigating the same temporary setup together. And the university will do its part to make this transition as smooth (and tasty) as possible.

Worth the Wait

And then, the payoff.

A Lair that is brighter.
A Lair that flows better.
A Lair that invites you to stay.
A Lair that feels less like a cafeteria and more like a campus living room.

A place where you can grab something quickly—or stay longer than you planned.

The Lair has never been just about food. It has always been one of those everyday places where university life happens in small, unplanned ways.

You go in for lunch. You run into people. You stay longer than you meant to.

And the Lair, once again, becomes one of the places where LMU feels most like LMU.

Even if, for a little while, we’re all just eating on the porch (or in a tent) together.

—John

P.S. LMU This Week published Extensive Lair Upgrades Scheduled to Begin April 27 earlier today.