The much-hyped food truck Bon Appétit Management Company is adding to its roster of Biola eateries, Soaring Eagle, is scheduled to open next Tuesday at 12:01 p.m.

But this week, Soaring Eagle is having a “soft open” — a preview featuring a limited menu and operating hours. Today at lunchtime, the truck was stationed out in front of Sutherland Hall next to Talbot East, hosting president Barry Corey who jumped onto the truck and served some of its first orders.

One of the people in the steady stream of patrons this afternoon was Associate Dean of Spiritual Development Lisa Igram, who ordered a Pad Thai bowl.

“I’m excited to try it out,” Igram said. She thought that it was a “fun community-building kind of offering” that Bon Appétit is rolling out. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they do,” she said.

The menu is currently limited to noodle bowls only. The sandwiches, fish tacos and beverage options won’t be available until the grand opening on Nov. 27; the only payment options available are cash, credit and flex, with Tapingo and meal-equivalency options coming after the grand opening.

Food truck opens up more options for Bon Appétit — no more Mongolian at Eagles’

Bon Appétit Biola’s mixed integrated social media marketing manager Daniel Cruz explained that, with Soaring Eagle to offer Mongolian and other noodle bowls full-time, Eagles’ Nest will phase out its current Mongolian bowl Wednesdays at the end of the semester.

Soaring Eagle’s meal-equivalency option will rotate between existing menu options and “demo items” — ideas Bon Appétit chefs want to try out on the Biola populace.

Historically, meal-equivalency has been used as a way to try new dishes and see what sticks with students; the Mongolian bowls on offer at Eagles on Wednesdays began as a meal-equivalency. But the audience was “not as big as we thought it was,” says Cruz, “So we moved it here [to Soaring Eagle].”

Cruz thinks students will see an improvement in quality as well.

“Not that it was bad there before, but this is going to take things to a whole other level,” he says. Upgrades include moving to authentic shitakki mushrooms in lieu of the thick-cut bell mushrooms in use at Eagles. Everything is made entirely to-order, whereas much of what is done at Eagles, says Cruz, was fresh but still pre-made.

The trick will be convincing students that the wait is worth it. On this slow Tuesday soft opening, most orders took roughly 7-10 minutes to come out after being placed.

“It's not slow out of ineptitude. It's slow because that's what it takes to do it right,” Cruz said.

Additional details about the grand opening event Nov. 27 forthcoming — check back here for an updated article tomorrow.