Long lines mean long waits, and nowhere on campus is this statement more true than at J Street, GW’s main eatery. University Dining Services administrators insist that changes are being made to improve students’ experience at J Street. Those changes, if any were made, have been largely ineffectual.

Lines still stretch into walk areas. Wait times are unbearably long. Improvements in service are nonexistent. Students insist that food preparation mysteriously takes longer at J Street establishments than at similar eateries around the city. Burger King, Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell are examples of chain restaurants that are well-known for fast service but do not offer the same fast service at J Street.

Inefficiency seems to plague the J Street staff. It is hard to ascertain whether this problem is a result of poor management, second-rate employees or both. What is clear is that resources are not correctly allocated. Rather than having students order and pay for their food first and then have that order passed to someone who prepares the food, the same employees take, prepare and ring up orders at J Street. Express food chutes at Burger King, Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell are left unused, creating long waits for food that could be pre-prepared and made readily available for students in a hurry.

It is hard to say how inefficiently J Street is run because managers are not using equipment to accurately calculate line times and service delays. Cash registers compute how many customers purchase food in a given time, but managers say they do not analyze the data. How can Dining Services promise to provide better service if managers can’t pinpoint the problems?

J Street managers must also better supervise their employees. Too often, students see one employee making food while two or more stand near the counter talking with one another and not helping students. Slow service is not acceptable at other fast-food chains, delis and restaurants, and it should not be acceptable at J Street.

Lines must be shorter. Wait times must decrease. Employees must be more responsive to students’ needs. If customer service is the goal of the Dining Services administrators, that objective must be communicated to and put into action by the employees who work directly with students.