Soldiers are flocking to the Army’s new college inspired dining halls, with some facilities serving three to four times as many meals as their predecessors did during the same period last year. Army officials say the surge reflects growing use of the service’s campus style dining model.

The Army is less than a year removed from opening four of the redesigned dining facilities. Officials are now expanding takeout service and examining additional flexibility for soldiers using meal card plans.

The service sought bids from private contractors in January 2025 and later selected Compass Group USA Inc. to operate the first group of dining halls. Four facilities have opened during the past eight months, with another scheduled for 2027.

The current locations are 42 Bistro at Fort Hood, Texas; Stack House Bistro at Fort Carson, Colorado; Belvedere Bistro at Fort Drum, New York; and Rally Point Bistro at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The fifth dining hall is planned for Fort Stewart, Georgia.

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Ken Hicks, a senior analyst involved in the Army’s dining overhaul, said usage rates have risen “exponentially.” Officials are tracking the number of meals served and comparing the results by quarter, month and week.

At 42 Bistro, meal numbers have reached three times their level from last year. Between February and mid October, the Fort Hood facility served an average of 3,004 meals, compared with 973 during the same period at the previous dining hall.

Army data also showed a 130% increase in soldiers served at the Texas facility. That amounted to about 5,500 more soldiers eating there compared with the previous year.

“The throughput through those facilities is literally tripling the traffic area,” said Stephanie Barton, head of the Army Food Program at Army Materiel Command. “That’s huge, and that’s really kind of where we want it to be.”

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The gains extended to other installations. Fort Carson’s new dining hall served an average of 3,324 meals from April through October, compared with 878 during the same period last year.

At Fort Drum, the Army reported an average of more than 2,577 meals served. The former dining hall averaged only 441 meals during the comparable period last year.

The Army has also expanded the takeout option that initially launched at Fort Hood with some problems. As of Oct. 1, soldiers at all four new dining halls could use On Demand to order food through a phone app and receive it at designated drop zones on base.

“It’s less than a week old, so we’re just working through some kinks,” Barton said in early October. “I think it’s going to be really good for the soldiers.”

The Fort Hood location also became the first Army dining hall allowed to sell alcohol during the summer, although Hicks said sales have remained low. Alcohol purchases come from soldiers’ own money and are not covered by meal plan funds.

The Army began changing its dining program as officials sought to increase the number of soldiers eating on base. In 2024, officials cited dining hall utilization rates below 65%, a threshold that Army standards say should trigger consideration of a facility’s closure.

The Government Accountability Office reported in 2022 that military service data did not “fully assess the extent” to which troops used their meal entitlement. Hicks disputed the usefulness of the 65% benchmark, saying, “If that was the case, we’d have blown that a long time ago.”

Hicks said meal card holder participation offers a better measure of whether soldiers are using the facilities. According to the Army, 20% to 30% of soldiers holding meal cards at installations with the new dining halls are choosing to eat there.

Most customers at the contractor operated facilities remain enlisted meal plan holders, with breakfast and lunch drawing frequent visits. Under the new program, soldiers receive $39 in “freedom dollars” each day and can decide how to spend that money on food.

Soldiers can purchase a larger breakfast, skip lunch and return for dinner, or spend the money on one substantial afternoon meal. Army officials said roughly 1% to 2% of dining hall customers are using all of their daily meal money during a single visit.

Some soldiers are also buying multiple meals before a busy workday or using their funds on Friday before the weekend. Hicks said officials want to extend that flexibility, but funding policies must first be aligned.

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