Unofficial brings a rush of customers to restaurants

David+Fullarton%0A

David Fullarton

By Jill Disis

Restaurants are in high gear as Unofficial patrons invade Green Street.

“It has been madness,” said Stacy Quick, district manager at Subway.

Quick said the high volume of students, customers and out-of-town guests has been steady all day.

“They’re loud and obnoxious,” Quick said.

Daniel Core, a delivery driver at Antonio’s Pizza, said he is working 12 hours today.

Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!

  • Catch the latest on University of Illinois news, sports, and more. Delivered every weekday.
  • Stay up to date on all things Illini sports. Delivered every Monday.
Thank you for subscribing!

“It’s like the day after Thanksgiving, instead of Black Friday you have Green Friday,” Core said.

Antonio’s Pizza started preparing for Unofficial last night, and the restaurant is expecting more business and possible problems throughout the day, he added.

“At night the drunks start to fight,” Core said.

Noodles & Co. shift manager Jennifer Jinks said she found the level of traffic ridiculous and difficult to work around.

“I want to get rid of Unofficial,” Jinks said. “I wouldn’t wish this upon anybody.”

Many of the customers today have been rude, drunk and obnoxious, she added.

Noodles & Co. is also facing Unofficial with a more inexperienced staff than last year, Jinks said.

“I knew it would be bad, but not this bad,” Jinks said.

Bruce Hink, owner of Mia Za’s, said the restaurant has been taking steps over the last few years to become more prepared for Unofficial.

Hink said Za’s menus now come with tear off sheets, designed for reminding inebriated customers of their orders.

“They’d say. ‘Did I order pizza? Did I order salad? I don’t remember,” Hink said. “We made these just for Unofficial.”

Other restaurants have not been experiencing a high level of stress, even with increased business.

“We’ve been pretty steady,” said Pia Byron, owner of the Smoothie King.

Byron said many of the customers have been well behaved and just having fun.

“I’m not sure what to expect,” Byron said. “But we’re prepared.”