Students returning to campus this Fall 2025 semester may have walked into the John Lewis Student Center and noticed additions to the restaurant options. Marrakech Express, Dancing Goats and Noodle Theory have begun their operations and provide new flavors for students and visitors alike.
Marrakech Express
Marrakech Express replaced Slutty Vegan on the first floor of the Student Center, which served its last customers on February 26. Marrakech offers traditional Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine. Before opening this location, they had a tent in the weekly Community Market along Tech Walkway that was popular with students.
In an interview with the Technique, Student Government Association (SGA) Dining Committee chair Soumit Guntupalli explained, “Tech Dining looked to fill the spot with a place that they thought that students would really enjoy, and Marrakech Express came to mind.” Tech Dining worked with Marrakech Express throughout their transition from a market vendor to their more permanent home in the Student Center . Menu items include tanjiya, a traditional stewed lamb dish from Marrakech, shawarma and falafel dishes.
Read a review of Marrakech Express’ first brick-and-mortar location in Smyrna, Ga. here.
Dancing Goats
Dancing Goats Coffee replaces Blue Donkey to offer a greater variety of cafes across campus. The company, which already maintains several locations across the Atlanta area, moved into the Student Center after winning the favor of the Jackets in a student coffee-tasting event.
“Tech Dining hosted an event last semester where they had different coffee and beverage vendors at the Exhibition Hall. It was an all-day event. Students could come in and try all the different vendors, rank them and were able to vote at the end of the day. And according to the results, Dancing Goats won the ‘contest,’ so to speak, and they were voted the most popular,” said Guntupalli.
Dancing Goats offers coffee, tea and numerous bakery items.
Noodle Theory
Noodle Theory is also located on the second floor of the Student Center, replacing Bento Sushi. They offer several Japanese comfort cuisine options, including rice bowls, donburi, yaki udon and ramen.
According to Guntupalli, “[Noodle Theory] was more of a Tech Dining thing. They were looking to provide more offerings in the Pan-Asian fusion sector of meals…so Noodle Theory was a concept that they came up with to help meet student needs and provide a little bit more variety.”
SGA works closely with the Tech Dining team throughout the process of adding new vendors. They start by getting student feedback through surveys and tabling.
“We try to come from the students’ perspective and try to provide their input in a way that the new offerings that they’re able to provide really meet student demand,” Guntupalli said.
Results from an SGA Dining Committee tabling event in the Fall 2024 semester showed that students were interested in more coffee and dessert options. When students were asked about which types of new food they would like to see on campus, over a third of responses contained coffee, while dessert yielded the same result. This inspired the pop-up coffee event that led to the addition of Dancing Goats. The committee works closely with Tech Dining, providing a student voice.
If students are interested in being a part of this process, they can apply for the SGA dining committee by filling out the form here. Students can also send an email to [email protected] to voice any questions or concerns they may have.