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Saint Leo University, in partnership with national food service provider Genuine Foods is bringing a reimagined dining program to campus, with service beginning July 1 and new dining options and enhancements rolling out in phases ahead of a campuswide Grand Reopening the week of August 19. The agreement spans residential, retail, and catering dining across Saint Leo’s residential campus.

The new program represents a fresh chapter for dining at Saint Leo, offering students scratch-made meals, modernized service, and a hospitality-first approach. The partnership strengthens the on-campus experience through expanded variety and dining concepts, including dedicated dining support for student-athletes at Benfica Soccer Academy, the residential academy for Portugal’s storied Benfica club housed on Saint Leo’s campus.

The reimagined dining program features:

  • A refreshed main dining hall with scratch-made stations and an expanded menu mix, including more plant-forward and allergen-conscious options, along with globally inspired dishes reflecting Saint Leo’s Caribbean and Indian student communities

  • The Field BBQ & Grill, a new late-night, rotating BBQ and smokehouse concept open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 p.m. to midnight, accepting meal exchanges and bringing chef-driven flavor to campus after dark

  • Dedicated dining support for the Benfica Soccer Academy, who are participating in the university’s highest-tier meal plan, alongside Genuine X, Genuine Foods’ performance nutrition program, which brings chef-driven, recovery-focused fueling to all student-athletes across Saint Leo’s campus

  • Mobile ordering and app-based dining tools, giving students menu transparency, pickup scheduling, and feedback tools, built to work alongside Saint Leo’s existing point-of-sale infrastructure

“Radical hospitality is at the center of everything we do at Saint Leo, and dining is one of the most frequent ways our students experience it every day. Genuine Foods shares that commitment, and this partnership gives us a real, measurable way to bring that vision to life on campus,” said Dr. Jim Burkee, president of Saint Leo University. 

Genuine Foods worked closely with Saint Leo’s leadership team, coaching staff, and students to design a program that elevates every part of the dining experience, from menu development and chef-led culinary training to facility readiness and technology integration. 

“We believe that good food unlocks potential,” said Paula Reichel, chief innovation officer for Genuine Foods. “Saint Leo told us what it wanted: more scratch cooking, more hospitality, and a dining program that feels like it belongs on this campus, from the dining hall to The Field BBQ & Grill to the fueling our Genuine X program brings to student-athletes across campus every day. We’re proud to be building that with them, and we can’t wait to welcome the full campus home.”