The State Room's Operations Manager Marianne Bacon said the restaurant was open seven days a week prior to COVID-19, including three meal periods a day.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the bar and dinner service is now held Tuesdays-Fridays from 4 to 10 p.m. and on MSU game days, from 3 to 10 p.m. along with the innovative dining choice from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The State Room has not proceeded with the breakfast and the Sunday buffet meals.

“We closed our doors March 2020 for what we thought was two weeks and ended up being 14 months,” Bacon said. “When we reopened, we reopened with this mindset of how we can be a more integral part of the university.”

The dining option is having a trial run for January, allowing a selected few students, staff and faculty the opportunity to feel out the latest mini buffet-style option. The official opening for all students, staff, and faculty will occur in February.

“We had always wanted to do a partnership where we could offer students and faculty and staff with dining plans to use their dining plan option here,” Bacon said. “With a chance to explore what we think is like the crown jewel of the hospitality lab here at MSU.”

Along with Bacon, Morning Range Cook Emily Skeltis has also pitched in for the self-service dining. She gets to be hands-on in all parts of the project, helping with the menu options, food execution and set up.

“The part of cooking that I take pride in is caring about people's allergens and being allergen-friendly and cooking with care while also keeping in vegan needs,” Skeltis said. “I'd like to put a little bit more of love into it and be a little bit more creative with certain ideas.”

There have been expressions of appreciation for those who have had a chance to visit. There have been a few regulars who have come in for almost every day of the week.

“So I don't eat a lot of red meat. So that felt really good knowing that, you know, I could have food and it wouldn't be things that couldn't eat,” criminal justice junior Harnoor Kaur said. “It just is different from what we're used to in the dining halls. It's quiet, it's calm, the food's good. The atmosphere and the vibe is really nice.”

Another student admired something else along with the menu options and space at The State Room.

“It is nice that they have the complimentary parking,” human biology senior Stavros Hedglin said. “That makes it easier too because if I had to be paying every day, I probably also wouldn't be coming.”

Though there has been some progression inside the restaurant, the university's COVID-19 protocols and regulations will still be considered and performed daily by the staff.

“That's a big thing for us: we ask that our guests maintain the university's compliance with the mask mandate,” Bacon said. “Aside from the heavy sanitation that we do, we also use really high concentrated sanitation practices with using Oxivir and such in those chemical-based sanitations for our tabletops and changing our utensils and things like that.”