Chicago-style pizza has arrived on campus.

Students can finally feast on Connie’s Pizza, the much anticipated Chicago-style pizza, beginning today in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union’s 7th Street Underground, said Jody Horn, director for residence hall food service, in an e-mail.

With all the equipment prepared to operate, food service employees provided samples throughout the day Wednesday, giving students a chance to taste the product.

Horn was hopeful that the addition of Connie’s Pizza to the Chick-Fil-A and Subway further increases business in the 7th Street Underground, which will house the food vendors before they transfer to the new state-of-the-art food court, scheduled to be completed in January 2002.

“I expect Connie’s to be popular, especially at first,” she said. “It is a good, well known product, especially for those from the Chicago area. Pizza is always popular in general and this is great pizza.

“It is new (to the Rathskeller) and something we think our students and customers will like and that, of course, is what we’re here for and what we want to do,” Horn said.

Advancements in technology will allow employees of Connie’s to cook the product directly in front of the customer in an oven that takes a mere 80 seconds to complete the cooking process, Horn said.

She expressed optimism that the addition of Connie’s to the temporary food court will create a mouth-watering combination of eateries for students to choose from, rather than take business away from the other vendors operating.

“I hope overall it increases business and doesn’t take away from the other operations much or at all,” Horn said. “I hope it helps us serve more people in a shorter time. Maybe there are those out there who were just waiting for the pizza.”

Horn said she is relieved Connie’s Pizza is finally able to operate.

“I think it is great we finally got it going,” she said. “I think all of us in dining do. This brings with it all kinds of excitement and planning.”

Nicole Meismer, student supervisor for the temporary food court, said she believes Connie’s will appeal to students with its product and the variety it adds to the 7th Street Underground.

“It will be a nice addition,” Meismer said. “A bunch of my friends are from Chicago and they think it is a neat addition since they have heard of it before.”

Horn said at this juncture, Connie’s will only offer pizza. However, she indicated additional food items may possibly be added to Connie’s Pizza’s menu in the future if space allows.

“There are a lot of constraints, in terms of space, in our temporary location so we want to start with this and see how it goes before we add anything (else),” Horn said.