Campus dining just took a step toward elegance.

With an overhaul of Mac’s Place, renovations in Umphrey Lee, and the addition of a brand-new dining hall in Arnold Commons, SMU Dining Services is making major changes to its campus offerings.

The newest addition, Anita and Truman Arnold Dining Commons, accommodates 500 students and offers indoor and outdoor seating. All residents of each Commons will meet for monthly dinners in Arnold, Dining Services spokesperson Jennifer Chang said.

Booths, high-top tables, and projection televisions have all been installed to contribute to a more communal feel. The new dining hall’s environment will “enable students to gather at the Dining Commons to watch sporting events, concerts and political events,” a SMU news release reported.

“It is just so pretty. It has two floors and there are these huge windows that make the whole area seem brighter. Everything just looks so much nicer, sleeker and cleaner,” said junior Molly O’Connor, who’s spending her summer on campus, preparing as a Mustang Corral Director.

The dining hall, located in far southeast campus, will offer “calzones prepared in a state-of-the-art brick oven, stir-fry prepared at the Mongolian-style grill [and] fresh wheatgrass shots at the juice bar,” Chang said.

Arnold is the sole dining option open during the summer months, while Mac’s Place and Umphrey Lee are undergoing renovations.

While the food, service and atmosphere are impressing on-campus students, the two other standalone dining options are undergoing impressive changes.

Improved seating, more electronic plugs, terrazzo flooring and a renovated faculty and staff dining room will all feature in the north campus dining hall’s renovations. The food will also be updated to match Arnold’s new standard. Umphrey Lee’s construction should be complete by the start of the school year.

By far the largest change is coming to Mac’s Place. The dining hall is scheduled to be open for business on the first day of classes and students should be prepared for the facelift that is coming to the casual dining option.

Though the cafe was reorganized just over a year ago, the new changes should make Mac’s Place more friendly and convenient for on-the-go students.

“The new and improved Mac’s Place will include an upgraded grill, outdoor patio seating and a convenience store market. The renovation will also feature the addition of a touch screen ordering system, which can also be utilized through a mobile phone,” Chang said.

Students hope the new mobile system eliminates the long Mac’s Place burger lines of the past school years.

There will be no changes to the Hughes-Trigg dining options, which include eS MUcho, Subway, Chick-fil-a, Pizza Hut and Sushic.

For senior Clay Moore, also on campus for Mustang Corral Director training, the new options are worth the trek to the newly built residential complex.

“I think it would be great to split [time] between Arnold and Umphrey Lee,” Moore said. “It is summer, so I was expecting all the food to be subpar and [I] would have to wait until the fall to get that good grub in Arnie. However, everything is tasting great. I love Arnie’s,” he said.

Looks like Umph has some fierce, and delicious, competition.