RUNNING DRY

Business at Mulligan's Grill and Pub, which overlooks the university's golf green, has been stuck in a rough patch, but Dining Services officials are working to drive the restaurant's popularity back on course.

Because the golf course and its accompanying restaurant and bar are still struggling two and a half years after they reopened, Dining Services began pushing Mulligan's promotions this semester to entice more customers, officials said.

The new perks include guest bartenders — such as Terrapins field hockey coach Missy Meharg — an expanded dinner menu scheduled to change with the seasons and live jazz music two nights each month.

"The dinner business needs a big boost," Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple said. "Aggressive efforts to increase business are certainly called for."

Because big-name bartenders attract guests to the course, they also receive a cut of the night's profits — a strategy Mulligan's Manager Carlos Bonilla said is worth the price.

"We're trying to get the word out that, ‘Hey, this is an excellent bar,' and we're trying to get the people at the bar over to the dining room," he said.

When Mulligan's opened 11 years ago, it was originally intended to have an informal dining vibe; however, business demands prompted the managers to transition to table service and a wait staff. The restaurant was more profitable prior to golf course renovations more than two years ago, Bonilla said, but it has taken a financial blow ever since.

Bonilla attributed the business' struggles to the restaurant's location — it is far from any public transportation routes. Except during golf tournament weekends, Bonilla said, the campus community largely neglects his restaurant.

"I think we have a wonderful product and a wonderful menu, but it's not very convenient," Bonilla said. "I'm not sure if it's because people have to cross [Route 193], but there's not a steady stream of customers."

Some students said convenience is a main factor when choosing where to eat.

"I'll usually only go [to the course] to play golf, so I don't really go to Mulligan's," junior sociology major Marc Mancini said. "It seems like a really good place to go, but it's not very convenient for students to get there."

Other students, such as sophomore architecture major Hannah Triebel, a waitress and hostess at Mulligan's, said many of their peers are unaware that the golf green and restaurant even exist.

"A lot of my friends don't even know we have a golf course here," Triebel said. "You can use Terrapin Express or Terp Bucks here, but a lot of people don't know that, and it's also a far walk."

Currently, the restaurant's dinnertime profits only account for about 20 percent of its revenue, Bonilla said, adding he hopes the revamped menu will draw in more hungry customers at night.

Mulligan's lunch and bar services, which each rake in about a third of the restaurant's revenue, remain its strongest sources of income, Dining Services officials said. But these sources alone cannot effectively support the whole facility.

While officials do not expect Mulligan's to close anytime soon, they said the restaurant has never been as popular as they had originally hoped.

"It was never as popular as anticipated, and it was always a little more complicated to run," Hipple said. "There's five aspects to this business — the bar, dining room, snack shop, food carts and tent service — and we would like all of them to be doing well."

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