With lunch options varying from homemade pizza to baked cod in a Creole sauce, Hopkins High School students have almost as many options available to them as they would at a shopping mall food court.
In the mood for stir fry? Try Ethnic Adventures.
Homemade pizza can be found at the Tuscan Oven, or there are made-to-order sandwiches at the Healthy Nut Cafe.
The Grill serves up hamburgers and fries, while Kremer's Diner is where the baked cod or lime chile chicken fajitas are found.
The availability of options is due to a completely remodeled cafeteria at the high school - funded with 2001 referendum money - and a new kitchen equipped with appliances needed to make meals instead of reheating them.
At the helm of the changes is Bertrand Weber, Royal Cuisine Program's director of operations, who came to the district last year with a background in restaurant and hotel management.
To implement the changes, the Royal Cuisine Program, which is district-run, employs 100 people. While 60 percent of them are traditional lunch kitchen staff, 40 percent come from jobs in the restaurant industry.
"We needed to do something," said Weber. "Pizza and french fries, although falling into USDA guidelines, do not make a healthy meal."
The changes also came at a time when the cash-strapped district was looking for alternative revenue sources to help it cope with continuing budget cuts.
In addition to the changes in the lunchroom, the Royal Cuisine Program started running concession stands, internalized vending machine operations, started a cafe open to the public and began an internal catering business.
Hopkins, while making the most radical changes, isn't the only district in the western suburbs that's decided to give school lunches a facelift.
Wayzata and Minnetonka districts, to varying degrees, are changing how and what students are eating by implementing educational campaigns and hiring marketing consultants to sell the new concepts to students and parents alike.
Like their Hopkins peers, students at Wayzata High School have an array of choices to make at lunchtime. They can go to Lake Street for deli sandwiches, Planet 284 for a variety of ethnic choices or Mangia for pasta or pizza.
The district's food service program, Culinary Express, introduced a white roasted and red pepper chicken pizza and a hummus sampler this year, and recently, 1,000 samples of soy milk were given out as a way to introduce the product to students before it goes on sale.
Mary Anderson, Culinary Express supervisor, makes trips to Byerlys and LeAnn Chins to study what people are buying and tries to translate those trends into the school lunchroom.
"Eating food should be a celebration. It's part of the socialization process," said Anderson.
The variety comes with the hope that students will be making more healthful choices.
This year, Wayzata started the Harvest of the Month program to introduce elementary students to new fruits and vegetables, like pomegranates and brussel sprouts.
"Most of it is exposure and education," said Anderson.
In addition to the pomegranates and brussel sprouts, Culinary Express will be serving blood oranges, fresh beets and mangos this year.
Minnetonka is stressing the educational component of healthful eating with the inception of the Healthy Choices Council.
The idea behind the council is that through peer education, students will make decisions to eat better.
Jane Bender, the assistant supervisor of the district's food services program, said there's also a focus on serving normal sizes instead of the super sizes children are growing accustomed to from restaurants and fast food.
Along with the educational component, the district will introduce another food station at the high school, which will feature organic and whole grain sandwiches and wraps.
But will the students eat the healthier options available to them? School officials say yes, after they're exposed to them a few times.
Anderson said that after the third time she serves a new vegetable, she knows if it's catching on or not.
There are some meals that just don't take. Although the hamburger gravy and mashed potatoes may have tasted good, many students couldn't get over its appearance to try it in Hopkins. Casseroles, Weber learned, are another food to avoid.
But if sales are any indication of the students' appreciation for the new choices, then students like them.
In the beginning of last year, the Hopkins High School was serving 700 meals a day. With the completely redone cafeteria and kitchen, Hopkins is serving 1,300 to 1,400 meals a day.
The increase of sales is hoped to offset the increase of costs to serve the more healthful options.
Wayzata, like the other districts, has a self-supporting program. Culinary Express runs off of a $4 million budget. Last year it even provided $370,000 to the general operating budget.
Hopkins is depending on an increase in sales and the slew of other changes to churn the financial figures officials want.
The new internal catering business, Royal Rock Catering, and the Wetlands Cafe, which is open to the public, are expected to make up for the additional costs.
By the end of the month, the district will be free of all its Pepsi vending machines. Instead of pop, the vending machines will be stocked with water, 100 percent natural fruit juice, fruit-sweetened spritzers and natural sport drinks.
Internalizing concession stands comes with the hope that healthier options, like grilled corn on the cob, will become more popular.
All of the changes in the district come with the expectation that students will learn to make healthier decisions, given the means to make them.