Nearly ten years since its last renovation, the Ansari Business building welcomed a fresh, new look for its Las Trojes restaurant over the winter break. Complete with a new paint job, new registers, new tiling, and a new take on its Mexican theme, the restaurant has been drawing positive reactions.

Russ Meyer, associate director for housing, said Las Trojes was ready for the update.

"[Las Trojes] looked old and worn," Meyer said. "It was due for a change."

The interior of the restaurant was brightened with oranges and reds, while the floor was retiled. The columns standing outside of the restaurant received an update as well. The digitally enhanced pictures came courtesy of Truckee photographer Elizabeth Carmel.

Meyer hopes that the extension of color to the exterior of the restaurant and the new wrought iron sign will draw more customers.  

Marta Chavez, who has worked at Las Trojes as a cashier for five years, said she is very happy about the change.

"When I saw the colors, I said, wow, this is going to be something different," Chavez said.

The bright oranges and reds weren't the only option for Las Trojes' color scheme. Meyer said he was also toying with the idea of painting the area in the traditional Mexican colors of red, white and green, but opted for the brighter alternative.

"Everybody's happy with the colors, and the students too," Chavez said. "We've got a lot of comments [about the remodeling]. This is like a real Mexican fiesta."

With the completion of the remodeling of Las Trojes, Meyer said that all food service areas on campus would have been remodeled within the last six years. Since Meyer started at the university in 1992, the university has grown by 33 percent.

 "When campuses grow like that, you have to keep renovating," Meyer said.

Meyer said he isn't done with Las Trojes just yet. Currently, Meyer is looking at costs for fixed seating for the nearby lobby, which may be completed as early as Spring Break. However, it won't come cheap. For a set of one table and four chairs, the cost runs roughly around $1,000. Even with the addition of seating, Meyer says the project will stay within its budget of $75,000.