Student-run restaurant opens at Lucerne Valley Middle/High School

Culinary-minded students opened “The Corral” restaurant at Lucerne Valley Middle/High School.

With the new restaurant, school staff members will no longer have to bring sack lunches, get something at the cafeteria, or go off campus to grab a meal.

Starting Friday, April 25, Culinary Arts Program students will officially launch their lunchtime restaurant, serving custom-made burgers, fries, soft drinks and pastry items.

The Corral hosted a soft opening on Friday, April 12, which attracted several hungry staff members including Lucerne Valley Unified School District Superintendent Peter Livingston, Assistant Superintendent Nate Lambdin, Assistant Principal Jessica Haecker and Head Counselor Kevin Barda.

Student-led restaurant

The culinary students will cook, prepare and serve the food at The Corral, which is an ode to the schools mascots — the Colts and the Mustangs.

“This is a student-led, work-based restaurant,” teacher Ashley Lear said. “To start, the restaurant staff will be keeping the menu limited. They’re not going to be doing multiple items for a little while just to get them used to the feel of cooking it and getting it out.”

Once the restaurant opens, staff members will call in lunch orders based on Lear’s emails that list menu items served the following day.

“The teachers put their order in the day before so the kids know how much they’re going to make,” Lear said. “The orders are then prepared in the program classroom, which has professional-grade grills, ovens, prep work stations and all the necessary kitchen tools.”

Students will put each meal order in a to-go bag and bring them to The Corral where the staff members pick them up, Lear said. Staff members can either eat their food in the restaurant or take it back to their workstations.

Instead of cash or credit cards for payment, special pre-purchased cards are used. Restaurant cashiers punch out customer lunch cards with each punch representing $1.

“The Corral, so aptly named here at Lucerne Valley High School, is something we had in the works for many years,” said Lambdin, who previously served as principal “Behind every great program is a great person, and Ashley Lear has taken over in the short time she’s been here we have our soft opening. The kids are doing great, the food’s amazing, and I’m super excited to be here.”

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Student-run restaurant opens at Lucerne Valley Middle/High School