EDMONTON—University of Alberta students will be able to get their Filistix fix when they go back to school in September.

The popular Edmonton restaurant will move to the Students’ Union Building, replacing the Undergrind coffee shop on the lower level. The SUB will house two other new food options, a Hula Poke and a Konz pizza.

Filistix, which serves Filipino, Korean and Thai cuisine, was surprised when the university’s food-service provider, Aramark, announced it would not renew the restaurant’s lease covering two campus locations.

Co-owner Ariel del Rosario says it all worked out for the better, since the new location is near a popular student hangout.

“We are very pleased and excited to have this opportunity … to continue serving the university community,” said del Rosario. “The students’ union was very accommodating.”

The local Edmonton restaurant was so popular with both students and staff looking for healthy food options that more than 1,700 people signed a petition protesting Aramark’s decision not to renew Filistix’s lease.

“It was healthy, it was home-cooked, and had local ingredients,” said Alix Kemp, a spokeswoman for the University of Alberta Students’ Union. “Students obviously were concerned about it being closed.”

She doesn’t know why the contract was cancelled, saying Aramark was “not most forthcoming with these details.” But the SUB had been looking for a new food tenant and Filistix reached out in its search for a new home on campus.

“It was really quite fortunate,” said Kemp. “If we found someone sooner, we wouldn’t have had that space available.”

For students who rely on campus food for their main meals, healthy food options are crucial.

“We have a lot of fast food on campus, like Tim Hortons,” said Kemp. “But students seem to be putting more and more priority on being healthy.”

Del Rosario said the restaurant offers several healthy food options, such as chicken adobo, based on a Filipino recipe, and coconut curry chicken, a South Pacific dish.

“We’re really excited that Filistix is coming back,” said Andre Bourgeois, vice-president of the students’ union. “Students are always asking for healthy food options.”

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