The Salty, a new breakfast spot, is coming to UNC Charlotte

The Salty, a new campus dining option, will open near East Deck in late March. The Salty will appear on campus in a food truck or vintage travel trailer serving donuts, coffee and other breakfast items.

The new addition will cater mainly to the commuter population.

"The reason that we chose [East Deck] is we did a survey with commuters," said Ben Kolnos, senior retail director at Chartwells, UNC Charlotte's campus dining service. "They say that they have such a limited amount of time to get here before class that going into the Thoughtful Cup or any one of our other locations doesn't always work for them. So we thought we'd bring something to them."

The Salty is a Florida-based company that recently expanded into Charlotte. They specialize in creating unique artisanal donuts. Depending on the week, The Salty's donut varieties range from traditional glazed donuts to donuts stuffed with stewed beef.

"They recently opened a location in the South End," said Kolnos. "It's easily accessible by the CATS rail system. They specialize in specialty doughnuts. Their flavors change monthly. They also have baked goods, doughnut holes, specialty coffees. They are expanding their menu from just donuts, so they do offer cookies, breakfast options, coffees and stuff like that."

The Salty will be on campus regularly on most weekday mornings. Students will have the option to purchase items from The Salty with their school funds or with traditional payment methods.

"They will be on the Niner Diners mobile app," said Kolnos. "So you can use your campus funds to order. They'll be here Monday through Thursday in the morning. The hours are being finalized."

Starting on March 20, The Salty is expected to become a popular location for breakfast dining on campus.

"The first week, because the donuts take 24 hours to make and proof and bake, they may sell out of certain flavors," said Kolnos. "They're going to try and guess which the students like, but there might be some availability issues, especially later in the day. But after that first week, we should have a full menu all the time."

Niner Diners will have promotional offers for The Salty during the food truck's initial launch period.

"You should see us on campus the week before," said Kolnos. "We'll be trying to get the word out. Definitely engage early, follow them, follow us on Instagram, and we'll definitely have some promotions. Especially [around] opening."

If there is enough positive reaction for the East Deck location, The Salty will become a common service offered across Charlotte's campus.

"They have plans to expand [off campus] and on campus as well," said Kolnos. "If this location at the East Deck does great, we might add another service where the typical food trucks are. We'll put them in the mix either at Prospector or in front of CHHS, and also utilize them at the football games. We'd like to start this relationship because one, their product is great, two, it's a local business that we'd like to partner with and three, it fills a location by the East Deck that is underserved. Also, they have great doughnuts, and you [couldn't] really get that on campus [before]."