New look for YOUR Riverside Dining Facility Published Feb. 16, 2012 By Brig. Gen. Anthony Cotton Commander, 45th Space Wing PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- We are pleased to announce that the new and improved Riverside Dining Facility (RDF) is reopening on Feb. 21 and will be open to all DoD cardholders again. The reformatted dining facility opened last year to rave reviews. Now it's even better. Join us for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 11 a.m. We'll be giving out some great prizes so don't miss it. If you didn't already know, Patrick AFB was selected as one of six CONUS bases to implement a test of contracted food and beverage operations under the USAF Food Transformation Initiative. In January 2011, the RDF became a contracted dining facility with food service supported by ARAMARK. This is a totally new concept from the traditional role of a military dining facility. Under this new construct, we were able to expand our customer base to military, civilians, contractors, retirees and families. As you can imagine, the RDF became a very popular eating spot last year, so we needed to do these renovations to upgrade the infrastructure and better support our customers. Nearly $2 million dollars have been invested in upgrades. You will be able to see a state of the art facility with outstanding food options from pizza and deli sandwiches to delicious and nutritious salads, hot meals, light cooking and other healthy choices. We have also doubled the seating capacity from 249 to 505. If you have ever visited the RDF during the lunchtime rush, you know that is a huge plus up. There are also 150 seats on the new patio overlooking the Banana River. The Force Support Squadron and ARAMARK have teamed together to bring you this amazing facility with a steeped tradition of excellence. The RDF has been Air Force Space Command's best dining facility 11 times in the last 15 years and the Air Force's on two separate occasions. Once you step into this facility, I think you will agree, we have just begun! Keep pushing, Sharks!