By Josephine Andoh

Of all the companies that cater to Greek life organizations at the University of Maryland, few have stronger ties to the university than Gill Grilling.

Gill Grilling Company is a catering company that focuses on serving fraternities and sororities. UMD alum Brian Gill founded the company in 2002, when his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, moved from a house in College Park to Fraternity Row. 

“I was the treasurer of the fraternity at the time, and we could not fill all of our rooms,” Gill said. “If we can’t fill our rooms, we can’t pay rent.”

One potential tenant said he would live at the house as long as he didn’t have to walk to South Campus Dining Hall for food.

Gill told him: “‌You know what? I will create a company to cook just for you if you move into this fraternity house.”

From there, Gill Grilling was born. The company solely served UMD Greek life for 10 years, but has now expanded its reach to 47 campuses and markets across 27 states. The company currently serves 12 Greek life chapters at UMD, both in university-owned and private houses.

“It’s somewhat rare to have such a prevalence of university-owned housing, and we work more closely with UMD facilities staff than at any other of our campuses,” Gill said. “Our services at UMD tailor to the fact that the houses are so geographically close to each other and fit between 30 and 60 residents.”

Gill Grilling’s UMD chefs prepare and serve meals for members in-house.

“We don’t have centralized menus or corporate recipes,” Gill said. “We could have lasagna made 50 different ways because each chef has tailored that recipe to the community where they work or the local culture or the way that their grandmother did it.”

This allows chefs to easily adjust their menus based on student requests.

“I was a little worried at first, but [our chef] is very accommodating,” said Evie Wiseman, a sophomore criminal justice and public policy major and member of Zeta Tau Alpha. “He’s always asking us what we like, what we don’t like, and what we want him to add.”

If students are nervous about giving their chef feedback directly, they can use the Gill Grilling App to do so anonymously. They can also use the app to view their meal options.

“There’s probably five to 10 options a day,” Wiseman said. “Sandwiches, quesadillas, pizza, pasta, salad, wraps, stuff like that.”

These centralized meals are designed to allow students to spend time with each other in the midst of their hectic schedules.

“It’s a chance in the middle of your day to reconnect with your friends,” said Evie Mood, a sophomore biology major and member of Kappa Alpha Theta.

The sense of community created by sharing meals is why fraternity and sorority houses have historically included kitchens for professional chefs, according to Gill.

“Around the time when Gill Grilling started, [the model] was shifting from these chefs who would be employed by the Greek organization to the [current] model where third-party contractors would come in,” Gill said.

Gill added that third-party contractors were better-suited to deal with more complex dietary needs and could provide chefs with more financial stability.

“We were fortunate to be doing this at a time where … the marketplace was really primed for a company to put a level of sophistication and professionalism behind a process that had existed for a while,” he said.

Gill Grilling’s market is 90% to 92% Greek life organizations.

“We think of ourselves as providing food service for communities,” Gill said. “Not a restaurant, but a community of people that shares some type of bond and culture.”

Featured Image: A phone featuring the Gill Grilling app taken on March 11. On the app, students in certain Greek life organizations can view menu options and place meal orders. Photo by Josephine Andoh.