That's the item that Ryan Trevino said was his favorite.

"That was outstanding; It was by far my favorite dish," he said.

As information technology representative for Student Affairs, he got to attend a taste testing of The Laughing Tomato dishes in early May. Other memorable dishes included roasted edamame, tabouli and hummus.

Trevino said all the food he tried was great, and he plans to eat at The Laughing Tomato when it opens.

"I think it's a great complement and alternative to what they have in the Union," he said.

Another focus of the restaurant will be on providing ready-made food so students won't have to wait in long lines. Lines at Quiznos in the food court can last for 30 minutes or more during the lunch rush. The only other take-and-go restaurant in the Union is Chick-Fil-A.

"The lines get so long in this building," Carter said. "... Hopefully that will reduce some of the wait."

In addition to being good for the body, the restaurant also will try to be good for the environment. The food purchased will use sustainable practices and the containers will be made with compostable materials.

With all the attention placed on eating healthy, organic and natural these days, it just made sense to start The Laughing Tomato, officials said.

"It took longer to come up with the name," than the idea for the restaurant, Barker said.

Originally Barker was going to do a naming contest, like Housing and Food Services has done in the past. But the H--FS staff has learned that that's not always a good idea.

For the restaurant at the National Weather Center, a naming contest ended up naming it The Flying Cow, a reference to the movie "Twister." That is a good name, Barker said, but the runner-up for the contest was Moist Tongue, and no one would want to eat there.

They were looking at a Will Rogers quote, "An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh," Barker said. And H--FS employee Chris Kaeser responded: "But tomatoes make you laugh."

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com