As a part of the new South Quad’s School of Business, Quinnipiac University opened the School of Business Café — following a long period where students were left dealing with long lines and overwhelmed spaces in the existing dining halls. This new location launches a whole menu of food items, including sandwiches, overnight oats and more, as well as acting as an additional Starbucks location.
The School of Business Café is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, with the exception of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays. In order to speed up wait times and boost overall efficiency, the cafe has two mobile ordering kiosks equipped with everything their menu has to offer.
In the process of curating their menu, the Director of Operations with Chartwells Higher Ed Erica Robbins worked alongside Quinnipiac’s chefs and students from the Quinnipiac Dining Advisory Committee to actually prepare the food and get their feedback. Doing so allows them to ensure students have access to their favorite dining options.
“We just wanted to be able to give the students a really high quality product with things that were going to really resonate with them and our customers… So we really look forward to the students’ feedback, and want to be able to hit on every area that you know you guys are looking for, obviously, within reason, as much as we can with what we have available to us,” Robbins said.
Discussing a little bit about the challenges the café has encountered so far, Robbins shared how they have been working to determine peak service times. She explained how, because they tend to vary depending on the day of the week and time, café staff want to ensure that they are able to accommodate larger groups of students and guarantee everyone gets good service.
“I definitely feel like we’re starting to hit our stride now that we’re kind of in our third week,” Robbins said. “We had a full first week of what we call the soft opening, where we were only open for four hours, just to really, kind of let all of the staff, as well as ourselves as managers, get our feet wet and really learn the patterns and what was going to be popular for food and drinks. Each week and each day since then, we’ve really honed in on what everyone’s favorites are, so each day, it’s getting easier to manage that piece of it.”
With the mass amounts of students eager to try out a new dining option, many have expressed positive feedback on food and beverage options and have been very happy with everything they’ve ordered at the School of Business Café so far.
Marketing major Addi Taylor highlights her and her friends’ trips to the café.
Taylor shared, “We get the bagel every time, but they’re always really good. The bagels here are a lot better than (the dining hall), and the drinks are made better here.”
With its prime location at the main entrance of the School of Business, the girls explain how they love the convenience of the café and how they can always go together after their class. The large seating area scattered with couches and tables in front of the cafe provides the perfect atmosphere to chat with friends or just sit down between classes for a bite to eat.
“We always love to work with students to figure out, like, what the perfect fit is going to be,” Robbins said. “The awesome part about having student run operations is where Quinnipiac, Tom Ellett and also Chartwell…all work in collaboration with the student managers at each of these operations to give them the real world skills … so that they’re ready for the future in any new role that they take on [and] so they’re actually all involved in the hiring process as well.”
Subsequently, Robbins goes on to discuss a little bit more about how students can provide their feedback on the café and what they are looking to get out of the space.
“There’s going to be a survey released in the upcoming week to kind of get a general consensus, consensus from the student body population of what kind of [scene] they would like best at the School of Business … we really want [students] to really feel proud of the space that they work in,” Marketing Manager for Chartwells Higher Ed Lexi Pepe said.
All students are eligible to attain a position at the School of Business Café. Students can reach out with inquiries about student employment at [email protected] run by Pepe.
