More options for Dining Dollars to open in fall

This fall, students will have three new locations to satisfy caffeine cravings or midnight munchies.

Two cafes -- Mark's Cafe in Van Pelt Library and the Cyber Cafe in the Towne Building -- are both poised to open as the fall semester begins, offering drinks and an assortment of prepared foods.

Mid-semester, "Triangle Diner" -- a 1950s diner-style restaurant accepting Dining Dollars -- will open in the Stouffer Triangle complex on Spruce Street between 37th and 38th streets. The diner will be open late and is targeting Quadrangle residents, according to dining officials.

All three venues are part of "the overall dining plan to provide residential dining... and retail options," according to Dining Services Contract and Relationship Manager Laurie Cousart.

Other retail options coming to campus include Chick-fil-A and Fresh‰ns Smoothies -- two national chain franchises -- which will be moving into the middle level of the Class of 1920 Commons Dining Hall.

The decision to bring in the new offerings was based on the results of MarketMatch, a study completed by Aramark earlier this year, which analyzed students' eating habits and needs.

"It's something the students have said for years that they've wanted," Library Director of External Affairs Adam Corson-Finnerty said of Mark's Cafe.

"We want the library to be a destination," Interim Vice-Provost and Director of Libraries Carton Rogers said, noting that the library cafe will provide an area for socializing as well as studying.

"We think [the cafe] lends nicely to the overall repurposing of the library space," he said, adding that library administrators had looked to popular library cafes at other universities -- including Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University -- to help finalize the concept.

The library will see a number of other changes this fall, including "a much more liberal policy toward food," according to Corson-Finnerty. Administrators plan to allow students to bring covered beverage containers throughout the library space.

"We've had a long tradition of no-food policies," Rogers said. "We're poised to change that policy."

Students will also be able to bring library resources and study materials outdoors onto a patio area that will be an extension of the cafe. The patio, which will be created as the class of 2004's senior class gift, will only be accessible through the library.

Mark's Cafe will have seating for close to 100 when the outdoor patio is in use.

The library cafe "will be a little bigger... with a broader choice of food" than the Cyber Cafe, Cousart said.

Noting that espresso, chi tea, sandwiches and snacks will be sold at both locations, Cousart said the menus have yet to be finalized.

Even without all the details in place, library administrators have high expectations for the cafe.

"The whole idea is just to make this a more welcoming area," said Associate Director of Development and External Affairs Chris Foley.

The slogan appearing on the cafe mugs will be "Eat, drink, chat, think," Foley said. "I think that's very fitting."

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