Just below the menu on the Kim's Food food truck, located next to the Pottruck Health and Fitness Center, a new sign is being displayed. Scrawled across is the phrase, "We're open to 8 p.m. now," finished off with a jubilant exclamation point.
That final mark of punctuation encompasses all that Yan Qing Guo, owner of Kim's Food, which serves both Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine, said she is feeling.
"We were very happy," Guo said last Friday, in reference to being offered an amended lease, which features a new extended closing time.
Kim's Food is one of 23 vendors in the Fresh Air Food Plazas that is being offered the later closing time.
Guo said she seized the opportunity because the change was "better for business."
"We want to say thank you to the students" who made this possible, Guo said, crediting the student body for pushing University officials to extend hours.
Many students also pleased with the University's decision seemed to agree that campus support was the impetus for change.
"There was a lot of student pressure," College sophomore Chintan Mehta said. He said he thought the "negative publicity for the University," may have been the reason the administration altered the enforcement of the old policy.
Many patrons specifically recall the day when the stricter enforcement of the 6 p.m. curfew went into effect.
"One day they were just gone," College senior Jed Feldman said.
"It was horrible [when they began to close earlier because] ... my entire world revolves around the food trucks," said Shannon Hogan, a graduate student in the School of Education.
Since the earlier closing time had been in effect for several months, many food truck customers did not think that the administration was going to change the policy.
"I was very surprised," Feldman said of the extension.
"I would have liked 9 [p.m.], but I guess 8 [p.m.] is better than nothing," he said, adding that he used to frequent the trucks routinely after 8 in the evening.
Students also said they welcomed the change because it provided an alternative to pricier dinner options.
"The dining halls are extremely expensive," College junior Hem Wadhar said, praising the food trucks.
Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino would not comment on how many of the affected vendors were to take advantage of the longer hours.
