On Tuesday, Oct. 19, Bon Appetit sent an email informing the student body that the beloved Late Night Commons was back in business, albeit different from years prior. The original Late Night was a dining option at Commons, which offered food after “regular” dining at Commons closed. This service began around 10:00 p.m. and catered to students’ nightly snacking and dining needs.
As previously reported, Bon Appetit is severely understaffed, so it does not have the bandwidth to be able to offer the hours and options they used to. For example, the Howard Diner used to be open longer hours on weekdays, so students could always stop by and grab a sandwich and some fries if they missed dinner or needed another meal.
Before Tuesday, there were no dining halls open on weeknights past 8:30 p.m., and only Diner was open past that time on weekends, which could be frustrating for a college crowd going through the occasional all-nighter. However, Grab and Go Late Night recently launched, and where students enter through the front of Commons to pick up a to-go container with whatever the staff are offering. The menu is subject to change daily.
Reuben Haag, the General Manager of Bon Appetit, spoke to
The Spectator
about how the idea came about. “I don’t think it was one person who came up with the idea. We were brainstorming what could be changed to provide some type of service with as few people as possible. The pickup option was the plan we had the people to support.” Additionally, what brought on the return was “we had requests for later day dining options, and we wanted to try opening Commons for pickup and see if it helped. We had two people able to move their shifts later in the day and we were able to manage covering their other work.”
There have already been a variety of options this past week. In years prior, options were standardized every day. A student might walk in and go order an avocado burger, one of the more popular standard menu items. Last year, there were some more options like nachos, pizza, chicken tenders, and wings. Now, there is more surprise in terms of what a student can expect. Some of them include chili cheese tots, “house made chips with braised beef and blue cheese,” turkey burgers and warm pretzels with mustard and cheese. Anna Botticello ’22 raved about the warm pretzels, noting she would not mind having that option again.
Haag wants the student body to know that “we also want everything back the way it was, and we will do our best to make positive changes as we are able, even if they are small. I would also like to say thank you to all the students that have joined the team and are supporting dining in one way or another. It makes a big difference, and we appreciate it.”
While Grab and Go is a creative alternative, Haag believes regular dining-in Late Night will hopefully make a full return. He says, “as we hire more people and can return to the hours of operation we had before, we will.”
