Many J Street food venues reduced their hours of operation this week, with several closing at 4 p.m. and not remaining open on weekends.
Six Marvin Center food venues are closing earlier and two venues will not be open on weekends as part of new operating hours that began after spring break. WOW Caf? and Wingery, Jamba Juice, GDub Java, Quiznos, Cyclone Salads and Chick-fil-A will all be open for less time than they were earlier this month.
WOW Wingery, which before break was open until midnight, will be closing at 10 p.m., Jamba Juice is closing at 4 p.m. during the week, Cyclone Salads will be closing an hour earlier at 2 p.m. and GDub Java is closing at 1 p.m., according to the University Dining Services Web site. Quiznos and Chick-fil-A are the two venues that will no longer be open on weekends.
“If they’re not making money, they’re not going to stay open. They have to be profitable,” said Matt Lindsay, assistant director of Media Relations. “We really have to balance the fact that these are businesses and they are trying to make money and they are services to students.”
Pandinis, which serves pizza and pasta in the afternoon, is the one venue that increased its hours. It is now open for breakfast at 8 a.m.
Lindsay said venue hours are continually being reevaluated, and that the hours are not set in stone. This year Sodexho took over food venue operations after Aramark backed out of a University contact last year.
Student feedback is valued when making decisions about venues, he said, and students should feel they can share opinions with the administration through the Dining Services Commission.
Carl Foy, the manager of dining services for Sodexho, said decisions come down to basic economics.
“It’s basically supply and demand,” she said. “If there was more supply for service, then we would provide more.”
Foy said venue hours are normally cut as it gets closer to the summer and business starts to slow.
But on Wednesday, some students said they were angry about the cut in hours, especially at WOW Wingery, which used to close at midnight and is now closing two hours earlier.
“That was the point – that it was open later and has a sports bar atmosphere. I always went there until midnight and then headed over to the Starbucks in Gelman,” said Stephanie Gardner, a junior.
The Gelman Starbucks is open 24 hours a day for a 90-day trial period.
Wendy’s did not change its hours and is open until 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 10 p.m. on the weekends.
-David Ceasar contributed to this report.
