College students generally have two passions: sleep and food. Until now, those with early classes or busy mornings have had to choose one or the other. Never fear, lovers of both food and sleep — Emporium Café is here.
The à-la-carte-style dining option functions out of Plaza 900. It opened to the public on Monday and is open from 7 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. every weekday.
Campus Dining Services Marketing Manager Michael Wuest said he is a fan of the entire to-go breakfast project.
“A good breakfast for me is coffee and a bagel,” he said. “I can go into Emporium, order and get my breakfast in 30 seconds.”
The menu includes basic breakfast items that are easy both to make and to take to-go. Wuest said he is excited about the signature items on the menu, which are either made from scratch or custom-made. In addition, there will be flavors-of-the-day and week selections in an effort to dissuade possible monotony of the morning routine.
The motivation behind the inception is two-fold, Wuest said. Breakfast counts were low, and Campus Dining Services was looking to increase traffic.
“That’s typical on almost any college campus,” he said.
But students voiced their complaints to Campus Dining Services and revealed this was due to a lack of time, not a lack of desire. CDS was able to fulfill student needs.
“There was both a need and space available,” Wuest said.
Emporium Café is a marriage between speed of service and the benefit of breakfast.
“Fourth meal” has also become a reality on campus. Rollins Late Night, which began in October 2010, has been expanded to seven nights a week. The à-la-carte dining option is open until 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Late night dining is not needed Fridays and Saturdays due to low demand, Wuest said.
He also said they’re not looking to expand the service to any other dining halls.
With Rollins Late Night, Mizzou Market and Mort’s, the student requests seem to have been satiated. If there are serious calls for more choices from CDS, Wuest said it will consider opening another option.
Rollins Late Night is popular among many students, such as freshmen Molly Sweeney, Emma Burroughs and Lizzy Schoeffel. They said they go as a group to Rollins Late Night about three nights a week.
“Although, the boys go even more often than we do,” Schoeffel said.
Burroughs said the convenience of Rollins Late Night is a big factor.
“I get off work late, and this is pretty much the only thing open,” Burroughs said.
Sweeney said proximity of the location to their residence halls is another big perk. Schoeffel said the student-run Rollins Late Night does get congested at times.
“Sometimes orders get messed up when it’s crowded,” Schoeffel said.
The lines at peak times show that students are willing to put up with technical difficulties for pizza at midnight on a Wednesday.
Only time will tell if the Emporium Café will see the same success.
Wuest encourages students to stop by the Emporium Café grand opening from 8 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Oct. 18. There will be free samples, similar to the Sabai grand opening this September. Furthermore, there will be giveaway prizes, the most coveted prize being the Plaza VIP pass, which allows the cardholder to jump to the front of the line at Plaza 900 for the rest of the semester.