In an effort to help cafeteria vendor Epicurean recoup losses in the first year of operation, the hours of operation for the Bay View Café will change, starting on Monday, July 2. Breakfast service will begin at 8 instead of 7 a.m., lunch will start at 11:30 a.m., the coffee bar will close at 3 instead of 3:30 p.m., and customers will be charged 25 cents for to-go containers. Go here for more on the changes at the Café.
Tags: Cafeteria
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I encourage those with Smartphones to try out their Pago service. It saves time and makes ordering and paying really convenient. I used to just use it for espresso drinks, but now I also have started getting burgers once in a while, and I use the Pago for that as well. They are always delicious and cooked a perfect medium-rare for me, and ready for me to grab from Jacqueline at the Peet’s counter. No waiting in line. They also do a great job with catering as well and the overall quality of their food, especially the salad bar, is amazing. Hopefully this article will encourage people to use them more and they will continue at the Lab with more success.
Opening at 8 a.m. will likely decrease the cafe’s business further since many people have to be at work AT 8 a.m. Extremely unfortunate decision. Even opening at 7:30 or 7:45 would help; otherwise many of us, myself included, will go elsewhere en route to work.
I echo Ms. Oddone’s comment. I support your decision to cut cost, but opening the Cafeteria at 8 am is definitely not a thoughtful idea!! You must not have known that many at the Lab start work as early as 7 am (some start even earlier), otherwise you would not have made such decision. I highly recommend that you revert to opening the Cafeteria at 7 am, or at least 7:30 am. Cut cost but please do NOT reduce your service to the Lab community! Thank you in advance for your kind consideration.
Opening at 8:00 a.m. will certainly mean that you will lose business. I also have to be at work before 8:00 a.m. and would have to go elsewhere to get breakfast. I hope that you will reconsider this decision.
Opening at 6:45 would be my preference, since my regular conference calls start at 7 am. I really like the taste of freshly brewed coffee and would love to be able to sip some while on the phone. Opening at 6:45 would make it possible for other folks who start at 7 am to increase your breakfast business.
I applaud the charge for to-go containers. That seems like a win for the environment. Can employees bring a tupperware and get to-go orders in that?
I agree, opening at 8:00am is not a good idea. Many people will just go elsewhere since they have to be at work at 7:00am or 7:30am. It is just not convenient for other people, and limiting choices for lunch will certainly hurt business. Why go there when you can go to downtown Berkeley and get cheaper food that has the same high quality?
I support those who commented that it’s not a good decision to open at 8am and should keep it at 7am for the early LBL employees who start before 8am. I suspect you will lose more business. Do you have facts to support your decision that costs will be cut by opening later? Have you taken into consideration customer needs? This is definitely not a well rounded decision.
The late 8 AM opening time, as many have pointed out, is a real loss of value – I often came in earlier than that for breakfast. In past years, pre-Epicurean, business at that time was always solid. There is a large group of employees here who start at 7 AM; I think the cafeteria used to open, at least before Epicurean started operations, at 6:30, or even earlier. Both for providing the service we desire, and the revenue Epicurean needs, it would likely be much more productive to open at 6:15 or 6:30, run with minimal staff (if necessary financially), and take in the additional revenue that is available at that time, and required to make the business aspect successful. If Epicurean’s previous opening time was 7AM (I’d assumed it was earlier, although I rarely arrived before 7), that would explain why the early morning revenue opportunity has never materialized – for the hundreds of staff who start at 7 AM, an opening time around 6:15 is what’s needed. For really solid data on what the morning, pre-7AM crowd could do for you, Epicuean management, get in touch with line cooks Pedro and Jose (worked for the two contract holders before you) – they were well liked, and always very busy in the monring – typically had to wait a minute or two just to get their attention and have the opportunity to place an order.