Dunster Grill Closes Early

Igniting fears of a permanent closing, the Dunster House Grill will stop serving its popular bagels and latenight munchies for the remainder of this year because of revenue losses, grill co-manager Emily C. McNeal '93 said yesterday.

McNeal and co-manager Nicholas W. Saparoff '93 both said they are closing the grill prematurely for practical reasons. "It's near the end of the year. We don't want to order more food and have it rot," Saparoff said.

McNeal also said the recent trend in healthy eating habits has contributed to the grill's steady profit losses in the past few years and that this year, the grill's managers are barely breaking even. A reopening next year is still tentative.

"Bagels are our most popular items, but we can't make much money off of 80 cent bagels with cream cheese," she said.

Requests for healthier foods brought about the addition of yogurt and frozen yogurt, but even those items have not appeased students with strict eating regimens.

"We've had people come down, ask for something healthy, and then decide not to get frozen-yogurt because we weren't sure if it was low or non-fat frozen yogurt," said McNeal.

In addition, the free food Harvard Dining Services offered during reading period also cut into grill profits, Saparoff said. And studious Dunster residents may have shied away from the grill's blaring television and ceaseless chatter, he said. "The people are great here, but they just don't socialize as much."

The lack of house committee support has contributed to the grill's premature closing. Unlike other house grills, the Dunster Grill receives no financial support from the house committee.

But Victor Chiu '95, treasurer of the house committee, said the committee may consider supporting the grill next year, adding that the two organizations are separate.

Meanwhile, the closing of the grill has left many Dunsterites without late-night snacks and a convenient social spot.

"[The grill] has been a fun place to hang out," said Dunster House senior Geneve Allison. "It's too bad it's closing. I go there usually once a week. But now I'll probably eat less greasy foods and study more."