Cabot Café Begins Morning Service

As of Monday, the popular Quad gathering spot Cabot Café is now open in the mornings, following student demands to extend the coffee shop's hours.

After six years of business, the student-run late night café decided to expand its hours to open from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. every Monday through Thursday. Previously, the coffee shop was open only from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights.

Cabot Café staff say they decided to extend their hours after considering students’ interest in the earlier hours and the café’s recent financial success.

“We’ve had a lot of demand for it in recent years,” said Pepo A. Zivny '19, Cabot Café’s facilities manager. “And the café’s been doing so well, at least financially, that we thought we could risk it.”

The café is located in the basement of Cabot House and offers a variety of coffee and tea drinks, as well as bagels and pastries. For now, the menu will be the same in the mornings and evenings, according to senior barista Maeva M. O’Brien '18.

In addition to providing refreshments, Cabot Café serves as a frequent hang-out and study space for Quad residents. It showcases student artwork and hosts live performances, according to its website.

O’Brien said that because of this unique role as a nighttime gathering space, she expects that the café will likely see less traffic in the morning than in the evenings.

“At night, a lot of people go to the café to spend a lot of time there working, or studying, or talking to friends, and I don’t know if that culture will be the same in the morning,” she said.

For some like Cabot House resident Emma S. J. Schwartz '18, the new hours are a welcome change. Schwartz said she looks forward to working in Cabot Café in the mornings.

“I think the hours are very convenient for people who have 9 a.m. classes, 10 a.m. classes, 11 a.m. classes to get their coffee before they go,” she said. “I think they’re going to get a lot of business.”

But for others, the new hours may not be as useful as Cabot Café staff hope.

Ana K. Cepeda Diaz ‘19 said she was less excited about the café’s choice in hours, adding that it should open on Friday and Saturday evenings instead, when Cabot’s dining hall does not offer late-night snack options at Brain Break.

“I found it odd, because you’d think they wouldn’t have a market if breakfast is open, so it would compete with breakfast,” Cepeda Diaz said.

While the café adjusts to its new schedule, baristas say they already look forward to pursuing other changes to Cabot Cafe’s operations.

“We’re always looking to expand our menu and expand our drink options,” Zivny said. “In the coming months or weeks, we might invest in a cold brew machine so that we can offer slightly more caffeine to our very hardworking students."