By Lillian Wright-Attea ’27
The Hargroves Café is back, after almost a year of having its doors shuttered. In fact, it’s practically been revamped, with new items like French toast sticks and grilled cheeses filling the menu. Although some things about the Hargroves Café changed, its reopening has been received very well by the school community. “It’s like the in-between of the vending machines and the Open Door,” says Liam Morris-Thompson ’26.
Last year, Hargroves Café primarily sold snacks and hot drinks, very much like the Open Door. This year, though, in addition to snacks, it serves meals—both breakfast and lunch! Lines wrap around the counter at lunchtime as students race to get whatever’s hot on the menu for the day.
In fact, the Hargroves Café is so convenient that many kids are using it to supplement or replace their Yay! Lunch. “It seems like we’re the backup for kids who regularly order Yay! Lunch,” says Tirah Keal, a worker at both the Hargroves Café and the Open Door. Many students who order Yay! Lunch experience their orders showing up without sides, or sometimes not turning up at all, when other people grab the wrong order. “I wouldn’t be surprised if people are mixing and matching,” Keal adds.
Pizza is a big seller at the Café, with most stock being sold out within a few minutes of class letting out for lunch. Even when the hot items run out, though, the instant packages of ramen or mac-and-cheese are always reliable, which is important for a school that does not yet have a cafeteria.
In addition to being a good place to procure meals, students say that Hargroves Café is a good spot to go for snacks. At all times of day, people sit at tables in Hargroves snacking on Pop Tarts, Little Bites, and chips that they bought from the Café. Some students say they really miss certain items not available this year—such as Emily Zhang ’26, who says, “[The cookies] were my favorite thing. I would buy them all the time.” In spite of this, more and more kids are coming to the Hargroves Café for snacks, according to Keal. “It’s pretty grab and go,” she says, noting that the Café’s reopening hasn’t really crowded the seating area in front of it.
Another added benefit that most students agree on is that prices have been agreeable: “I think the price is pretty good for the quality,” says Jay Hangley ’27, nibbling on a French toast stick. The Hargroves Café is almost never empty, with students chattering at empty tables throughout the school day, even after the Café closes. The reinstatement of the Hargroves Cafe has invigorated the upper school community and brought much-needed life back into the Hargroves common areas.
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