Last week, Boston College Dining Services reopened On The Fly in McElroy with a new identity: College Road Cafe & Market, or CoRo Cafe. This new dining establishment is the beginning of a continuous project that will take an additional three to four years to complete. In the future, the University plans to connect the cafe to a side study room for more seating, install faux hardwood flooring, and refurnish the general area. Hoping that the finished product mimics a coffeehouse, BC aims to provide students with a friendly, relaxed ambiance in which they can socialize and work. This change comes following a refurbishment of the Rat, in which a more modern, sleek look was installed in order to make the dining hall a more adequate facility.
Having already served Starbucks drinks in the snack shop, the atmosphere of the CoRo Cafe is shifting to become a sit-down dining experience with the implementation of a pizza oven and on-tap beverages like iced tea, cold brew coffee, and kombucha. The pizza oven will produce flatbreads, similar to those at Addie’s. The pizzas, named after BC staples such as “The Gasson” and “The Screaming Eagle,” have the option to be made with regular or gluten-free cauliflower crusts. The CoRo Cafe will also soon implement GET, a delivery service so that students will have the option to obtain full meals more conveniently. Nevertheless, the cafe will continue to sell a limited supply of the products that were available at On The Fly while still promoting the new options available that appeal to students’ most popular dining preferences.
BC’s creation of a new casual dining area will allow students, especially freshmen and dissatisfied sophomores living on CoRo, more comfortable socializing spaces, and it’s a good step for the school as BC considers constructing a student center on Lower Campus at some point in the future. In order to improve BC students’ dining experience, the CoRo Cafe is a pleasant alternative for students to get not only snacks, but also better tasting food with options that are healthier and safer for food intolerances. The products available are students’ most purchased items as well as new, popular elements that students frequently purchase at other dining locations. This shows a significant effort on behalf of the administration to make campus a more pleasant and hospitable environment.
Featured Graphic by Nicole Chan / Graphics Editor
