A hub of activity during lunch hours, Durfee’s Sweet Shoppe boasts a wide variety of items to choose from and each day sees a seemingly never-ending flow of students stop by to grab a bite between classes.
This year, Yale Dining has taken steps to revamp Durfee’s: Students can now use a $9 meal swipe — as opposed to $8 in years past — and choose from a new and increased array of food options. The Yale community has received these changes positively, prompting questions about whether Yale Dining should open a Durfee’s equivalent closer to the new colleges.
In an interview with the News, Rebekah Basquette, a Dining Services Manager at Yale, discussed some of the changes that Durfee’s put into place this year.
“There are many healthy options for students,” Basquette said. “If you just take a look around, you can see that there are sandwiches, chicken tenders, samosas, sushi and so much more for students to choose from. We constantly have a flow of students in here, especially between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. where students can use the lunch swipe at that point.”
Keera Annamaneni ’20, who has frequented Durfee’s since she was a first year, described the $9 dollar meal swipe as a positive change and said she appreciates being able to buy more food during lunch hours.
But some students interviewed by the News said they were not aware of the changes. Both Elias Mastakouris ’20 and Nikolaj Hoejer ’18 said that they did not know that the swipe amount changed from $8 to $9.
Still, open until 1 a.m. seven nights a week, Durfee’s offers students an easy way to grab a late-night snack.
Students in the colleges to the north, who often need to trek some distance to Durfee’s, share the desire for such a convenient option.
“I think it would be beneficial for there to be something for STEM majors that would take the meal swipes and had the variety that Durfee’s has,” said Tom Postiglione ’21, a student in Benjamin Franklin College. “I think that for most of the STEM classes, they aren’t close to Durfee’s at all, and as a result, it is very difficult for STEM majors to make the trip to the opposite side of campus.”
Postiglione said the dining halls in Murray and Franklin are “pretty crowded” during lunch and suggested that a Durfee’s type of facility might help offset long lines.
Abigail Eswarakumar ’21 echoed Postiglione’s sentiment, stating that one of the reasons she is unable to visit Durfee’s as much as she wants is distance from where she lives. While some of her classes are close to Old Campus, she doesn’t have the time to go to Durfee’s and make it to class on time, Eswarakumar added.
“If I had to quantify it, I would say that I go to Durfee’s about once every two weeks,” she said. “I think that it would definitely be beneficial to have something like Durfee’s near Franklin, where I live. Especially on the weekends, it just proves to be inconvenient to go all the way to Durfee’s to get a snack. Every time I do go, I really like the variety and would love if we had a place with just as much variety near Franklin and Murray.”
Isha Dalal | isha.dalal@yale.edu