Tiffany Hu, Contibuting Reporter

The Ivy, a servery in the basement of the Schwarzman Center, opened last spring to student excitement with promises of late-night eats available when few other campus establishments are open.

Nearly halfway into the fall semester, however, the Ivy has yet to reopen for the year. Whether and when it will return remains unclear. Yale Hospitality referred the News to an Oct. 7 email sent to the student body, which explained that staffing shortages have necessitated “some shifts in our service models.”

“While talent recruitment is ongoing to fill vacant positions, we are at the point where we have to make some difficult decisions,” Rafi Taherian, the associate vice president for Yale Hospitality, wrote in the statement.

Connected to the Schwarzman Center’s Elm cafe, the Ivy offers a late-night alternative to the residential dining halls, with a wider range of hours and easy grab-and-go options. 

Yale Hospitality’s website states that the Ivy offers, “Signature Tacos on house-made tortillas, hand-cut Greek Fries tossed in Zaatar, EVOO and Feta, All-Beef Sliders and more.” The prices range from $4 to $9. Like the Elm — Yale’s all-day café — the Ivy accepts Eli Bucks, dining points and credit cards, but not meal swipes.

In the absence of the Ivy, students have continued to search for on-campus meal options that are both affordable and open late.

The residential college dining halls operate from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and till 7 p.m. on Fridays, with the exception of Ezra Stiles and Morse College dining halls, both of which close at 8 p.m. on weekdays. All college dining halls close at 7 p.m. on the weekend.

“It’s a bummer [the Ivy has not returned] because there are nights when I want to grab a late-night snack, and it gets too dark to the point where I don’t want to go somewhere far just to eat,” Ralph De Guzman ’26 said. “It would be very convenient if the Ivy becomes open.” 

Other options for snacks and meals — like the Bow Wow, Commons and the Elm — do not operate in the evenings.

For now, students can grab a meal from Commons, which is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., or snacks and drinks from the Bow Wow, open from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Elm, open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“I hope the Ivy opens soon,” Joseph Elsayyid ’26 said. “I think that it’d help with socializing at Yale, especially when people’s daytime schedules are so hectic that they can only relax and grab a meal with friends past 8 p.m.”

The Yale Schwarzman Center, which includes the Bow Wow, Commons, the Elm and the Ivy is located at 168 Grove St.