While tame compared to the Great Lamont Dessert Riot of 2005, a few hundred students turned out for last Thursday’s grand opening of the Penthouse Coffee Bar in Hilles Library. As one female undergrad yelled to a friend, “They’re just, like, giving away sandwiches...I’m going to go get my bag!”
The Penthouse Coffee Bar is part of the new Student Organization Center at Hilles (SOCH) located on the fourth floor. Open Sunday to Thursday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., the café specializes in “Syrian flatbread pizzas created specifically for this location,” according to Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) Director for Culinary Operations Martin T. Breslin. HUDS seems to have made a big hit: at the opening, one student turned in a comment card describing the pizzas as “GREAT! Fantastical even!”
In addition to cheeseburgers and buffalo chicken flavored pizzas, the café offers late night snack fixes like salads, sandwiches, ice cream, and other desserts. Drink options range from assorted fruit smoothies and frozen lattés to cappuccinos and espressos.
The Penthouse Coffee Bar also features a rotating exhibit of student artwork, as well as folk music and larger concerts. On nights without scheduled performances, students can plug their own MP3 players into the café’s sound system.
While most students enjoyed the new space, some wondered whether the café would actually be used. As Currier resident Aaron Kolenda ’08 put it, “Nobody goes to this library, do they?”
Despite some student’s concerns, Paul J. McLoughlin II, Assistant Dean of the College and Project Manger for the SOCH, seemed confident that the center would be a valuable resource for the college. “On a campus where space is so precious, this is 40,000 square feet for student space,” says McLoughlin. Hopefully, students will find that the space is better filled with Syrian pizza than dusty old books.
