O'Yeah Cafe encountering success where Little Willy's failed
The new O'Yeah Cafe is diversifying food choices in the RMC (See story in NEWS). Little Willy's and the O'Yeah Cafe might have funny names, but these two restaurants tell an informative tale about how to operate a successful business on campus. Little Willy's served the same food Willy's Pub does, satisfying a nonexistent demand and subsequently floundering. Simply because a business is student-run does not make it a good one, and Little Willy's proved that Pub must make the hard, smart decisions that every business faces. It might sound harsh, but the Thresher is glad that Pub has finally cut its losses and now focuses on the primary business downstairs from their failed venture.
Its replacement, the O'Yeah Cafe has already proven a success. Rice campus has many fans of Asian cuisine, but, until recently, no permanent offering of Chinese food. RMC options were solid but not diverse until now. Hungry graduate students were forced to order food from the O'Yeah Cafe off campus and had to wait for it to deliver. O'Yeah Cafe changed this by bringing its cheap, hearty offerings on campus. As the long lunch lines in the RMC show, O'Yeah Cafe has found a successful niche, and we hope they have a long and happy stay on Rice's campus.
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