Expand affordable and accessible coffee options

By Thresher Editorial Board     9/3/24 11:17pm

Dear Little Kitchen: it’s only been a week, but we already miss you. Please take us back — this new relationship isn’t working for us. 

Chaus’ recent lines, so long they can extend to the campus store, is enough to make one yearn for Little Kitchen HTX’s ten-minute in-and-out coffee runs. While replacing Little Kitchen HTX with a vendor offering similar foods may be apt, we don’t think it’s wise to remove a key caffeine source from campus, especially as day-to-day demand for coffee grows. 

Construction on Brochstein Pavilion and the Jones School of Business have closed Little Kitchen HTX and Audrey’s respectively, leaving students with few coffee options in the meantime. As Rice expands its student body, administration should work to preserve the student experience — stimulating classes, a tight-knit culture and, yes, frequent coffee runs. 

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Chaus and Dandelion Cafe both serve coffee, but are not always accessible and do not meet demand. Dandelion Cafe’s location in the O’Connor Building is far from the center of campus and, at six bucks a latte, is a bit too steep. Chaus wait times have always been long, but it’s worse than ever. We don’t fault the baristas, to be clear — they’re overworked as is. However, adding more coffee options — especially as construction proceeds — in more accessible places would help decrease the strain on Rice Coffeehouse.

For quick fixes, think coffee carts or pop-ups. The robot barista stand in the Jones School of Business is a step in the right direction, but it lacks a dedicated cafe space and the accompanying ethos as a study and socialization spot. Rice Village abounds with coffee shops that might be willing to create such a space on campus, including socially-conscious Bitty and Beau’s, Australian transplant Bluestone Lane and homey Coco Crepes. Or look further afield to Montrose favorite Agora, or Audrey’s parent Greenway Coffee Company. Weekday pop-up stores or a mobile coffee cart would cultivate a social environment beyond a grab-n-go vending machine.

A permanent solution would prioritize cafe spaces across campus and as construction abounds. If the long-promised RMC renovation comes to fruition, Chaus should be placed centrally within it and given ample space behind the bar. Similarly, the soon-to-open Cannady Hall is centrally located, and what drives coffee consumption better than five-hour studio courses?

Rice students perform cancer-curing research, fly rockets and win national awards. Let us be caffeinated while we do it.

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