To the shock of many students, the on-campus Taco Bell that was located on the first floor of the D’Angelo Center (DAC) was quietly closed at the beginning of the semester. There were no large-scale announcements of its closure, leaving many confused when they realized it was no longer available for order on their Boost apps.
The only online indication of Taco Bell’s closure is its removal from the Dine On Campus website. It is unclear if this is a permanent shutdown.
“I didn’t go there a lot. I didn’t know it closed,” sophomore Matthew Yang said, demonstrating just how under-the-radar the Taco Bell was.
Sophomore Nicholas Keefer agreed, sharing that he “didn’t visit it often, and was unaware of its closure.” Although the semester began more than two weeks ago, many students did not realize that Taco Bell was not in operation.
This can largely be attributed to its rather inconvenient and largely hidden location. Other on-campus dining locations like Einstein Bagels — located on the way to the library in St. Augustine Hall — and Dunkin, which is attached to the busy Marillac Hall, are in high-traffic areas, making them easily accessible.
Taco Bell suffered because it did not share this convenience. The first floor of DAC is typically empty and at most sparsely populated unless there is an event taking place. This left Taco Bell as a less popular and less profitable on-campus restaurant.
Despite its lower notoriety, the closure of Taco Bell results in a gap in University dining options on two levels: affordability and late-night hours. The menu offered several meals that were less than three dollars, allowing students on a budget to purchase food on campus.
Keefer noted this absence, adding that he hopes “they replace it with another affordable option soon.” Other than Dunkin, most other substantial dining items are over ten dollars, leaving students to spend more when purchasing food on campus now that Taco Bell has closed.
Additionally, Taco Bell was one of the only eateries on-campus that was open in the evening, as it previously remained open until 7:00 pm. The majority of dining locations close by 3:30 pm, with the exception of Burger King, Subway and Dunkin – located in Marillac Hall, Starbucks and Montgoris Dining Hall, which is primarily geared towards resident students. This leaves students, especially commuters, with limited dinner options.
Tiffany Chan, a junior who is commuting for the first time this semester, feels restricted with the current restaurants on-campus now that Taco Bell is closed.
“There’s now less options on campus for commuters and only certain places are open later,” Chan said. “Many students are going to have to go off-campus to eat now since Taco Bell was an affordable option with later hours.”
The next on-campus dining location will need to be more visible to the average student, or at least have stronger marketing in order to be more successful. It is clear affordable food spots with evening hours are necessary parts of the campus dining experience in order to fulfill the needs of the student body.
