Boston University: Food Central

In this economy, companies across the country are going bankrupt. But the eateries in West Campus have managed to hang on to their customers while welcoming some new faces to the strip. It appears the widespread inclination to save becomes less important when’ faced with a Cobblestone Sweet Roll from Panera Bread Co.

Restaurants, new and old, find that they have succeeded in tantalizing the taste bud and the wallet.

The two newest additions to the West Campus scene are The Upper Crust and Panera Bread. Both restaurants have opened with the start of the new school year.

Upper Crust has enjoyed a whirlwind of success selling giant slices of artisan pizza, salads and organic sodas since its August opening. Manager Justin Waithe said the pizza joint chose Boston University because he felt the menu choices would be a great fit for BU students.

‘We chose BU’s campus because we wanted a location that was new and fresh, which is obviously here,’ Waithe said. ‘Business is going very well.’

Waithe said a lot of customers that used to go to the company’s Coolidge Corner location are coming to the Comm. Ave. spot. Waithe said his store has drawn much of its business from the BU community, including students and faculty.

Upper Crust faces competition from West Campus pizzeria mainstays T. Anthony’s, Sicilia’s and Boston House of Pizza. But Waithe said he believes Upper Crust will flourish and keep customers satisfied because of its superior service and food quality.

Panera Bread is also enjoying a considerably high level of sales during its first few weeks of business. Manager James Mathews said when the store first opened in August, business lagged, but the return of BU students has provided a major boost in traffic.

‘ ‘Since school’s started, when compared to the last weeks of summer, the rise in business has been like night and day,’ Mathews said. ‘Business has been awesome.’

Panera has everything from coffee, cookies and breads to soup and turkey-artichoke paninis. The variety allows them to cater to a wide range of clientele at any time of day, though its most popular hours start at lunch and carry on into the afternoon when students come to take advantage of a wide range of snacks, a relaxed atmosphere and free Wi-Fi.

‘People will keep coming here because we’re better than most of the fast food around campus,’ Mathews said.

Diana Harrison, a post-graduate student in Sargent College of Heath and Rehabilitation Sciences, said she now eschews Panera’s Coolidge Corner location for its Comm. Ave. one.

‘Panera’s got a great atmosphere,’ Harrison said. ‘The new location is more convenient and it takes me away from Espresso Royale because the Internet is free.’

Besides Panera and Upper Crust, both privately owned establishments, BU is offering a new West Campus eatery to students with Extreme Pita, which accepts Dining and Convenience Points. Extreme Pita is located on the first floor of Claflin Hall where a lounge used to reside. Manager Paul Roman says it’s a place people come to when they want a break from dining hall food.

‘Students come here for a different, healthier option aside from the dining services,’ Roman said.

Business really picks up after the dining hall closes for dinner, he said. ‘A lot of our revenue comes during the late night hours when starving students come.’

Still, while much new is in, there has been no out with the old. Familiar names continue to retain customers. Sicilia’s, which has been on Comm. Ave. for 15 years, has experienced steady business despite the sagging economy and the absence of The Daily Free Press office close by, manager Juliana Fahkri said. Sicilia’s has been under new management for seven months now, adding a variety of new menu items to keep customers coming back and sprucing up the interior with new furniture.’

‘The Chicago deep dish pizza is a big seller, but we’ve got bacon cheeseburgers too,’ Fahkri said.

The restaurant is conveniently open until 2 a.m., serving everything from $2 pizza slices and giant Greek salads to grilled chicken sandwiches and monster chocolate chip cookies. Sicilia’s also benefits from late-night deliveries, so revenue doesn’t just come from students.

‘We get hospitals, hotels, everyone,’ Fahkri said. ‘We deliver wide-range, not just to Brookline.”

Rob Logan, a BU graduate student, said Sicilia’s is a place he frequents to eat and study.

‘Sicilia’s is a place where I can order some good food and be treated warmly,’ Logan said. ‘The place is large enough that I feel as though I can spread out my books, stay awhile and not be hogging someone’s space.’

Sunset Cantina has also adapted well to the changing restaurant scene, manger Bryan Ames said. Restarant staff are not concerned about the new eateries springing up, Ames said. He, like most other managers alongside him, is optimistic about the openings of other restaurants, believing that people go to each for different reasons.

‘Sunset Cantina is where people come for a huge plate of nachos and tequila,’ Ames said. ‘It’s a different crowd than the ones at Panera or Starbucks.’

Sunset is filled to capacity on Friday nights, but Monday nights have also become popular because of trivia. Ames said the place is packed by 7:30 with trivia fanatics. Like Sicilia’s, Sunset gets a large portion of their revenue from people outside of the student population.

Unlike other business owners, T. Anthony’s manager Joseph Raspellini said he is not as happy with the influx of new eateries into West Campus. Raspellini said that there is an ‘over-saturation’ of restaurants in the area and that if the economy continues to get worse, all the businesses in the area will suffer.

Business has been down 5-10 percent in recent months because of the economy, Raspellini said. A 2 percent raise in Boston’s meals and sales tax has not helped, he added.

Hope Thomason, a freshman in the College of General Studies and West Campus resident, frequents T. Anthony’s because of its proximity to her dorm. ‘The food there is amazing,’ she said.

Keth Hegedus, manager of Qdoba on West Campus, says he’s not too worried about the opening of new restaurants down Commonwealth, feeling that students who like Qdoba will continue to come in for everything from burritos to nachos. Besides, Hegedus said, a little healthy competition is always good. That competition includes Olecito, a BU-affiliated eatery that opened this fall on the first floor of Warren Towers.

‘Sure, it’d be nice to have a monopoly,’ Hegedus said. ‘But that just can’t happen.’

Olecito offers fast and to-go tacos and burritos (the restaurant has no seating). Though less glamorous than the sit-down styles of Panera and other Mexican restaurants on campus like Qdoba, its tiny quarters fill up during lunch hours, and tortillas continue to be stuffed long past dinner, as most of the clientele are BU students, manager Steven Dwyer said. Students have been coming in droves, said Dwyer.

Other eateries and cafes on East Campus have thrived as well. Starbucks is continually filled with cappucino-loving addicts and during lunch and dinner Subway has an unending line.

Despite the different competition in West Campus and all down Comm. Ave., Waithe of The Upper Crust said his restaurant and Panera have quickly scooped up a lot of customers and changed the Comm. Ave. food scene.

‘Along with Panera, we’re kind of taking over the dynamics of Commonwealth Avenue,’ Waithe said.