Boston University is piloting a “high-end vending program” in lieu of late-night dining services at The Fenway Campus Center Dining Room and the Fresh Food Co. at Warren Towers.
BU Spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press that the new program, which includes the Just Baked and Costa Coffee vending machines in the City Convenience store underneath Warren Towers, will be evaluated at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
“The idea at Warren and Fenway is to see if students appreciate more variety and options through the high-end vending program,” Riley wrote.
The University plans to install similar operations on the Fenway Campus within the next two weeks, according to Riley. Once these are active, the University will only discontinue the late-night Grubhub option on the Fenway Campus. Grubhub will still be available for the West Campus and Bay State Underground late night options.
Riley added that demand and usage, as well as student feedback and ideas, were factors behind the University’s decision.
“[We want] to see if we can meet student late-night needs through autonomous vending,” Riley wrote.
Sophomore Kayden Murphy said that while he never used the late-night service, he could see why some students might be disappointed, particularly students living in Fenway Campus.
“[For] Fenway, the closest thing I can think of is walk[ing] over to Time Out Market for real money,” Murphy said. “We can just go down to City Co.”
Murphy added that he was confused about the change because he found out about the potential change via the BU subreddit page, instead of from the University.
Junior Michael Segura, who lives on the Fenway Campus, echoed this. He said he wasn’t aware that the University had taken away the Fenway late-night dining option.
Additionally, Segura said that he is a “little disappointed” that this convenient dining option was removed, since it was an easy way to get food when he is studying late.
“There’s a lot of places nearby, but then again, I’d have to pay money,” Segura said. “Sometimes I’m like ‘shoot, I don’t have money’ or ‘I can’t afford that’ so [on] that night, I’m going to go hungry I guess.”
