The Einstein Bros. Bagels store on North Campus is already packing in customers.
The store served about 150 people in two hours when it opened last Friday, said Paul Komelasky, SodexhoUSA’s district manager. The new Einstein Bros. is planning a grand opening to coincide with the November ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Pancoe Life Sciences Pavilion, Komelasky said.
“The food is better than anywhere else on campus,” said Tiffany Leung, a McCormick senior.
Leung said she has eaten at the new Einstein Bros. at least once a day for the past week — including twice on Wednesday.
“The last few days more students have come,” she said. “Maybe word spread that it was open.”
The bagel shop is located on the second floor of the building. Bridges connecting the second floor to the second floors of Cook Hall and the Hogan Biological Sciences Building are under construction.
“It’s not the easiest location (to find),” Komelasky said, “but once you get up there, it has a great view looking out toward the lake.”
Although the menu is slightly smaller than a typical Einstein Bros., the restaurant still offers brand staples such as “bagel and schmear” and Chicago bagel dogs. The new location accepts cash, WildCARD points and all meal plans.
“It’s nice to have another place on North Campus besides Lisa’s (Cafe) or a cafeteria,” said Mike Sacchet, an Education freshman.
Northwestern hosts the bagel shop’s 27th campus location since the chain began franchising on college campuses in 2000, said Greg Powell, vice president for franchising and business development at Einstein Bros.
New World Restaurant Group, the bagel shop’s parent company, worked in conjunction with SodexhoUSA to bring Einstein Bros. to NU, Powell said.
“We have a number of street locations around college campuses that do very well,” he said. “Our brand seems to click with the college student. We’re kind of a hip and fun brand.”
Powell said he doesn’t think the campus Einstein Bros. will hurt business for the Evanston store at 1745 Sherman Ave. because customers eating on North Campus probably wouldn’t head south to eat anyway.
“When we’re on college campuses, we’re primarily dealing with a captive audience,” Powell said. “If they’re going from point A to point B, they’re probably not going to diverge out of their way to go downtown to eat.”
First-year graduate student Brian Chung said the store’s location makes it convenient for graduate and post-doctorate students.
“I don’t think (the restaurant) is really geared toward undergrads,” he said, “unless they came up here for some reason.”
Komelasky said he was pleased to see the location doing well.
“We’re sad that we weren’t able to open right when Fall Quarter started,” Komelasky said. “It would have been nice because people establish their travel patterns (then). As students get to know and travel through the building, we’ll see the services utilized a lot more.”
