by Zoe Schrader
Michelle Inzunza, a freshman creative writing major, woke up late one morning to realize that she had missed breakfast at Randall Dining, the cafeteria. Some might have thought that her options for a good breakfast were over, but she was able to go to a local restaurant called The Grinder where they serve breakfast all day.
While students have the ability to dine in the Circle when they miss morning and afternoon meals, late night bites are a bit harder to find.
“I think that the restaurants should stay open until later hours of the night because there is a college right near by,” said Daniel Guiseppe, freshman English major. “It would be nice to be able to eat whenever you feel like it, and not just when the university allows you to.”
As of now, there are around 11 restaurants and cafes in the Circle, the latest being open until 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on the weekends. The average price of a meal ranges from around $10-$30, according to Yelp.
“The dinner options are pretty decent if you’re looking for something pre-8pm,” said Doug Close, freshman English major. “It’s good quality but the price is steep.”
To fill late night food cravings on a budget or after restaurants in the Circle close, students go to local fast food chains such as Albertacos and In-n-Out.
“The fact that Albertacos has so much business shows that if [the Circle] had closer options that stayed open later they would do well,” Close said. “I think that is a testament to college late night food cravings and how successful restaurants could be.“
Chapman has seven alternative food options to Randall Dining including Einstein Bro’s Bagels, Wow Café & Wingery, Subversions, Jamba Juice, Doy’s Place and the Rotunda Café. Of these options, Wow and Doy’s Place are open the latest: Wow until 10:30 p.m. and Doy’s Place until 1 a.m.
Although Doy’s Place is open late, their food options only range from pizza and sandwiches to cereal and snack bars.
Students can use Panther Bucks and declining balance to purchase food at all of these seven options.
Guuiseppe said that having more late night food options in the Circle could help reduce the number of parties and noise complaints in the neighborhoods surrounding Chapman.
“Some people are not actually really into parties, but if you don’t have anything to do at night you are probably more likely to go out,” Guiseppe said. “Having another type of safe entertainment for people at Chapman to hang out could actually prevent a lot of problems.“
Close said that the Circle is missing out on a large part of its possible clientele by catering to the old town vibe.
“It seems like most people in Orange are either 18 or 80,” Close said. “Since it is an old town there are a lot of old people, but there is a huge age group they are losing business from because of their focus on the older population.”
