With the beloved Science Center Café closed, students must find caffeine elsewhere.
The closing of Greenhouse Café in the Science Center brings not only despair, but also confusion over where to procure snacks and caffeinated beverages between classes. Of course, Harvard Square boasts many respectable cafes and eateries, but these establishments are both slightly out of the way from buildings in which classes are held, and – more importantly – do not accept Board Plus as payment. So what is a hungry and/or under-caffeinated Harvard student to do?
The Indy’s got you covered! Behold, a breakdown of lesser-known cafes that not only take Board Plus, but also are located on Harvard’s campus.
Bauer Life Sciences
7 Divinity Ave, Cambridge MA
Hours: M-F 7:30 am-2:30 pm
Located in the lobby of Bauer, this café offers homemade soups and sandwiches in addition to baked goods from Haley House and Peet’s coffees and teas. While the hours are not ideal for a late-night (or even late afternoon) snack, this place is perfect for breakfast and lunch.
LISE
11 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA
Hours: M-F, 8 am-4 pm
Peet’s coffee or espresso, freshly baked pastries, and grab-and-go sandwiches, salads, and snacks make this café, located in the entrance of the Laboratory for Integrated Science and Engineering building, the closest thing to Greenhouse as possible. Open slightly later than the café in Bauer, this may be the new spot for afternoon snacks and caffeine pick-me-ups.
Northwest
52 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA
Hours: M-F, 7:30 am-2:30 pm
This café’s offering of coffee and light snacks make it a perfect place for hungry engineers and science concentrators to fuel up between classes. For the environmentally conscious, they even offer a reusable mug discount.
Chauhaus
Graduate School of Design
48 Quincy Street, Cambridge MA
Hours: M-Th, 7:30 am-7 pm; F, 7:30 am-4 pm
Boasting an extensive salad bar on top of its many other offerings, Chauhaus is ideal for those who are looking for some healthier options. For those who view coffee as a food group, they also serve espresso-based coffee drinks.
CGIS
Knafel Building
1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA
Hours: M-Th 8 am-2 pm; F, 8 am-1:30 pm
If you’re looking for a good place to study or meet up with friends while enjoying breakfast, lunch, or a snack, CGIS is ideal. While this café offers many grab and go options, there is ample seating. Here you can enjoy homemade soups and salads, baked goods from Haley House, and Peet’s coffee and teas.
Cronkhite
6 Ash Street, Cambridge MA
Breakfast: M-F, 7:30 am-10 am;
Lunch: M-F, 11:30 am-2:15 pm;
Dinner: M-F, 5 pm-7:30 pm
Overlooking the beautiful courtyard and gardens of the Cronkhite Graduate Center, this eatery offers an all-you can-eat buffet at breakfast and dinner and an a-la-carte menu for lunch. For those who are looking for grab and go options or coffee, this is not the place for you, although the food is good and ambiance, serene.
Dudley
Lehman Hall, Harvard Yard
Lunch: M-F, 11:30 am-2:30 pm;
Dinner: 5pm-8pm
Newly re-opened as of August 29th, Dudley Café offers lunch to the entire Harvard community in addition to serving as a graduate dining hall at lunch and dinner. This central location is perfect for a quick lunch between classes, although they do not offer coffee.
HKS
79 J.F.K. Street, Cambridge MA
Hours: M-Th, 7 am-3:30 pm;
F, 7am-3pm
Here, a range of hot and cold breakfast options is available until 10:30 am, with lunch starting at 11:30am. Light snacks are available in between. There is extensive seating inside, but on a nice day, nothing beats enjoying your meal outside in JFK Park.
Therefore, while the big white wall that now greets students as they hurry through the Science Center doors is both bright and clean, we will all miss the chance to bring coffee and a wide variety of foodstuffs to lecture. The fate of that portion of the building may still be determined but Board Plus and coffee are sacred standards here at the college, and life must go on. So perhaps we will explore campus and branch out this term while caffeinating on Harvard’s dime!
Caroline Gentile (cgentile@college.harvard.edu) has already made a significant dent in her Board Plus.