The student dining experience will see some changes at the start of the fall semester. Cinco, a Mexican restaurant, will open permanently, Gilbert’s Cafe will see major renovations and Lower Farinon will unveil an expanded menu. These changes, confirmed in an April 19 announcement on the college’s dining blog, were developed after a period of student feedback.
Cinco will fill the space of the former Miss Jackson’s Kitchen, which closed last October. A four-day trial run in February allowed students to try some potential menu items.
“We solicited comments from students that were there and everyone loved it,” said Tony Williams, the district manager of Parkhurst Dining. “Everyone was really happy with it.”
“It tasted exactly like Chipotle,” Gabe Petrecz ‘27 said of the trial run’s offerings.
Cinco will take meal swipes, confirmed Geoff Labe, the assistant vice president of finance and administration for business services.
Gilbert’s Cafe will become a bistro, featuring approximately a dozen all-day breakfast options, according to Williams. He said the space will have “a Starbucks-café feel,” or something similar to the Central Perk coffeehouse from the television show “Friends.”
“We know there’s some sandwiches and salads from Gilbert’s that students like – we’ll bring those in,” Labe said.
Lauren Landis ’25 said that an all-day breakfast would create more options for “people who don’t get up early.”
“I think that increasing any sort of menu would be a very positive change,” she continued.
Some say a second Starbucks-style location would be confusing — Charlotte Farrelly ’26 cited the existence of Skillman Café, an on-campus Starbucks-affiliated coffee shop, as a reason for this.
“I feel it would make more sense to have one or the other,” she said.
There are also plans to unveil a wider menu in Lower Farinon, according to Labe, including popular items from the current Lower Farinon and Gilbert’s Cafe menus and old favorites from Bon Appetit’s repertoire.
“The Wok I know is something everyone has been asking about, so we are going to bring that back,” Williams said, referring to a former made-to-order stir fry option at Lower Farinon.
A sample menu for all new dining options will be published on the Dining Services website in the coming weeks, according to Labe.
The proposed dining changes were sent to students in a survey sent in the March 4 edition of Lafayette Today. According to Shadeera Riddick, the marketing manager for Parkhurst Dining Services, the feedback received from the survey was positive.
“For the most part, all the students were all for [the changes],” Riddick said.
