By KILEE MARTINEZ
Student Reporter
The Amarillo College Badgers have forfeited an amount of bookstore space for an expanded cafe, (plus menu) and upcoming events.
Amarillo College’s Cafe has undoubtedly changed with the addition of a large kitchen to accommodate the rising number of students and more spaced seating. The expanded menu offers students a variety of items for breakfast and lunch.
Expanding the café menu has led to challenges, Kyle Keffer, the café manager, said. “Some of the challenges faced from an expanded menu is trying to keep up with the volume of orders that come in during breakfast and lunch.” But Keffer explained the benefit, “I like to think that it benefits students by giving them a larger selection to choose from so they don’t have to worry about having the same thing every day.”
Another addition to the Cafe has been a Happy Hour from 2-4 p.m. instead of offering an employee discount. Andrew Flores, the director of the cafe and bookstore, explained, “Kind of felt not quite right when employees are getting a better discount than the students. So, we thought that was a really good way to kind of meet in the middle where students and staff get a better price on drinks.”
Michelle Gonzalez, a nursing major, also said she likes happy hour, “not every student has a job at the school to get the employee discount, so this way everyone has the same opportunity to get the discount.”
And what could students do while sipping on a drink or to have some downtime from studying? Games, games and more games. For instance, the “Harry Potter School of Magic Night,” set for Sept. 15, will be paired with a Dungeons & Dragons game. Students can order Harry Potter themed drinks for the whole month of September, and play supernatural themed games at the same time. “So, it’s just kind of a supernatural fifth that we’re going to be running a few campaigns of inspiration from that during the month of September. It gives a chance to introduce a kind of college experience in the world of D&D to college students,” Flores said.
Keffer said he expects a big turnout for these nights. “There are not many places in Amarillo that host events like this so we are hoping that students and the surrounding community can enjoy it.”
Flores said more is in store for the café. “We’re not done yet. It completely changed the dynamic of what the bookstore was. We want people to come and hang out with us to talk about their favorite hobbies, to nerd out with us.”
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