The renovated cafe reopened on Sept. 1 with new menus and received positive feedback. Students have enjoyed trying the new snacks and drinks, with mango smoothies and bagels emerging as some of the most popular choices.

“I love the new school cafe,” Andrew Kim (10), an active cafe user, said. “Not only does it look great because it was recently renovated, but there are lots of new, different menus that we didn’t have before.”

The cafe now has 39 hand-made menus. The biggest change is the diverse spread of pastry, including brownies, cheese breads, chocolate chip cookies, and banana bread among others. 

“The biggest difference is that the quality of the drink increased,” Hong Sung Eun, cafe employee, said. “My favorite part of the change is the drinks because students seem to like the improved quality.”

Also, the new cafe has provided more fresh, hearty breads. Previously, the cafe bought bread from exterior sources, resulting in microwaved food for students. But now, sales for sandwiches and breads have increased due to the cafe’s diversified menu and freshly-baked goods. More specifically, the most popular choices have been bacon buns and cheese mochis. 

“I think students like the cafe most because of the new breads,” Kang Hee Kyung , cafe employee, said. “We now bake all the bread ourselves, early in the morning, unlike the previous menus.”

“I love the new sandwiches,” Yoonseo Kim (12), cafe visitor, said. “I probably buy sandwiches every day because it tastes so great.”

There are also new drinks, specifically the mango smoothies, have emerged as students’ favorites. Out of the three new smoothies, the mango smoothie especially received the most attention. Out of 30 surveyed students, almost half the students believed that the mango smoothie was the best menu. 

“The mango smoothie is the best on the menu,” Dominic Hahm (10), frequent cafe user, said. “I especially like the mango smoothie because it tastes like real mangos, not the artificial flavorings. It also isn’t too sweet, but is sweet and cold enough to wake me up in the morning.”

The excitement for the new cafe can be clearly seen during office hours and activity periods, when there is a long line of students waiting to buy a snack or a drink. However, this poses a problem for many students who don’t wish to wait long for their food.

“The new menus are really yummy and the new cafe is good in general. But it is still kinda expensive,” Anikia Kureyabashi (11), a new cafe user, said. “Also, there are too many people in the lines, so I can’t buy drinks in time and just have to go to class.”

The line also deters many students from lining up for the food itself, as it takes a long time to buy their food. This problem was exacerbated even more when high school students would not be able to go to the cafe during office hours as it is the middle school’s lunch. Also, another issue is  a slight increase in prices for all the menus in the cafe.

“We decreased the drink size and increased the price,” Hee Kyung said. “We needed to as we increased the quality of the drinks. The breads are also not cheap, as we make them ourselves.”

Unlike the old cafe’s system of only allowing student ID cards as payment, the new way of payment does not accept student IDs, so students wishing to visit the cafe must make sure to take cash or a card.

Still, the new cafe is a great addition to the school, allowing students to enjoy a greater number of higher quality snacks.