Following construction delays, the South Campus Market additions to the Commons Shop at the University of Maryland opened the Monday after spring break, according to Dining Services spokesperson Bart Hipple.
The market has a coffee shop — with Starbucks coffee products and pastry products — and a late-night grill. The grill, which stays open until midnight, serves fries, chicken tenders and other grilled-type foods.
South Campus Market was initially planned to be open during the fall semester but faced delays with gathering necessary parts for the grill’s ventilation system, according to Hipple.
Dining Services aims to eventually create a North Campus Market with a late-night grill and cafe where the North Campus Dining Hall currently is, Hipple said. However, the opening date of this market is unknown, as Dining Services is prioritizing opening the new dining hall Yahentamitsi, which is in the Heritage Community on North Campus.
“We’ll find out if it benefits students,” Hipple said. “We certainly hope that this is a service that they like and they want and they will make use of.”
The North Campus Dining Hall will close after this semester due to the opening of Yahentamitsi, according to Hipple.
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Adelaide Sudbrink, who lives off-campus, said she thinks closing the North Campus Dining Hall is reasonable, especially because of the building’s old age. The freshman elementary education major said a grill and cafe on North Campus will be new and students living on North Campus won’t have to walk all the way to South Campus Market for late-night dining.
“Next year for people who are living on that side of campus, there’ll be a lot of food and you won’t have to walk as far,” Sudbrink said.
Some students said they already found convenience in the South Campus Market.
Joel Zinkievich, who lives in Queen Anne’s Hall, said the dining halls don’t have the most convenient times for “the average college diet.”
Zinkievich said as a sophomore music education major, he consistently has 8 a.m. classes. The cafe in South Campus Market opens at 7:30 a.m., which allows him to get cheap food before his classes.
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Zinkievich, who has been to South Campus Market a couple of times, said he prefers the variety of food offered at the South Campus Market compared to the same menu at the dining halls.
In the evenings, he may be doing schoolwork late at night after the dining halls close.
“It’s 11 o’clock, you get hungry, and you have two more hours of work,” Zinkievich said. “Well, dining halls are closed, so you swing by South Campus Commons and get a thing of old bay fries.”
Sudbrink said she finds the South Campus Market convenient, especially after going out to parties. She finds the South Campus Market to be overpriced, she said, but liked the cafe and grill options.
“I found the Starbucks to be immaculate,” Sudbrink said. “My grande vanilla oat milk latte that I spent $7 on was fantastic.”