North Star Dining introduced late-night hours last spring semester for customers who might be too busy to eat during the typical hours, but students remain dissatisfied with limited late-night dining options.
North Star Dining’s late-night hours begin at 8:30 p.m. and close at 10:30 p.m. The menu typically consists of a salad bar, a pizza and pasta bar, a build-your-own bowl station, limited seasonal vegetables and desserts. Some students said these options provide limited nutrients and can get boring over time.
Emma Liu ’27, a member of the Cornell Big Red Club Volleyball team, said she often finds herself in need of dinner after 8:30 p.m. but has grown increasingly frustrated with what she sees as a limited, repetitive and unhealthy menu.
“Normally it’s just pizza and taco bowls, and after a while that gets old. Also, it’s not the healthiest of options,” Liu said. “When you look at the pizza, it’s kind of greasy and oily, and sometimes you just want something lighter.”
Anna Gallow, director of enterprise marketing and promotion at Cornell Dining, said that after consulting with various student groups, it was determined that the late-night hours align with the schedules of busy Cornell students.
“[Cornell Dining] spoke with Cornell Athletics about when and where students were finishing up so we could accommodate them as best we could,” Gallow wrote in an email statement to The Sun. “We were just able to bring late-night hours back to Mattin’s Café in Duffield Hall, which we know is popular with athletes coming from the nearby athletic complex as well as engineering students studying late.”
Mattin’s Café is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.
Some student-athletes like Evan McGowan ’26, a member of the heavyweight rowing team, say they benefit from late-night menu options after practice. McGowan said he appreciates how limited options can speed up the dining process.
“There’s a lot of dining halls where there’s so much and [it’s] so spread out that it can be hard to navigate your way around,” McGowan said. I don’t have a whole lot of time to eat. It’s something I just want to get done so I can go get to work, so [having limited options is] like a healthy balance.”
However, Rachel Kauss ’27, a member of the women’s basketball team, said she would like to see some more meal options when she goes to the dining hall after practice. While North Star Dining Room does offer protein options, which Kauss said is important after a workout, she said offerings can get repetitive.
“Being an athlete and coming [to North Star Dining] after practice, there’s usually lean protein, but I would like to see more variety consistently,” Kauss said.
While not an athlete, Lucy Bazezy ’27 sometimes spends evenings on Central Campus attending office hours and utilizes North Star Dining’s late-night hours when she returns to North Campus. While Bazezy is satisfied with the amount of dining options North Star Dining offers, she finds the build-your-own-bowl station’s ingredients to be cold and dislikes the pizza.
“I don’t necessarily think there has to be more options, but I think the options they do have should be good,” Bazezy said.
Gallow expanded on how Cornell Dining considers student feedback when making menus. Looking forward, dining room menus may adjust to students’ comments.
“We’ve received mostly positive comments about the late-night options at the dining rooms and cafés around campus,” Gallow wrote in an email to The Sun. “As the program evolves, if we see higher traffic later at night in the future, we can continue to explore our menus and the offerings that are available to our late-night students.”
Isabella Diallo is a Sun Contributor and can be reached at [email protected].