Beast Craft BBQ and Qdoba, two on-campus dining options, began offering extended hours of operation last month (Alex Dering | Contributing Photographer).

Qdoba and Beast Craft BBQ began offering extended hours of operation on Feb. 2 and 7,  respectively, as part of a series of changes to on-campus dining accessibility after nearly two years of complaints and student advocacy. Three weeks into the extended hours, many students are satisfied with the change. 

Qdoba, the build-your-own Mexican chain restaurant in the Danforth University Campus, is now open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Beast Craft BBQ, one of the four dining options on the East End, is now open until 8 p.m. for dinner Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. through 6 p.m. on Fridays. 

Student Union (SU) Vice President of Engagement and senior Ella Scott said the extended hours stem from multiple years of student feedback, including surveys that highlighted the lack of dinner options near engineering and art buildings.

“Finding dinner on campus should not be a struggle,” Scott said. 

Theo Sanders, a sophomore in McKelvey School of Engineering, said the extended hours are especially useful after late classes and reduce the need to travel across campus or leave entirely to find dinner.

“I have a class that goes late on Wednesday, so it’s nice to have food back here, and I don’t have to [run] all the way back to my dorm to eat something,” Sanders said.

Dylan Hunt, a junior studying architecture, said that after his studio class, getting dinner used to require leaving the East End entirely.

“Studio usually gets out around 5:30 p.m., and I’d have to go all the way back to Village or Bear’s Den to get dinner,” Hunt said. “You have to walk 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back. If you’re in a time crunch, that’s a pretty big inconvenience.”

Hunt added that the previous lack of nearby dinner options sometimes meant skipping the meal entirely.

“There were definitely instances where I was too busy, and there weren’t food options nearby, or the Farmer’s Fridge was empty,” Hunt said. “Sometimes I would just skip dinner and keep working.”

With these changes to Beast Craft’s hours, students such as Asmithaa Vinukonda, a sophomore in Arts & Sciences, have been better able to manage tight academic scheduling on the East End.

“Beast Craft being open later is pretty helpful for me,” Vinukonda said. “I have class in Hillman, and sometimes right after that, I have exams at 6:30, so it’s helpful to be able to stay on that side of campus and get dinner before my exams.”

Beast Craft manager Adam Kozlowski said he initially had reservations; however, a successful trial period last fall helped ease his concerns. 

“After our little test run back in October, where we were making the sales we needed, I felt a little better,” he said.

Still, the extended hours have yet to translate into a noticeable uptick in steady foot traffic, with both locations noting that customer flow remains relatively light and inconsistent compared to peak daytime periods. 

“They’re definitely more scattered,” he said, referring to the frequency of orders. “I feel like it was going to start slow no matter what … but leading up to spring break, I can see us getting progressively busier,” Kozlowski added.

Similarly, Qdoba employee Autumn Manuel said the restaurant has not yet seen a large increase in Saturday customers.

“I don’t think that a lot of students know that we are open on Saturdays yet, so it hasn’t been really busy,” Manuel said. “For us as workers, it was known ahead of time … but I don’t think there was a lot of communication [from Dining Services to students] that we’re actually open on Saturdays.”

Scott said the lack of widespread, official messaging likely also contributed to low student awareness, particularly for Qdoba’s new Saturday hours. She said SU learned of the final decision during a meeting with the Dining Services Advisory Team back in early February. Scott –  who also manages SU’s social media – moved quickly to announce the extended hours via an Instagram post after being told the information could be shared, but was later told she shouldn’t have posted regarding the dining update.

“We posted the announcement on Friday, and then Saturday, I received an email [from Dining Services] telling us to not post anything,” she said. 

Scott added that, in her view, Dining Services has not made efforts to publicize the extended hours through campus-wide emailing, social media, or flyering — something she said she finds frustrating.

“They still have not announced it very formally,” Scott said. “If I were running services … I would be capitalizing on this a lot more than they are, which is confusing to me. I don’t know any reasoning behind why they haven’t been.”

Students also said that while the new hours address a specific gap, they do not resolve broader concerns about dining access across campus. Vinukonda found that early weekend meals, such as breakfast, remain difficult to obtain.

“On the weekends, there aren’t a lot of options for breakfast before maybe 9 or 10 a.m.,” Vinukonda said. “That can be really difficult if you aren’t ordering delivery or going somewhere off campus.”

Others emphasized that the usefulness of the changes depends heavily on where students spend their time. For instance, Sanders said the Qdoba expansion has had little impact on his routine.

“I don’t find myself over there on weekends,” he said. “So it doesn’t really change much for me.”

Scott said SU plans to continue advocating for additional improvements, including clearer nutritional information, accommodations for dietary restrictions, and expanded kosher dining options. 

“Future work with Dining Services is certainly needed,” she said. “WashU students lead busy lives, and figuring out where and how to eat should be the least of our concerns.”