Collins Farms at rush hour (Mac Motz | Photo Editor)

Over the summer, Collins Farms moved from WashU School of Law’s Anheuser-Busch Hall to Schnuck Pavilion in a location swap with LaJoy’s Coffee Cafe. The decision to move stemmed from space limitations, lack of availability of food during the evenings, and greater opportunities for growth in the new locations. 

Director of Dining Services, Tiffany De La Roche, said the move was in order to give Collins Farms’s owner, Sophie Gianaris, greater flexibility with her space and menu. 

“It was something that we wanted to do specifically for that location to give her an opportunity to grow,” De La Roche said. “With the menu that she offers [and] the variety that she offers, we wanted to extend her operation but ran into some limitations with the space that she was at.” 

Last year, Dining Services extended Beast Craft BBQ hours in response to student complaints about lack of dinner options on the East End. The extension of Collins Farms’s hours to end at 5:00 p.m. provides students with more dinner options during the week. 

“We wanted to make sure that we’re trying our best to offer more offerings a little bit later in the afternoon for students,” De La Roche said. “Collins Farms has also expressed interest in doing some pilots around weekend operations for brunch and other unique things that we couldn’t do in that space before at [WashU Law].”

This location swap also benefits LaJoy’s which is now located in Anheuser-Busch Hall. WashU Dining believes that LaJoy’s will better suit the law students and faculty as it is a faster grab and go option, allowing students to get their food quickly before class.  

“There’s a lot of excitement and new things that [LaJoy’s is] doing in the law space, which is also part of the reason that we made the change,” De La Roche said. “We did recognize that the menu setup that she offers is more aligned with what the law school specifically has been looking for.”

One source of restrictions for Collins Farms was WashU Law’s limited hours that prevented undergraduate students from enjoying full access to the space. 

“The school operating hours for the law school typically die off around 3 o’clock, 3-ish. So her hours of operation originally were … 7:30 a.m.. to 3 p.m.,” De La Roche said. “We wanted to continue operating beyond that.” 

Gianaris expressed excitement about the natural lighting, additional seating, and larger kitchen offered in the new location.

“The biggest thing is that downstairs we have a huge commercial kitchen that we didn’t have at the other spot, so we’re super excited to have a kitchen [where] we can cook all our stuff and just have enough space to make the food the best quality it can be.” Gianaris said. 

Gianaris said the team is still adjusting to using the elevator to run food from the downstairs kitchen up to the customers. This differs from the previous location where the kitchen was on the same level, allowing more customer interaction. 

“With the other space we were able to develop relationships with the customers [and] all my staff knew everybody,” Gianaris said. “I like that hospitality part of it … I think that’s the most important part of [the] Collins Farms brand.” 

Now, customers will order everything through the GrubHub app or the GrubHub kiosk in the Schnuck Pavilion. This differs from the old location where bakery items, fruit cups, acai bowls, and drinks were ordered at the register, and paninis and salads could be ordered through GrubHub. 

Gianaris said initially she was unsure about switching to GrubHub only because she missed the customer engagement that the old location provided. 

“Going to GrubHub was a challenge. … At first [when] I heard that’s what we were going to do, I was a little nervous about it, but I’ve realized that you can do both at the same time,” Gianaris said. “I tell my staff everyday, take a second from working on the menu item to talk to the customers and keep building those relationships.” 

Many students have expressed excitement about Collins Farms’s move to Schnuck Pavilion because of the changes in environment. Junior An Zhang appreciated the open concept of Schnuck Pavilion. 

“I feel like compared to the law school one it has more exposure to the windows and nature, and it’s more of a lively and niche design or really joyful with the decorations,” Zhang said. “Compared to [WashU Law], it’s less serious.” 

Sophomore Lauren Quinlin echoed Zhang’s sentiments about the new seating locations which can accommodate more students. 

“It does get busy in here a lot, but it’s nice because there’s lots of outside options and if it’s nice enough out there, you can go and enjoy a little fresh air too,” Quinlin said. 

Sophomore Albert Ontogtokh is happy about the move despite the new location being a farther walk from his Olin classes. However, he added that the extended hours haven’t had much of an impact for him as the new location is too far of a distance in the evening. 

“I just come here around noon, and I never have the desire or energy to come walk all the way back to the East End, but extended hours are cool, and I’ll have to consider that,” Ontogtokh said

Gianaris said she is grateful she gets to share her business with WashU. 

“To the WashU community, thank you guys so much, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world … it’s a dream come true honestly.”