In this short video introduction to campus, members of the Student Life staff discuss underrated places on the Danforth Campus. 

When families and prospective pre-frosh visit campus and ask current students where to eat on campus, a frequent response is Holmes Lounge. But food isn’t the only thing drawing students to Holmes every day at lunch, as the eatery has become known for its personable, caring and loving staff.  

The end is nigh. In summer 2019, the long-respected Holmes Lounge will serve food for the last time.

Etta’s Cafe and the carvery station in Holmes Lounge are both tentatively set to close with the opening of Parkside Cafe, an eatery in the newly constructed Schnuck’s Pavilion, in the summer of 2019.

Eventually, we stopped going to Holmes Lounge, not just because of the nausea that accompanied every visit, but because we had some qualms with the meal as a whole.

Last Thursday, I decided to walk all the way from Danforth House to Holmes Lounge at 7:45 p.m., hoping I would make it in time for the 8 p.m. weekly jazz performance. The night promised “An evening with Young Musicians of St. Louis featuring Kevin Cheli, Mark Wallace & the Peter Schankman Band.”

On Saturday night (Feb. 27), Holmes Lounge was fairly crowded and brightly lit by fluorescent lights. People came to see the Jay Oliver Quartet, although strangely, only three musicians were present—pianist and producer Jay Oliver, guitarist William Lenihan (who is also one of our professors) and drummer Miles Vandiver.

For more than a decade, Jazz at Holmes has been a Thursday night tradition at Washington University. This fall’s first performance, Sept. 10, will be outdoors, unlike subsequent performances that will be held in Holmes Lounge.