After three years without one, NW Campus will be opening a cafeteria on Nov. 2.
The seven-month-long construction project with a budget of $4.2 million will give students and employees the option to order fresh, hot food from Caffe Noliz without having to leave campus.
The cafe, located on the first floor of NW02, has a kitchen area, a counter and service space and self-serve kiosks for students to order ahead or skip a line.
“There was a pause on finishing out food service on Northwest while the college brought in an expert on college cafeterias to conduct a survey to find out what students wanted,” Chief Financial Officer Pamela Anglin said in an email. “The self-serve kiosks, for example, are one of the things requested by students. The design was based on modern college cafeterias and informed by student expectations.”
The cafe is set to serve coffee and several fresh food options such as breakfast sandwiches, burgers, pizza and packaged lunch options like salads and sandwiches.
The campus has been without an operating kitchen since 2023, contracts manager Ray Allison estimated.
“You just try to meet the students where they are,” Allison said. “If we have the options there for the students and staff, and we meet them where they are, then that’s the best way to generate sales and to help with the food insecurities that we seem to have throughout the district.”
Since the Community Food Market on NW was cut when Tarrant Area Food Bank ended its partnership with TCC earlier this year, students have had less options on campus for food.
“The food pantry went out of business, the one that would come like once a month, and so we had to resort to, you know, student connections doing a lot and bringing more things,” student activities worker Kenya Drake said. “I think that’ll be really helpful because some students are hungry, but they maybe don’t have a ride to try to go drive somewhere else.”
NW student Alondra Resendez said it’s a 50-50 chance on whether she’ll have the time most mornings to pack food before her classes.
“I wish we had a food court or just somewhere to get food because sometimes I don’t want to leave campus and I feel like the snacks in the bookstore are a little too expensive,” she said as she ate her lunch, which was a bag of Cheetos and peach candy.
NW student Tori Sorrels, however, has been meal-prepping for years and said she’ll likely just continue eating her own lunch.
“I mean, if I’m running behind for like a week and don’t have time to meal prep, then knowing I can always get food there, it’s nice to have that option,” she said. “And if there is coffee, I can always use a second cup.
