SARA LODESPOTO
Special to The Leader
As you read the title of this article, you might have some questions.
How can two cafés, both owned by SUNY Fredonia, with similar employees and prices, be different? Better yet, how can you have a favorite? Just because it’s the same café, doesn’t mean they have the same feel. I hope you’ll understand what I mean by the end of this.
LOCATION
McEwen: 5/5
This café is located at the epicenter of the academic building. No matter what entrance you go in, it’s likely that the first thing you’ll see is the café. Whether you are trying to get to the library, the shortcut to Thompson Hall or one of McEwen’s lecture halls, most times you will come across Pete’s. It’s essentially in the hallway — like those little jewelry stands you find in between stores of a mall.
Mason: 2/5
Now I know I’m not a music student, but trying to find the café was a hassle. Navigating through Mason, the café is located in the far corner of the building. It is conveniently right next to a side exit for easy access. However, since the café is in a room, compared to McEwen’s open-area approach, it loses a couple of points. If the hanging blue sign reading “Mason Café” wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have found it.
LOUNGE AREA
McEwen: 5/5
There is an abundance of seats where you can eat your chicken salad on pita bread. High-top tables? Yes, including round tables and the bar-like counters facing the cement wall. Table for two? Wooden chairs and tables surround the perimeter of the ground-level lecture halls. Single-seater cushion chairs? Each pillar has at least two with the right arm extending out as a desk. This dining location is perfect if you are with friends or if you just want to be alone.
Mason: 1/5
This lounge area is located in a room a bit smaller than a typical classroom, connected to the café. At the center, the dorm couches huddle a chipped wooden table, forming a circle with tables for four outlining the room. Underneath the furniture is a beaten rug, which you can’t tell if it’s stained or if that’s just the pattern. Advertisements for clubs, band members and recitals hang like uneven Christmas lights. A perfect shelf carved into the wall holds a crooked TV. An old microwave in the corner is barely visible as boxes barricade it, spreading to the other side of the room. While I sat on the couch, strangers sat in the sunken seats facing me. This lounge area isn’t built for one person, but for groups of people gathering.
BUSY TIMES
How exactly did I judge this? I went up to the workers from both cafés and asked them when is their busiest time. The McEwen Café worker answered that their busiest time is from 10:50 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Mason Café worker explained that their busiest time is anytime between classes, which is very vague. My observation of Mason Café allowed me to conclude that the busiest time was from 12:50 p.m. to 1 p.m.
McEwen: 3/5
I had gotten in line when I thought students stopped joining the line. The worker was able to take my order for a black iced coffee after waiting in line for one minute and 10 seconds. After placing my order, within seconds, my coffee was done. That being said, the timing may differ based on your position in the line and how many people encompass it. Overall, they were really quick.
Mason: 5/5
Do people even go to this café? Even though the Mason employee was vague, the afternoon in-between classes should have at least drawn some students. While I was there, at most, five students ordered. Since I’m new to this café, maybe that was the busiest time? Honestly, I am not sure, but it was useless trying to time the line since there was none.
ENVIRONMENT
McEwen: 5/5
As students walked through McEwen, laughter and chatter echoed between the cement pillars. Girls chatted by the napkins, a man with a fruit parfait in hand walked upstairs and the couple in line wondered if they should get the salad or the sandwich. Sigma Gamma Phi sold raffle tickets at a pink booth to fundraise for breast cancer research. In those 10 minutes, McEwen came alive. A guy scrolled on his phone, sitting across from a girl working on homework on her laptop. Once the clock struck 11…silence. Everyone left. There were just the café workers and me.
Mason: 3/5
For the first few minutes, a couple of guys behind me bounced between conversations about the Sabres and classmates they all knew. Once the boys left, the noise left with them. It was quiet enough that you could hear the piano keys from down the hall. Even though the lounge area had more people, the café was louder than us. Students were glued to their devices, either working on assignments or decompressing in their seats on their phones.
FINAL RESULTS
So, yes, there is a difference. Obviously, you can tell which one is my favorite, and it’s not just because I’m a communications major. McEwen Café is better in almost every aspect.