More dining options are coming to West Campus.
After seeing a need for more food options for students who frequent Texas A&M’s West Campus, the Board of Regents approved the two-story West Campus Food Hall in May of 2020 for the area located behind the Biochemistry/Biophysics building. The project will now open its doors for the first time at the start of the spring semester on Tuesday, Jan. 18 with two restaurants: Copperhead Jack’s and Houston Street Subs. More vendors will continue to open as construction finishes throughout 2022.
University Dining district marketing manager Stephanie Denson said the goal of the new center is to provide a bridge between Main Campus and West Campus, and to allow for students who frequent the area to have a place to dine and hang out.
“Places like this are so important to Texas A&M and college campuses in general,” Denson said, “In order for students to have a place they can gather together, whether that is to have a meal and have college bonding experiences or to have a time for them to go to study. It’s a different atmosphere from places around campus, where you have lots of dining options in a fun and energetic atmosphere.”
With no large area to gather and study on West Campus, Denson said their hope is that students can use the hall to serve as not only a place to dine, but also a place to gather with friends and study at the many outlets located near the seating area.
“The seating here is actually the same amount of seating available in the food court area of the Memorial Student Center,” Denson said. “People will be able to come over here to have breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Denson said University Dining conducted student and faculty surveys to determine which restaurants would be a good fit for the area.
“We encourage all of the campus community to come here because we [will] have a little bit of our national brand chains like Chick-fil-A [but] also have what we call ‘Aggieland favorites,’ like Houston Street Subs and Copperhead Jack’s, which we only have [on campus].”
Copperhead Jack’s will offer new breakfast options exclusively at the West Campus location, including burritos, bowls and tacos.
“Previously, Copperhead Jack’s was only on the northside [of campus],” Denson said. “It’s our Tex-Mex concept where you can get burritos, bowls and salads. It was created by our own executive chefs and campus, and it’s a type of cuisine you can’t get anywhere else. Copperhead Jack’s will be introducing breakfast this year, which we are super excited about.”
Until the new Chick-fil-A location opens in February, Denson said the food hall will have adjusted hours, with Copperhead Jack’s serving Tex-Mex favorites from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Houston Street Subs offering fresh sandwiches from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
At a later date, the hall will also have a Shake Smart. In addition to this project, the former Ag Cafe, located in the Biochemistry/Biophysics building, will sport a full Starbucks with market and a sushi location in the fall of 2022, Denson said.
Students like animal science sophomore Rileigh Mabry said they are excited for the addition to West Campus.
“It’s gonna help a lot of people, just convenience-wise,” Mabry said. “I’m very positive that people would go to Main Campus [to grab some food] and if their schedule had time, they could do that. But not everybody does, so if they just want something quick, that’s right there. They don’t have to go far. It’ll help out quite a few people.”
Mabry said she is excited for the increased options, specifically Copperhead Jack’s.
“It’ll be nice to actually have [Copperhead Jack’s] as an option without having to hike all the way to the MSC for Cabo, or go all the way [across campus]. That’s just super out of the way for me,” Mabry said.
Poultry science junior Carly OldAg said in a comment to The Battalion that she is excited to see the growth on West Campus since it is much less developed than other areas of campus.
“[The food hall] was much needed,” OldAg said. “There are not anywhere near as many options as [Main] Campus. It will also definitely help with the lunch rush in between class times and how packed it can be or how long the lines are.”
OldAg said she hopes the new food hall has a similar sense of feeling as the previous Ag Cafe.
“Since it was smaller, I could never go into Ag Cafe without seeing someone I know,” OldAg said. “It was so fun and really felt like no matter how big Texas A&M seems, we really are family and it feels like a close-knit campus.”
Though it is not opening until the fall, OldAg said she anticipates taking advantage of the new Starbucks.
“Finally having a caffeine option is probably going to take the cake for me,” OldAg said. “No more energy drinks from vending machines when I’m on West Campus for me.”
With having only three food options previously, finance senior Katelyn Gromala said in a comment to The Battalion it was hard to find a variety of options with her dietary restriction when eating on campus five days a week.
“Adding diversity in dining options will really make the West Campus area so much more attractive,” Gromala said. “I always dreaded worrying about lunch since I had so few options of places to eat. I also think it will be another new gathering place for people to meet up instead of [West Campus Library], helping to alleviate some of the extra traffic there as well.”
Denson encourages students to come visit the new location on West Campus, even if students don’t frequent the area, to have a chance to visit with students who they may have not encountered before.
“The West Campus Food Hall will embody the Spirit of Aggieland by giving that great sense of community on campus to get together and enjoy a great meal or spend time socializing together . . . just to get away to enjoy this beautiful brand new building and escape for a little bit,” Denson said. “We are happy to invite y’all into that this semester, and we are very excited to have this new option on West Campus.”
For the latest updates on dining across campus and the construction of new facilities on West Campus, follow @AggieDining on Twitter.
