On Monday, Aug. 26, Villanova’s Holy Grounds Connelly, Falvey and Mendel shifted to serving Starbucks. Now, orders in the Holy Grounds Connelly can only be made online via GrubHub – the same platform that debuted its use in fall of 2023 for Cafe Nova and in the spring of 2024 for the Exchange.
In an interview with The Villanovan, Executive Director of Dining Services Andrew Camuso explained the motivation behind the recent shift to Starbucks. Camuso said that the changes were based on a dining services survey from 2023. In this survey, Starbucks was the number three callout in the survey throughout each recommendation.
Starbucks will be around for a while on campus, as Villanova Dining has made a five-year deal with it to serve coffee on campus. The locations where Starbucks will be served are subject to change, depending on student and employee feedback.
Peet’s coffee, as well as La Colombe coffee, are still available at other Holy Grounds locations on campus. Camuso explained that while Starbucks was highly requested, Dining Services wants to ensure that the Villanova community still has the power of choice for their cup of Joe.
“If there’s a call for more Starbucks, we certainly can look at that,” Camuso said. “But just having that variety and letting the community navigate with their preferences is more of our mindset.”
According to Camuso, Dining Services has already seen sales increase in Connelly Holy Grounds with the debut of Starbucks.
Despite long lines and packed crowds on the first day of classes, in the days following its debut, the chaos reduced and wait times for coffee went back to normal. Now, Villanova junior and Holy Grounds Connelly barista Delia Ciamei finds the switch to online ordering via GrubHub to be time-saving.
“The GrubHub system makes the line more efficient because students no longer have to order at the counter, then remind the barista of their order on the pick-up line,” Ciamei said.
Where the old Holy Grounds Connelly location used to have an open area where you could chat with your barista, it is now all closed off by a plastic barrier. Ciamei also commented on the shift in type of service offered at this location.
“I miss the customer service aspect,” she said. “I absolutely loved seeing my friends stop by for coffee, so the wall and removal of in-person orders was really sad.”
As campus adjusts to the arrival of Starbucks, there is certainly room for an expansion of the menu. Camuso explained the mindset behind having a limited menu at the start of the Starbucks debut.
“We don’t have the full menu at this moment,” he said. “We wanted to get through the first week of classes, help our staff get fully trained on those drinks and then start integrating the frappuccinos [and] the pumpkin spice [beverages].”
As the University makes the shift to these Starbucks locations, it also opens the door to different dining experiences being integrated into campus. Camuso explained that the decision to implement GrubHub on campus is based on where they think it will best help the customer experience and their staff. Dining Services has no set plans as to whether it will eventually overtake the typical in-person ordering, but it is a case-by-case basis.
The addition of Starbucks might not be the only change hitting the dining halls soon. While nothing is confirmed, Camuso revealed that Dining Services also looked into the other brands that were called out into the survey, too. By using a new tool that will give them live-time feedback through students, Dining Services will make future decisions about what type of dining to implement based on what makes sense for the footprint of campus.
To stay updated with Dining Services on campus, you can follow its Instagram, @villanovadining.
