Courtside Cafe, a student dining location on campus, has changed the menu for this school year. Credit: Audrey Coleman | Managing Editor for Design
Courtside Café, a popular campus dining option inside the RPAC, changed its menu from salads, pastas and sandwiches to Asian-influenced cuisine in the Autumn 2025 semester and students had varying reactions.
The eatery offers options like stir fry, ramen and rice bowls. All of the new menu items are available for around two swipes, with some only costing one, which is consistent with previous pricing.
Associate Director of Operations Rahul Ponappa said Student Dining Services received feedback last year asking for Courtside Cafe to provide quicker service and more diverse options.
“Updating the menu lets us cut down on wait times, run operations more smoothly, and introduce new options like a standalone pan-Asian concept, all while keeping choice and quality front and center,” Ponappa said in an email.
Some students are pleased with the new updates, saying they liked what they had so far and were excited to try more.
“I really like that the new menu has cream cheese wontons,” Ava Hemsley, a second-year in biology, said. “I don’t really [get to] eat Asian food often, so now there are more options on campus for me to try.”
However, other students said they miss the old menu.
“I was really looking forward to the original food options, so I was pretty upset when I found out they had changed,” Elaine Wong, a second-year in health sciences, said. “I’m saddened to see it gone and not knowing the possibility of when it will ever come back.”
Some said that eliminating the meat-free pastas and salads previously available at Courtside limits options for students with dietary restrictions.
“Being a gluten-sensitive student, I can find it difficult to find healthy food options on campus,” Emily Doucette, a second-year in public management, leadership and policy, said. “I’m hoping that the new menu has options that are accessible for me.”
Despite the criticisms, Ponappa said he hopes the café will remain popular.
“Adding a dedicated pan-Asian concept gives students something new and different on campus, and we think that will generate excitement and boost satisfaction,” Ponappa said. “On the sales side, the mix of variety, speed, and on-trend flavors should keep participation strong while continuing to improve the overall dining experience.”
Courtside Café wasn’t the only dining location that faced a menu change, but it was one of the only locations whose menu items weren’t relocated elsewhere or combined with an existing menu.
The only confirmed relocation is Oxley’s To-Go, which was turned into a Donato’s Pizza and moved most of its menu items to Courtside, according to previous Lantern reporting.
“With Donato’s Pizza moving into the Oxley’s space, our goal was to preserve student access to Oxley’s To-Go’s most popular items while also enhancing variety at Courtside,” Ponappa said.
