After spending more than a semester closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a popular Memorial Union staple is about to return.
The 193 Degrees Coffeehouse, a student-run cafe in room 200 of the Memorial Union that was closed from March 2020 until Feb. 2021, finally reopened last week. The coffeehouse is known for serving students fair-trade coffees and teas for $1 per cup and hosting open mic nights and concerts.
According to their page on the University of Rhode Island’s official student organization website, they strive to bring a fun and inviting atmosphere to students that allows people from all walks of life to come together and mingle. However, with COVID-19 restrictions and all classes moving online after spring break last year, they were unable to open until now.
Liv Ferreira, the coffeehouse’s business coordinator, said that there will be changes from how the organization previously ran due to COVID-19.
“We have a lot of COVID precautions in place,” she said. “We have the plexiglass and all orders are to go. No lingering, and we have 12 people [maximum].”
According to Ferreira, there will be two people behind the counter working most of the time. Students can order, and their drinks will be set to the side where they can be picked up. The employees will constantly be sanitizing the work area as well. Due to the current protocols, their seating section will be closed.
Last semester, the coffeehouse opted not to open its doors due to the pandemic and wanting to keep everyone safe in turn.
“We just felt the timing wasn’t right,” Adriana Turano, a sophomore at URI and a barista at the coffeehouse, said. “We did not know how [COVID-19] was going to affect school, so we decided to open up this semester with a plan in place rather than risking it last semester.”
The coffeehouse will be serving all of the items from its normal menu, along with a few new items such as cafe au lait (coffee with milk), drip coffee with steamed milk and cortados (equal parts espresso and steamed milk).
Like previous years, the coffeehouse will have a cash only policy, not accepting debit or credit cards.
Due to the aforementioned protocols and there being less students on campus at the moment due to the pandemic, business has not been as busy as it has been in previous years.
While things remain unclear, Ferreira says that she hopes the coffeehouse will return to normal by next semester.
“We don’t know what is going on with COVID and all the new variants, so we are just playing it by ear right now,” Ferreira said.
Ferreira also said that they would prefer to restart the open mic nights and other events that they often have such as movie nights by next semester.
The coffeehouse will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays this semester. It is located at the end of the hall on the second floor of the Memorial Union.