The Courtyard Cafe will be closed for renovations until March 31, according to Dartmouth Dining director Jon Plodzik. The venue closed on Sunday and is scheduled to reopen on the first day of spring term classes — complete with new digital ordering kiosks and “Fresh Zone” retail machines.
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Plodzik wrote that the renovations aim to “contemporize the experience” of ordering and dining at the Courtyard Cafe. Rather than ordering and paying with Dartmouth Dining employees, diners will place orders at the new kiosks. Provided by hospitality company NEXTEP, the kiosks will accept meal swipes, meal equivalencies, Dining Dollars and credit cards, Plodzik wrote. Dartmouth Dining will also be installing order status monitors and designated pickup locations to “improve speed of service,” according to Plodzik.
“Guests will now be able to efficiently place their food order, find a seat while it is prepared and quickly pick up the entire order all packaged together,” he wrote.
The kiosk menu will also include “combo value packages” for made-to-order sandwiches and salads — a change is intended to “increase student buyer power and satisfaction,” Plodzik added.
Meanwhile, items not on the kiosk menu — including bottled beverages, snack items and “previously prepackaged items” — will be available 24 hours a day in the “Fresh Zone retail area,” Plodzik wrote. According to the Dartmouth Dining website, the machines — which are already offered in other campus locations, such as the Choates cluster, the River cluster and Summit on Jupiter — contain “salads, sandwiches, sushi, prepared entrees, local items and much more.” The Fresh Zone will be located “right beside the Courtyard Cafe” and will accept only “dining dollars and credit cards,” Plodzik wrote.
While the renovations are expected to automate much of the cafe’s customer experience, Plodzik emphasized that Dartmouth Dining staff members will not lose their jobs due to the change. He wrote that “the Courtyard staff is being trained over the next few weeks” to prepare food and work in other dining locations on campus.
The renovations have elicited a mixed response from students, some of whom are disappointed by the temporary closure. Aakash Nagori ’28, who said he dines at the cafe “pretty often,” said the closure “limits” weekend dining options since most dining locations, including the Collis Cafe, the Fern, Cafe @ Baker, and Ramekin are closed on Saturday and Sunday.
“Without the [Courtyard Cafe], you can only really eat at [the Class of 1953 Commons] over the weekend, so the closure definitely limits our options,” Nagori said.
Christopher Scanlon ’26 expressed “complicated thoughts” on the renovations. He said it was a “pain and also a shame” that the cafe is closing while students are still on campus, since the cafe allows students to diversify their meals. However, Scanlon also acknowledged that it can be “difficult” to find time for renovations.
“I also understand that things do need to change, and if this is the best timing for construction or change generally, if it’s the best they can do, it’s the best thing,” Scanlon said.
Plodzik wrote that Dartmouth Dining aimed to “minimize the impacts on students” by closing during a “historically slow[er]” period at the end of the winter term. According to Plodzik, this schedule will allow the cafe to be “fully operational” when students return for the spring term.
“For the renovation to be completed in time to not interfere with the very busy opening of spring term, we needed to close early,” Plodzik wrote.
Scanlon said his thoughts on the new kiosk ordering system are also “complicated.” While he said he believes the change may “reduce costs for Dartmouth Dining,” he also believes the change will take away from the “really nice community” between students and dining staff.
“I think human interaction is important,” Scanlon said. “I think having campus staff is really important.” He added that removing student interactions with staff members feels “frivolous.”
Other students were more optimistic. Jackson Sandrich ’28 said he hopes the renovations will “fix” the “really long time to order and get food.”
Ethan Harris ’28 also said he is “excited” for the changes, predicting that the kiosks will reduce the “usually long lines” during peak hours. Harris, who added that the new palm biometric recognition system at the Class of 1953 Commons has “made getting in a lot easier,” said he hopes the cafe’s new ordering system will provide a similar benefit.
“I hope whatever kiosks they put in and other changes they make can help make eating there more efficient in general,” Harris said.
Plodzik wrote that he “can’t wait to reopen” with the renovations, since the new model will “increase the efficiency and speed in which we deliver service to the community.”
“I believe this renovation is going to be great in improving the look of the venue, speed of service, meal value and the overall experience,” Plodzik wrote.
