Students living in Worth Hills no longer have to make the trek to Union Grounds to get their early morning or late night coffee fix.
The Press coffee shop serves students from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. each day.
The Press, one of the four dining venues in the newly opened Worth Hills Multi-Purpose Center, primarily serves coffee and paninis. The venue’s unique name stems from the fact that both coffee and paninis require a press in order to be made.
“We organized a group of people to brainstorm names for the facilities,” Mike Russel, Executive Director of the Brown-Lupton University Union said. “We gave people an example of what the restaurants would be and students came up with The Press.”
The venue’s name is also a nod to the school of Journalism.
The Press serves Starbucks coffee, meaning that all coffee has been ethically sourced. This is in alliance with the Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E) practices. According to Starbucks website, it partners with the C.A.F.E program so that it can “ensure coffee quality while promoting social, economic, and environmental standards.”
Both The Press and Union Grounds received a coffee quality upgrade this year. The prices of the coffee are based on prices set by Starbucks. The prices may vary by a few cents depending on the size.
“Starbucks has different tiers of quality of coffee,” Russel said. “We decided to go up one tier for The Press and upgraded Union Grounds while we were at it.”
The Press serves both breakfast and lunch paninis. Its menu consists of a variety of sandwiches.
“We wanted to provide something higher end, but we also realized that solely having paninis like the prosciutto and fontina fig jam option would only appeal to a small population,” Senior Executive Chef for Sodexo Eric Davis said. “That’s why we also have sandwiches like the roast beef, turkey, ham, and tuna melt. We decided to stay high end with the ingredients but offer classic favorites.”
The most popular panini thus far has been the Caprese Panini, a roma tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil concoction.
The tomatoes used on this sandwich come from Village Farms in Marfa, TX. Other ingredients such as the cabbage, spinach, baby kale, mushrooms, and meats used at The Press and other dining options all come from within the state as well.
The fresh ingredients and menu variety helped to made The Press an instant success.
“The reaction has been great so far,” Davis explained. “I built the menus with plenty of room to run specials and limited time only kind of things, so after we get the kinks ironed out, there will be a lot more rotating items.”
The Press also offers the grab and go items from open to close. Although the building locks at midnight, students can use their ID cards to swipe in until 2 a.m.
