Does anyone know WHEN the Commons first opened? Looks like it was constructed in the 1970s.

Dunn and Krueger were built first, in 1972. In 1975, Mosher and Aston were added, along with the interconnecting Commons lobby. HTH

[This message has been edited by AggiePhil (edited 5/18/2012 10:02p).]

I made my blog post on the matter. I think it covers most things.

[This message has been edited by PS3D (edited 5/27/2012 9:48p).]

I think the Ag CaFe was originally spelled with the F uppercase, as a pun based on the location in the biochemistry building. Ag = Silver as well as being for Aggie, while CaFe is calcium + iron.

I am not sure when it opened, but I believe the Biochem building was opened in 1987, so it might be a few years older than 1991.

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I made my blog post on the matter. I think it covers most things.

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Link no worky.

link fixed

Golf Course Snack Bar did have the best hamburgers. Used to walk over there from Junior High (what is now Oakwood and CS Conference Center) on Jersey back in 69-70. And yes, we could leave campus back in those days. Good memories.

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Around 1975, the basement of Sbisa was called *****ton and served . . . the same stuff as Sbisa.

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Automatic censoring or a rude nickname?

I loved the witty and kinda nerdy names of food places on campus when I was there. Pie are square, Ag CaFe, and Zachery Snackery... I always thought they held a student naming contest and those were the winning entries.

Yeah, plus Critical Care Cafe and The Common Denominator.

84-88
Duncan, first and foremost.
Commons basement on weekends.
Sbisa when Duncan was closed for renovations.
Loved the upstairs cafeteria line in the MSC.

Historic Aggieland says that the ChopStix/Feisty's building was built in 1997. Did it open as ChopStix, or something else?

That little thing wasn't a dining location until 2004, at the earliest. When I was here, it was either empty or was some sort of pay booth/office.

The Bus Stop Snack Bar is a related mystery. Maps show it as being at in front of the Reed-McDonald Building, gone by 2011, but around in 2005.

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The Bus Stop Snack Bar is a related mystery. Maps show it as being at in front of the Reed-McDonald Building, gone by 2011, but around in 2005.

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Yeah, a lot of those little places come and go during renovations. I believe the Bus Stop Snack Bar popped up during the Sbisa reno. I also think they're re-doing the Reed McDonald building so the construction may have caused the closure. Don't know for sure though.

The Bus Stop Snack Bar was demolished when they moved the utility lines running under Ross street.

Remember when you could buy an aTm mug and get soda refills for $0.50? I also have my Poor York's coffee mug. A coffee refill was also 4 bits.

When Sbisa was under construction (2000-2001?), they had a little hut out front with food. I am totally blanking on the name right now though.

EDIT: I remembered. I'm not sure if it was the official name, but we always called it the Sbisa Hut (like a parody of Pizza Hut).


Stone Willy's used to be a pizza place in the Commons, not sure if it's still around. It was there when I lived there in 2000-2001 though. The Chick-Fil-A was directly next to it.

There used to be a small coffee shop (not sure if it had a name) next to the Medical Sciences Library on campus. It is gone now, and construction just finished a couple months ago to make it a lounge type area for eating (but no food service).

[This message has been edited by texasaggie04 (edited 11/17/2012 10:26a).]

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I'm not sure what they mean by Outbound options: is it another name for the late Maroon Plate Special, or was it a way to export food out of Sbisa? (Either way, there are still illegitimate "exports" from Sbisa)

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Outbound used to be part of the meal system. You would pay as part of tuition/fees for your meal plan (let's say 15 meals/week). You could either go into a place like the Commons/Sbisa and use a one of your meals to sit down and eat there, or you could use an Outbound (which essentially was the to-go version of the same thing).
But at places like Chick-Fil-A, the Outbound only worked for certain meals (like a combo meal, you couldn't just get all the chicken you wanted for one meal). Alternatively, you could use an Outbound at the Rec for a bagel and a smoothie, for example.

Sorry for so many posts. Just started reading your blog too:

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There's a convenience store, which appears to be a self-branded operation (Commons C-Store, or something like that) until the late 2000s when Rattler's rebranded it, where it functions much like a regular Rattler's, except with a curious lack of alcohol or cigarettes. In August 2012, it "de-branded", becoming "Outtakes" (much like the Sbisa Rattler's).

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I can again only speak for when I lived there (2000-2002ish), but the C-Store did exist. It was just a convenience store, basically. They also made smoothies. You could use Outbound meals there to get snacks too. (I forgot to mention in my previous post that an Outbound meal also had a monetary value - I think around $4-5. So at the end of the year, however many meals you didn't use, you could go into places and just buy stuff. My buddy & I had the biggest meal plans our first semester on campus (a mistake) and each had about 100 meals left, so we bought about $500 of cokes and candy and stuff).

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The food options are also kind of confusing. Originally, it appears like the entire basement was the Commons Dining Center, which didn't have the best food in campus, but you could actually cook your own food, which sounds pretty awesome but probably a health/liability problem.

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This is correct. The 'dungeon', as we called it, was the dining area downstairs in the Commons. It was always poorly lit.

They served food there, but you could also use the grill to make your own burgers. I'm not sure I would have called it the best food on campus though...

I'll point my buddy to this thread, he probably remembers more of this stuff than I do.

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- Pi R Square is in the CE/TTI basement

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I'm not sure what the definition of basement is, but it was ground level, I thought.



Critical Care Cafe doesn't seem to be in your blog. It is located in the veterinary school. It is named such because it is located where the old large animal ICU used to be. They serve breakfast and lunch only, stop serving food around 2:00pm.

Also, Rumors was awesome. That was my favorite place to eat. It was the sandwich shop attached to the MSC, on the side closest to Spence Park (pre-construction).

There was also a place inside the MSC (maybe it is still there) called the 12th Man Cafe. And downstairs in the MSC used to be Hullabaloo's.

Texasaggie04, read my long post on page 1 from 05/15/12. Sounds like you and I were at A&M at the same time and remember a lot of the same things.

Sorry, missed that. Didn't realize this thread was so old either.

"Nuggets, waffle fry, Outbound!"

A bit of digging reveals that in 2006, Ag Café (still Ag CaFe at this point) had no name for the pizza line, and Which Wich had replaced a salad bar and "West Side Deli".

When I was in undergrad, 2000-2004, Ag cafe didn't have a name for any of the parts I don't think. At least it was for sure not corporate.

In 2005, Chick-fil-A had FOUR locations on campus: the Underground, Ag Cafe, Commons, and in the MSC (which didn't last long as the MSC would close in four years).

In 2001, Chick-fil-A was eyeing a "third location" at A&M according to the article, which would assume that the Underground and Commons CFA had already existed, and that the third Chick-fil-A would be in the Ag Cafe. It would also seem that all of the Chick-fil-As on campus (maybe with the exception of the Commons) evolved from cafeteria lines.

Here are a couple of articles from 1999/2000 about the Sbisa remodel:

http://restaurant-hospitality.com/observer/rh_imp_2140

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=c14e1bfd-de53-495b-8300-cacac5292de3%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=16&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=3817659

And a 2005 Battalion article about the Commons Dining Center: http://www.thebatt.com/2.8500/officials-consider-remodeling-commons-dining-1.1210705

[This message has been edited by AggiePhil (edited 11/19/2012 9:27a).]

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In 2005, Chick-fil-A had FOUR locations on campus: the Underground, Ag Cafe, Commons, and in the MSC (which didn't last long as the MSC would close in four years).

In 2001, Chick-fil-A was eyeing a "third location" at A&M according to the article, which would assume that the Underground and Commons CFA had already existed, and that the third Chick-fil-A would be in the Ag Cafe. It would also seem that all of the Chick-fil-As on campus (maybe with the exception of the Commons) evolved from cafeteria lines.

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Commons definitely had one. It was one long counter. You started on the left, grabbed your chicken and fries off the rack, and walked to the lady at the end who checked you out.
Stone Willy's pizza was located to the left of that in the same area. There were a bunch of small tables there too.

I assume the underground got its after the remodel but I'm afraid I don't remember that exactly.

Hullabaloo was essentially a Lubys and was awesome. RIP

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Golf Course Snack Bar did have the best hamburgers. Used to walk over there from Junior High (what is now Oakwood and CS Conference Center) on Jersey back in 69-70. And yes, we could leave campus back in those days. Good memories.

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I went to jr. high at that location. We might be classmates.

There was a restaurant on the top of Rudder tower that went back and forth from a public restaurant and the faculty club. It may still be there?

In the early 1970s the MCS cafeteria had very similar food as Luby's has. I used to study in there every day between classes and attribute my spare tire to their Coconut creme pie there and the real milkshakes at the old creamery where they used to make their own ice creme.

woodiewood1 said:

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There was a restaurant on the top of Rudder tower that went back and forth from a public restaurant and the faculty club. It may still be there?

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It's still there. It is called The University Club now.

Not on campus, but what was the first restaurant at the old Gumby's location on Dominik? Pepe's was there in 1990, but a restaurant owned by M&W Restaurants. Was it a Taco Bell?

woodiewood1 said:

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Not on campus, but what was the first restaurant at the old Gumby's location on Dominik? Pepe's was there in 1990, but a restaurant owned by M&W Restaurants. Was it a Taco Bell?

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It was built as Pepe's second location.