Williams Cafe opened Sept. 3 after delays caused it to miss its scheduled opening of Aug. 27.
Williams Cafe, colloquially known by students as WilCaf, is a student-run cafe located in Williams Hall. The cafe, which is operated by Penn Student Agencies and staffed by the University's students, offers food and drinks independent of the University's dining plan — including coffee, cold brew, bagels, and pastries.
Michael Warren, the Program Manager for Penn Student Agencies, attributed the delay to issues with the cafe's inventory.
“Williams Cafe's delayed opening was simply a matter of a delay in the delivery of inventory needed for a proper opening,” Warren wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Before the beginning of the fall semester, a post on Williams Cafe's Instagram said that the location was scheduled to open on Aug. 27, the semester's first day of classes. Its eventual opening took place a week later on Sept. 3.
In a Sept. 2 Instagram post announcing the scheduled opening the next day, Williams Cafe wrote that it would be operating with a "limited menu" due to "some issues with our vendors," adding that the menu would remain in effect "until we get our big and beautiful delivery." The limited menu, which is still in effect as of publication time, does not include oat, cream cheese, or chai.
WilCaf first opened in Williams in 1999 and was operated by Bon Appetit, the University's campus caterer. One year later, Penn Student Agencies took over management of the cafe, which has been student-run since.
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