New Smoothie Stop Wishes Students Would Stop Asking For Bagels

by Kayleigh Thompson

Dozens of Wonks are disgruntled to find that American Café, the once go-to stop to grab a bagel or coffee on the way to class in the American University School of Public Affairs’ Cornelius M. Kerwin Hall has been replaced by Create. This new eatery is a health-inspired smoothie joint that features grain bowls, healthy shakes, and other fruity blends.

While Chartwells, the newly contracted dining service provider, has added new, fun options that (supposedly) don’t feature rats, roaches, or mold, the revamped Kerwin Café just wishes that students would stop asking for BLTs, café mochas, or various bagel combinations. 

While the old Kerwin food stop did not have the same clout as the beloved, late Megabytes, it had many of the same sentimental servings of sandwiches, fancy coffees, and, of course, bagels. After the demise of that premier dining location in Bender Tunnel, many students would take their EagleBucks to American Café over Einstein Brothers’ Bagels to satisfy their cravings for yeast rings.

“Einstein’s never toasts my bagel right, but the Kerwin Café always met my bagel needs,” one student lamented upon discovering that the 43-minute line he had waited in was for a strawberry-banana smoothie and not a plain bagel with tomato and avocado.

Though you can still order coffee at the new Create, no longer is the printer-paper sign in front of the cash register boasting a shocking amount of bean water variety. Nor is there the small-font menu featuring dozens of sandwich-like entrees, but all is not lost. Now you can sustain yourself on healthy bowls of greens, grains, fruits, and copious amounts of overnight oatmeal. However, with the amount of requests for items off of the old menu, Create’s employees may have to consider investing more into the carb-based market. 

On the other hand, Create does seem to echo the smoothie culture Megabytes once had, though it has yet to gain the acceptance and affection from seasoned Wonks still mourning the loss of that café to the Wonk Rat. Create also takes meal swipes, so now students have to find another campus stop to spend all of their fake Eagle money. 

One thing’s for sure though, Create is not the same old basic American Café. They do not specialize in bagels and coffee, and they are definitely not the new Megabytes. 

I rate it three Wonks out of five.