Reopening of Luke’s Cafe leaves stomachs happy
With the classroom quiet, all of a sudden an earthquaking grumble originates from your epicenter. The professor, your peers and even the kids in the next class can hear that sustenance is needed, and it is needed extremely soon.
Almost every college student has faced the dilemma of forgetting lunch at home and facing debilitating hunger pains throughout their classes.
Going home is not an option, home is too far away.
The reopening of Luke’s Family Cafe on the Quad has created a fun, new environment to eat and study. Located on the first floor of the Agricultural Sciences Building, students and professors alike can easily enjoy a quick study break snack or lunch for $2.50 per street taco.
“I am really excited to have Luke’s back and in the ag building where I go to study and where a lot of my classes are,” said Cam Jessup, a Utah State University student majoring in equestrian studies. “My favorite thing to get there is probably the horchata or the carne asada tacos. I mainly just like how fast but also fresh it feels eating it.”
Two years ago, the original Luke’s Family Cafe had to close down after seven years of Aggie coffee and ice cream dissemination. Throughout the pandemic, the cafe’s doors remained closed.
Yet, after leaving the space empty for over a year, USU’s Dining Services said they dreamt of the reopening of Luke’s Cafe into something new and geared more towards the current Aggie needs.
“From our executive chefs, right down to more than 400 student employees, we want to make sure that (students) enjoy all of (their) dining experiences on campus,” said Jaime Bradford, the associate director of Utah State’s Retail Operations.
Bradford said the best way to accomplish this goal would be to take the concept of a street taco truck and make it into an on-campus dining experience.
According to the dining services, since the Steeped cafe was already serving Starbucks on campus, they thought a different restaurant would serve Aggie students better.
After finding two local Latin natives living in Logan who already owned a thriving taco truck business, Luke’s found its new menu.
“One of my favorite places to come during the day, when I forgot my lunch of course, would be Luke’s new taco shack,” said Samuel Parkinson, a USU student studying chemical engineering. “I lived in Mexico for some time and this salsa is pretty authentic — not spicy enough but very good.”
According to the dining services, Feb. 17 will be the grand opening. Anthony Linton, the manager of Luke’s Cafe, said there will be free food, giveaways and the creators of Luke’s street taco recipe will be there.
“Though Luke’s new taco services have not gained much traction yet on campus,” Linton said, “this hidden gem is soon to be discovered and we believe it will become an Aggie favorite quickly.”
Photos by Phil Weber