Starting March 30, a new “pop-up” lunch option will open in the heart of the Main Group. Right on the Infinite Corridor, at the intersection of Buildings 4 and 8, the space formerly known as Cafe 4 has been transformed by MIT Dining to give the MIT community ready access to food during the day. This initiative is part of a series of ongoing pilots and innovations aimed at improving campus dining.
Home to a collection of vending machines since 2021, the space will offer $10 pre-prepared, grab-and-go lunches made by Carolicious, a Venezuelan restaurant located in the MIT Launchpad food court in the Stratton Student Center. A staff and student favorite, Carolicious will create a special menu for the pop-up location, drawing from their existing menus of arepas, tequenos, and Pabellón Bowls that include rice, black beans, sweet plantains, cheese, and shredded beef, pulled pork and shredded chicken topped with pico de gallo topped and basil sauce. The location will be fully integrated into MIT’s payment systems, including TechCash and Dining Dollars.
“If this goes well, we hope to keep going and bring other vendors into the space,” says Director of Dining Andrew Mankus. Mankus, along with colleagues from the Division of Student Life and the Office of Campus Planning, have been looking carefully at where people have convenient access to high-quality food on campus—and where they don’t. “The space in Building 4 is perfectly located to fill a need,” Mankus says.
The new space doesn’t have a name yet, Mankus says. “That’s our next step. A group of students I’ve been meeting with about dining issues this year asked if they could have a contest to give the space a name. We think that’s a great idea.”
For more updates, email foodstuff@mit.edu or follow mitfoodstuff on Instagram.
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Contact Sarah Foote from the Division of Student Life’s Communications Office at dsl-comm@mit.edu
