On a trip to the Espresso Roma Café, students can often
find themselves bumping into groups of businessmen in suits
chattering away about stock prices and indexes. This is just one of
the many ways in which the Roma Café, located at the UCLA
Anderson School of Management, is very different from most UCLA
restaurants.
Unlike most of the restaurants on campus, the Roma Café is
not operated by the Associated Students of UCLA. The Roma Café
is more an individual entity, part of a larger chain with stores in
over 20 locations.
The Roma Café at UCLA has been under contract with the
Anderson School on a lease basis since 1996. Roy Champawat, the
UCLA associate director for operations and business management,
said ASUCLA decided at the time that it did not want to make the
investment. Consequently, the Anderson School was allowed to find
an independent client.
As a result, the Roma Café has been able to operate more
independently than ASUCLA restaurants. The cafe prides itself in
providing a little something not likely to be found at UCLA’s
other restaurants.
“With our fresh salads and fresh baked goods, we are
different from what you get elsewhere. We also think we have a
genuinely friendly environment, a little different from Ackerman
and a little different from Kerckhoff,” said Jason Hood, who
has worked with the Roma Café for the past three years and
also served as manager until January 2004.
“But though we’re a separate entity from the other
restaurants at UCLA, we still like to work to meet UCLA
standards,” Hood said.
The staff behind the counter at Roma are indeed welcoming, and
the fact that they don’t adorn the typical blue ASUCLA
uniforms is refreshing in itself. The students at Anderson cafe say
they enjoy this casual atmosphere. “The service is great, and
the staff are very friendly and helpful,” said Vikas Gupta, a
first-year business student.
The Roma Café came under scrutiny in 2002 when a health and
safety inspection resulted the cafe’s two-day closure. It
reopened with a C rating.
“When I came in, the first thing I wanted to do was to get
rid of the C rating,” said manager Laurie Sammers, who took
over from Hood last year. “We now have an A rating, and it
has taken a lot of diligence for it to stay up there.”
Sammers, who is also a professional chef, sought to revamp the
Roma menu as soon as she took charge. “I felt we needed
variety to accommodate the needs of the Anderson community,”
said Sammers. “I introduced low-carb items and fruit for the
faculty and staff, and made the menu more diverse for the
international community at Anderson. The menu is now more eclectic,
and as fresh and seasonal as possible.”
This variety has made the cafe popular in the Anderson
community. “Especially being a vegetarian, there’s a
lot of choice,” Gupta said. “There are all kinds of
salads and noodles.”
But Gupta also believes the menu could still use a few more
changes. “I know it’s a cafe, but because many of the
items aren’t all that filling, you see a lot of Anderson
students being forced to go to Northern Lights or Ackerman for
lunch.”
Nevertheless, Gupta still feels the Roma Café is an
important part of the Anderson community.
“Anderson students do spend a lot of time at Roma. Whether
just for coffee or even study groups, it’s perfect,”
Gupta said.
Sammers likens Roma’s role in the Anderson community to
that of a friendly neighborhood cafe.
“We make it a point to listen to the feedback from
students and faculty. And with so many friends at Anderson,
we’re very happy to be here,” she said.
With reports from Kunal Mehta, Bruin Finance
contributor.