Feature
August
25
Improved Jazzman’s Reopens on Nicholls Campus
by Terry Trahan Jr.
Students, faculty and visitors to Nicholls State University’s campus now have an improved option when it comes to choosing the right morning pick-me-up.
Jazzman’s Café and Bakery reopened on the corner of Ardoyne and Madewood Drives after crews spent the spring and summer semesters building the stand-alone coffee shop. It had been located in the Student Union.
“We didn’t have enough space to have a traditional coffee shop,” said Richard Curtis, general manager for the Nicholls Office of Dining Services.
That’s when plans were made to move the café into its own building with improved drink and pastry selections.
The menu has always included traditional café favorites like an assortment of coffee drinks, fruit smoothies and simple sweets, but customers can now choose among “enhanced” bakery products like scones, blueberry muffins, homemade cinnamon rolls and even beignets, a popular dessert in south Louisiana.
“People have their idea of what a beignet is,” Curtis said. “We’re trying it out, and we believe we have a solid product.”
In addition to coffee and pastries, the new location offers gourmet salads and panini sandwiches for a quick meal between classes.
Plans are also underway to introduce in-house alcoholic beverages like wine to the menu.
In the meantime, customers relax with their coffees and pastries as the café fills with discussions about the latest lectures and events around campus.
“Students are using it as a place to study,” Curtis said. “With indoor and outdoor seating, it gives people a place to enjoy the campus.”
For customers with smartphones, a free application can also be downloaded that allows them to place their order before they arrive at the café. The mobile order form includes the customer’s expected time of arrival so the drink will be freshly made when it is picked up at the counter.
“We beat the competition in getting that to the market,” Curtis said about the new ordering tool.
The new stand-alone location also allows for the introduction of a drive-thru window, which should be completed by mid-September. Curtis said he hopes the window helps to make the café more accessible to the public, in addition to boosting convenience for students and employees at the university.
Customers can stop in at Jazzman’s seven days a week. The café is open from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays, the location closes at 6 p.m. For those seeking a place to study on weekends, the café will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
As the new semester piles on homework and exams, Jazzman’s will be just a smartphone away to supply that extra boost to get through the day.
