Students who frequent the medical schools will gain a familiar dining option after the Tar Heal Cafe closes this November.
Brandon Thomas, a spokesman for Carolina Dining Services, said the Student Dining Board decided to close the cafe and replace it with Alpine Bagel Cafe.
“Alpine Bagel, with its healthy options and breakfast and lunch items, was determined to be the perfect fit,” he said.
The Tar Heal Cafe, located in the Thurston Bowles Building on the corner of Manning Drive and South Columbia Street, is a food court serving Chick-fil-A, Montague’s Deli, Starbucks coffee and Simply Fresh salads and sandwiches.
Thomas said the driving factor for closing the cafeteria was the plummeting sales.
“Since the Beach Cafe opened (near the Health Sciences Library) about four years ago, sales started to go down,” he said.
“One of the obvious reasons is that both Beach Cafe and the Tar Heal Cafe serve Chick-fil-A, and the two are really close together.”
Thomas said the University determined that it would be best to replace it with an Alpine Bagel by surveying customers as they left the cafe.
He said the menu is likely to resemble the one in the Student Union, with similar prices and food options.