The T-shirts will read: Durham, Chapel Hill, New York. The burritos will be healthy, the beer cheap and the atmosphere relaxed.
That's right, New Yorkers are about to get a taste of Duke-Cosmic Cantina is expanding to New York City this April.
Why New York?
In the words of Cosmic Cantina president, CEO and 1995 Duke graduate Cosmos Lyles, "Burritos are really underrepresented there."
Lyles said he was "looking for something within walking distance of [New York University]" when he started scouting locations for the new Cantina. "For some reason the East Side felt right; it feels more like Cantina in the East Village," he said. "The people walking around Third Avenue seemed to be young and Cantina-like."
So Lyles went to the village, looked for vacancies and found a spot at Third Avenue and 13th Street. The newest Cantina will be one block from Union Square, five blocks from the center of the New York University campus and within one to two blocks of three NYU dorms. It is also in close proximity to the hot new club Spa, which may funnel customers to the Cantina after hours.
"Late night is such a cool and key element of our business," Lyles said. "Being near a college and having reasonable prices will go well anywhere, but I think late night is a great aspect."
Lyles has also considered the possibility of staying open 24 hours, although he will wait until the new location has been open for a while before deciding.
"Drinking stops there at 4 [a.m.]; if we stay open till 5 [a.m], that's only five hours until opening [the next day]," Lyles said. "It is still tough to get healthy, non-greasy food after 2 a.m."
New York will not be Cantina's first expansion. Four years after the Durham location opened in September 1995, Lyles expanded to include a Chapel Hill location.
But New York is a totally different environment. In a place where the cost of a movie just hit the $10 mark, will Cantina be able to keep its low prices?
"Everything will probably go up a dollar," Lyles said. "I'd love to keep the chicken burrito at the same price, though. That's the item everybody orders."
While the rent in New York may be higher than in Durham, Lyles also has access to many more vendors to purchase ingredients.
"I'm finding premium ingredients-organic beans, rice and tomatoes," he said.
Lyles hopes his burritos can become part of the "grab and go" foods many New Yorkers feed on.
"I think it would be great," said junior Becca Carr. "New York is so expensive, and Cantina isn't expensive but has good food. If I were living in New York, I'd definitely like to get a burrito for $5."
The new location will probably be about the same size as the Durham location, which is relatively large for New York. "It has a funky layout," Lyles said. "The contractors in New York are really skilled."
With late hours, proximity to college students and alcohol, will Cantina become a part of the New York bar scene?
"We're just going to serve our food and our beer, and if people want to hang out there that's great," Lyles said. "There's never going to be a velvet rope outside, but it could be a drinking place."
Lyles hopes that Duke alumni living in New York will flock to the new Cantina, and he plans to place fliers in the NYU dorms as well as ads in The Chronicle and newspapers around the new location.
"It will be like Brother Jimmy's, a Duke bar in New York City where a lot of Duke people go," said junior Aaron Hart. "It will also be great for Duke students who are in New York over the summer-Cosmic Cantina is such a Duke entity."
Lyles said Cosmic Cantina will bring a little bit of Durham to New York. "Coming from North Carolina, Cantina's gonna crack their brains a little bit," he said.
And as for future expansion?
"Miami would be great," Lyles said hopefully. "Maybe South Beach."
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