Pitchforks to reopen with an expanded menu, new seating

The first floor of McClendon Tower—right above Pitchforks—has been refurbished to add additional
The first floor of McClendon Tower—right above Pitchforks—has been refurbished to add additional

Cafe Edens has a new look—and a return to its original name—to kick off the school year.

Originally known as Pitchforks—which is what many students still called it—the eatery will reassume that moniker as its new name, complete with a renovated interior for the beginning of the Fall semester. The eatery opens Friday.

“The enhanced back-of-house will allow Pitchforks to handle more customers while providing an expanded menu, including the addition of a new hot line to offer daily specials, and faster service times,” wrote Robert Coffey, executive director of dining services, in an email.


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The indoor space in Pitchforks was renovated.


The opening of the Hollows largely prompted the expansion, Coffey explained. Although the original restaurant was built to serve 150 to 200 patrons, he added, the growing number of customers made renovation necessary.

The summer construction expanded the kitchen area to increase production and upgraded the seating area “for a modern look and feel.” Also, the restaurant expanded its menu and added a second cash register, Coffey noted. 

“The expanded seating will allow many more customers to dine in at Pitchforks and hopefully help create another great social gathering space for the Duke community,” he wrote.

A second phase of renovation—slated for completion by Spring 2020—will supplement the current seating with a glass enclosure, increasing the dining capacity. 

Paul Manning, director of project management, wrote in an email that construction on the next phase will cause minimal disturbance to the eating space.


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Pitchforks’s expansion will be finished by Spring.


“Work will continue on the addition with no impact on the renovated dining space within the existing building, except for maybe some more noise at the restaurant during construction work hours,” he wrote.

Pitchforks is located in the basement of McClendon Tower in Keohane Quad and is well known for its 24/7, late-night dining atmosphere

Rotating food trucks will also be available nightly near Edens Quad Monday through Thursday, Coffey wrote.

Hollows Quad will house students for the first time after Central Campus apartments shut their doors at the end of the Spring semester. The 703 beds will accommodate some of the displaced students as well as the influx of visiting students from Duke Kunshan University

Kathryn Silberstein contributed reporting. 

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