From meeting up with friends, to pre-class coffee runs, to desperate dinners when nothing in the DC looks appealing, the Eagle’s Nest (Zime) is a crucial component of Eastern University’s culture. Nothing is more Eastern than the out the door line that occasionally wraps all the way around Walton Lobby, causing headaches for students rushing to class. It seems the beloved campus coffee shop has had an interesting history, wearing many different names, serving a variety of foods and changing its dynamics to fit the needs of students over time. The coffee shop has had to make tough decisions in recent years, phasing out the nostalgic, cozy cafe in favor of a high speed, streamlined operation that can serve more students at once.
According to Scott Lofland, general manager of Sodexo at Eastern, the original name for the coffee shop was, simply, “coffee shop.” The name Eagle’s Nest was given in 1996, and it has stuck in various forms since. In 2001, Sodexo rebranded the shop to “Eagle’s Nest at Jammin’ Java,” which a former worker tells me was affectionately referred to as “JJ’s” by the students. This change brought with it a variety of drinks and more of a coffee shop atmosphere, expanding beyond the house drip coffee. 2016 brought with it the name that most students, especially upperclassmen, are familiar with now: “Eagle’s Nest at Zime,” or, simply, “Zime,” but the students continued to refer to it as “JJ’s” for several more years. The rebrand was intended to promote healthier food, which was what the students were asking for. This year, for the first time since 2000, “Eagle’s Nest” is the official name of the coffee shop–though if you ask most students, they probably still call it Zime.
I spoke with Lofland about the early days of the coffee shop, as he also worked there when he was a student, from 1989-1992. Although its name was “coffee shop,” the only coffee that was served was house drip coffee–not exactly the variety it has now. “We actually served dinner at night… it was exactly what the Breezeway is now, but we also had a small pizza oven.” Almost exclusively student workers ran the place, and it was quite popular with the students for Sunday dinner when the DC was closed.
Nicole Markert is a former student who was a barista at the coffee shop from 2016-2020. She was one of about fifteen student baristas who ran the Jammin’ Java side, while the “Eagle’s Nest” portion was on the other side of a wooden barrier, and served food such as easy risers. The two have since combined, taking down a couple walls in the process. Looking around the shop at how it has changed, Markert remarked “I think it does look a little bit better, I think it was a little constricted before. But I do kind of miss the coziness…this feels more like convenience, chain and not like a cozy coffee shop type thing,” Markert said.
The heavily student-based staff also gave the place a different feel. “The staff knew every student that came in and their order… it was really community focused… and we had a lot of fun with the drink menu. We used to have a chalkboard and staff-made specials. One year we had a golden latte, which was essentially a turmeric latte. We also did Italian sodas, and we did a little bit more experimentation with the drinks,” Markert explained. “I think it was a little bit more community based, and the staff was much tighter. That’s why I stayed there for four years… I still talk to, on occasion, the people who I worked with here. When I was a first year and I came in, the upperclassmen trained me and we became best friends, and then when I was an upperclassmen I did the same thing… It was just a very personable experience,” Markert reminisced.
Previously, the coffee shop only took flex dollars, so the atmosphere was different–quieter, cozier and more heavily upperclassmen who had flex dollars to spend. “The dynamic inside was people would sit here and do their work for hours, I feel like now it’s not so much that,” Markert observed, looking around at the heavy foot traffic. As the shop made the change from flex dollars to meal swipes, accessibility increased–and with it, changes had to be made. The carpet and couches were taken out, and the coffee provider switched. “We used to brew Peet’s coffee, which is a sustainable and fair trade coffee company, so everything is ethically sourced. They switched to Starbucks after I graduated… I think it was a combination of student input and management, because there was a push to make things more efficient,” Markert said. Trading community for convenience seemed to be a necessary change to match the changing campus dynamics. “They changed appropriately to the influx of population at the school. When you are the only coffee shop on campus, I feel like you have to make that change, otherwise the line will be out the door,” Markert said, although she maintains that “I definitely prefer how it used to be.”
Hannah Bonaducci has been a barista at Eagle’s Nest for a little over a year now. She has noticed a change during her time working for the coffee shop, too. “This year it’s more centered towards being quick service… We’re trying to do everything we can to make it as quick as possible,” Bonaducci said, referring to the second checkout line, the Everyday app for mobile ordering and more workers. The constant rush of customers can deteriorate the employee experience. “The employee vibe is definitely killed when you don’t have time to chat with your fellow employees… I don’t blame Sodexo, I don’t blame the university, I don’t blame the students–we’re in a tough situation where we’re one coffee shop for 1500 students,” Bonaducci said.
Stuck between accessibility to all and convenience versus comfort and community, Sodexo has had to make the choice that works for the growing student population. Bonaducci expressed interest in the more cozy cafe energy of Markert’s time, but without any expansion, it simply is not possible. “Ideally we would get a second space or expand the space so we could bring back the cozy background,” Bonauducci said.
The baristas themselves wish to make the space more community-oriented, but slammed by drinks, sometimes they can appear unintentionally negative. “We don’t hate you, even if we look super stressed or angry when we put your drink out, it’s probably just that we’re already thinking of the next four drinks behind yours and we’re trying to think of how to get that done quickly… I love talking to customers, making a drink and watching [the customer] take the first sip and be really excited. It’s not anyone’s fault that we don’t have the environment to be able to provide more of that. Keep in mind that even though it’s not what we’re giving at this exact moment it doesn’t mean we don’t want to give it,” Bonaducci said.
The coffee shop has always evolved to meet the needs of students, and Lofland emphasizes how malleable the coffee shop remains. “It was always based on students’ input… we don’t want students to tell us what’s wrong, we want them to be a part of it, so they can build it with us,” Lofland said. What is the future of Eastern’s beloved coffee shop? Students get to decide that–if they use their voice.