Every Wednesday night from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m., the Reid’s Café 66 has been filling up with savory treats and hungry people as community members gather for Dessert Night. This weekly event, which started this semester after conversations between Bon Appetit staff and the Office of Student Activities, aims to fill Reid Campus Center during quieter parts of the evening with the sale of unique dessert selections.

“The desserts are real original, we do different stuff every time, and I think you see everyone gathered around big tables and it’s a sense of community and a place for people to gather in the evenings…Everyone seems to really enjoy it,” said Reid Café Manager Mike Jones.

One of the goals of Dessert Nights is to offer a wide range of desserts made from scratch, which have so far included bananas foster, caramel apple crisp and Café 66 s’mores. Freshly baked cookies and a gluten free option are always included, while portion sizes are often conveniently suited for a small group.

“It’s kind of nice to see students coming in…they’ll each buy one and then they share, so it’s kind of a community plate which is really cool,” said Director of Catering & Espresso Teresa Maddess.

This community-based perk is tied into Dessert Nights’ other goal of drawing students to Reid. Although Café 66 is open until 9:00 p.m. and the entire building is open until 11:00 p.m. on most weekdays, both Bon Appetit staff and the Office of Student Affairs noted that after 7:00 p.m.  students rarely visited the common areas in Reid except to find a quiet study area.

“Because we stay open to eleven or midnight, we want as many people using this space as possible. So we try to work together to make sure that we’re open and available and [Café 66 is] offering things that people will want so that there’s traffic coming in the building,” said Associate Dean of Student Programs & Activities Barbara Maxwell.

To that end, Dessert Nights have tried to foster a community atmosphere for groups of students, such as campus clubs or residence hall sections, to congregate with each other and tasty dessert offerings.

“I had a lot of fun watching students I knew who decided to meet up at Dessert Night last week just …eat apple crisp while writing their thesis,”  said Assistant Director of Student Activities Katharine Curles. “The fact that that’s an option on campus is a really fun niche to…see grow in popularity.”

The night is also cited as a great option for individual students looking for a study break or something new to break up their routine.

“I think that breaking up your schedule and putting that variety in is really important to student mental health and part of our greater goal of making campus a really friendly, welcoming place,” said Curles.

So far Dessert Nights have seen a steady growth in attendance from 25 to 30 people the first week to about 50 in each of the last two weeks. But there is always room for those who may not have heard about the weekly events and those involved encourage anyone to stop by and try the creative dishes concocted in the café.

“I’d just say come over and check it out and try some of these desserts. I think Teresa and Mike have worked really hard to put interesting, creative tasty desserts [on the menu],” said Maxwell.