Choate Students Leave for Summer, Take Their Appetites, and Business, With Them
By Gilbert Tetteh ‘08
News Staff Reporter
It is often said that Choate Rosemary Hall serves as an institute for the benefit of intelligent students from all around the world. Easily overlooked, though, are the different ways in which it gives back to its community. Wallingford businesses profit a great deal from their close proximity to a school that hosts over 800 students and many faculty. Choate students have a positive effect on many popular restaurants, from pizza joints like Wallingford Pizza and Louie’s Pizza to hot spots such as Archie Moore’s and Half Moon.
“Between the Choate staff and students, I would say they contribute from about 5 to 10 percent of our yearly business,” remarked the manager of Archie Moore’s, Paul Norton, during an interview.
Eateries like Archie Moore’s serve as an alternative food source when the dining hall does not serve up the most favorable of dinners. It attracts students in the day and the night (especially on the weekends) because the students are given a wide array of choices that will definitely satisfy their specific cravings. When students dine out, they make plans with a larger group of friends. This multiplies the profit that these businesses will make.
In the afternoons, when students are more in need of light food and a place to socialize with friends, Half Moon, a small restaurant serving simple, easily prepared meals and situated across from Archie’s, is the perfect location. The luncheonette caters more significantly to Choate day students during the weekdays but is flooded during the weekends by Choate boarders, usually accompanied by a couple of friends.
There are times also when the stressful conditions at Choate do not permit students to dine out as frequently as they might want to. However, students are still presented with the option of ordering delivery as an alternative to the dining hall. Places such as Ann’s, the most popular breakfast spot; Panda Garden, a Chinese restaurant; and competing pizzerias Louie’s Pizza, Wallingford Pizza and Amoré Apizza are more than willing to take orders from Choate students. Ann’s Breakfast & Lunch, a mile or so away from campus, receives more Choate customers during Parents Weekend or anytime parents visit, because they provide transportation that the boarders lack during the school year. The breakfast joint is also a reliable source of food because it is open 24 hours a day.
When asked how Choate students affect his business, Mr. Louie Perone, owner of Louie’s Pizza, said, “To some degree, they do, but because we’re not exactly in walking distance we don’t get so much business. Choate faculty help us out when they order large quantities for gatherings that involve a good portion of the students.” The boss at Panda Garden, Steven Lin, also agreed that Choate students help his business in a certain respect. He added, “We give the students discounts on the food to attract more business from the kids. Most of the time, they order because of no transportation.”
All these businesses also admitted there is a significant difference between the Summer Sessions and the Choate school year. Mr. Lin’s Panda Garden comments, “The summer doesn’t compare.” Mr. Norris of Archie’s also adds that “it is not a business threatening difference but there is a lower percentage.” In as few words as possible the manager at Oriental Express answered “Yes” to the evident contrast in his profits made from Choate in the summer and the school year.
