It can be complete torture going through a full slate of classes for the day without something to eat. We all know that if you go to the HUB after an 11:15, you’re going to have to wait in long lines, and nobody has time for that. You might say to yourself, “I can win the battle until 4 p.m.” Well, 2:45 rolls around, you’re craving some Chick-fil-A, and you decide that you’re going to stop at the HUB after class. Think again.

Most of the restaurants at the HUB close around 3:00. Chick-fil-A, Joegies HUB Subs, Piccalilli’s, and Wild Cactus all close at 3:00 p.m., while Burger King closes at 4:00 p.m. There are some exceptions to this rule, though, namely on weekends. Sbarro is open until 1:00 a.m. on Fridays, and Burger King closes at 1:00 a.m. on Saturdays. That only leaves you with three options: Panda Express, Sbarro, and Mixed Greens. So the question becomes: “Why would almost all of these places close before dinner?”

It turns out, there is a method to this madness after all.

According to the Director of Retail Campus Dining and Catering, David Gingher, it all comes down to supply and demand.

“If we had the volume to keep everything open we would certainly be open, however in the late afternoon we do not have the traffic to warrant all the operations be open.”

I decided to check this out for myself and visited Sbarro and Panda Express after 4 p.m. one day. Both restaurants were visibly empty at a prime dinner time with no line at Sbarro at all. One Sbarro worker mentioned that they are “never really busy after 4:00.” Another chimed in that “the only exception is a rush around 9:00 p.m. on Fridays for Late Night.”

If more people wanted to eat dinner at the HUB, more of the restaurants would be open. With the restaurants like Sbarro not seeing much traffic after 4 p.m., it makes sense to close most of the other restaurants, but just like the makeup of the HUB is changing with the ongoing construction, change is soon to come for the dining options too.

“After the remodel is completed we will have a couple additional options for dinner,” said Gingher.

Hopefully, it results in more options for students.