Baristas to replace burritos at Warren

The Bell tolls for cheap, on-campus tacos, as the Warren Towers storefront Mexican restaurant is set to close this weekend, and a Starbucks is waiting in the wings, according to student and employee reports.

The Taco Bell's last day of operation will be Sunday, said a Taco Bell shift manager who declined to give her full name. Her bosses told her very little about the change, she said.

"We're closing," she said. "We will be open on Sunday but will not open on Monday."

"We only know [about the details] because of what students come in and tell us," she said.

Just before Spring Break, Boston University Dining Services invited students to participate in focus groups to help the school decide how to best use the retail space beneath Warren Towers, participants said.

Nora Dunne, a College of Communication freshman, said she was one of about 10 participants in the March 10 group that was lead by Dining Services Marketing Director Michelle Vitagliano. Dunne said Vitagliano told group members Dining Services is considering changes for the locations.

"Before we began discussing, she told us that the Taco Bell was going to become a Starbucks," Dunne said. "We should know there is going to be a Starbucks because that would change obviously what we would want in the other two locations."

Vitagliano told the group the new Starbucks will take dining and convenience points, like the George Sherman Union and School of Management venues, Dunne said.

Vitagliano declined comment about the Taco Bell location out of "professional courtesy" to the restaurant, which is not operated by Dining Services, in a March 17 email. She said she would be ready to comment after "just a few weeks."

The focus group was told it would have no effect on the Taco Bell-Starbucks decision, but group members had mixed reactions, focus group participant Molly Freitag said.

"There were mixed opinions among us when we found out it was looking like Starbucks was the choice," Freitag, a COM sophomore, said. "I personally wasn't opposed to it, but a couple of the guys weren't too excited about having yet another Starbucks on campus."

Dunne and Freitag said Vitagliano told them the decision had already been made.

"Some people were upset a little because they were like, 'How many Starbucks can there be on Commonwealth Avenue?'" focus group member Peisin Yang said. "She already said that's already done. That's in the process of happening."

Yang, a COM freshman, said Vitagliano was receptive to suggestions about how to use other locations beneath Warren Towers.

"She was definitely really open to listen to us," Yang said. "She really wanted to make sure she got our opinions."

Yang said her group suggested Ferretti's should stay, but accept dining points in addition to convenience points.

Although the Facebook group "Save the Comm Ave Taco Bell!" boasts 60 members, some students said they are glad to be rid of the fast food eatery.

"College students are so prone to eating unhealthily," CAS sophomore Sarah Beth Bennett said. "I think that it's better to not even have the option of fast food so close by all the time."

Other students said they thought there are too many Starbucks nearby and would prefer a different option.

"They should just put in a Dunkin' Donuts," College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Bob Caron said. "If you're going to go with another coffee place, why put in a Starbucks when there's one right across the street?"

Staff reporters Andy Facini, Lizzy Snell and Cassandra Landry contributed reporting to this article.