Newman Cafe

It has felt like an eternity since I have been to the Newman Café and I am so happy that we stopped in. This café used to be one of my regular spots to eat on campus when I was an undergrad at UMass. I am happy to see that not much has changed and the food is still great.
My favorite meal has to be breakfast, and their different breakfast options makes it really easy to never get bored. One of my go to meals is their breakfast sandwich and home fries meal which is cheap and delicious. Overall the food is great and they guarantee to get you in and out in under ten minutes.
The dining space is also great! They have a ton of seats, a TV, ping pong tables, and some arcade games. It was always a great place to study as well as hang out with friends between classes. The nice thing about this café is that even though it is located in the campuses Catholic center, they never push any ideals on you and truly provide a comfortable space to spend time. This was always a space for me to feed my stomach and my soul.

Newman Café is one of my favorite places to have lunch and study for a couple of hours. Service is friendly and the food is affordable. I’m pretty sure it’s the only place to get a decent breakfast sandwich on campus. They also have some awesome original sandwich creations. All of my guy friends are obsessed with the Jimmy Jammer. I really enjoy the Envy and the Vain sandwiches. Creative and delicious! The only downside is the café is not very cozy and can get quite loud, but if you hit it between meal times and snag a couch you’re golden!

I LOVE THEIR HOME FRIES.
i came here for breakfast. finally after 3 years saying i would come… just never got around to it. and wow, what have i been missing!!! i ordered an ham and cheese omelet that comes with homefriends and toast. sooo good. the omelet tastes better than dc ones! but homefries are soo good.
The down side? THEY DONT TAKE YCMP :(so i had to pay with a cc. succks… but i’ll prob come randomly because its good and i’ll prob run outta swipes later on. They have a large collection of drinks in their fridge too.

Not everyone is familiar with the Newman Café, because of its location and non-​ycmp plan (UMass Dining Services wont grant them a YCMP license which is plain wrong.) It is located in the basement of the Newman Catholic center. It is just a way so that the church could serve students and make some cash while they are at it. A large chunk of their customers come from the business school since its right next door.
Newman Café is famous for its breakfast. They also serve sandwiches, wraps etc. Every week, I order a full breakfast combo which includes 2 eggs, 2 toasts, 3 sausage links and home fries. all for $ 3.50! Always taste great and always made right, I dont see how one can mess up breakfast.
The wait is usually few minutes but between classes it can go upto 10.
Since I am a big tea drinker, I bring my own cup and teabag, and they nice enough to provide me with hot water. When I crave for coffee they have about 6 choices, all from Rao’s.
I dont like how they serve everything in disposable utensils, I hate eating off Styrofoam plates and plastic forks. So very unsustainable and makes your dining experience cheap. But I dont think this matters to most students.
Overall, if you havent yet eaten here, you ought to, because its cheap and you wont be disappointed.

The Newman gets my business for mostly for it’s incredibly convenient location close to the architecture department, and, as another reviewer pointed out, it’s even closer to the business school. Prices are good too, and all-​day cheap breakfast is nice.
That’s about where it stops for me, though. I don’t know, maybe these guys are a real win compared to UMass dining services, but for someone who lives off campus, loves to cook, and is used to eating in places where the food is actually good, The Newman never feels like anything more than serviceable, an easy spot to get passable coffee or put a cheap blob of something warm in my stomach so I can make it through my next class.
To be fair, I don’t think they have any aspirations to culinary greatness, but I wish that the choices there were less greasy. Even the breakfasts, which are hard to screw up, tend to feel a little gross after noon or so. They are cooked on the same griddle as everything else, using too much cheap oil, and the student cooks are not so great about keeping a clean grill, so often an egg sandwich ends up tasting like the bad oil and bits of grilled sandwiches you find stuck to your egg. Home-​fries seem like they start frozen and are definitely cooked in a deep fryer, which is just not necessary or good.
Sandwiches and burgers are nothing special. Mostly, they taste of cheap ingredients and careless preparation.
Coffee here is as good as anywhere on campus, nothing special but the same decent cup of Raos you can get in the library or a number of other places. No complaints there, but it’s sad that beyond coffee, they don’t do as well as they could.