Heritage Eats at Stanford opening on May 25

Update: Heritage Eats is no longer at Stanford.

Update: The headline and text of this story has been updated to reflect the open date of Heritage Eats at Stanford.

A new café will open soon in the now-vacant space on the ground floor of Jordan Hall. The menu will be designed by Ben Koenig, the founder of Heritage Eats in Napa, California.

Heritage Eats at Stanford will offer globally inspired cuisine with “a focus on elevated 'daily life' food from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and beyond,” Koenig said. The new café will serve lunch five days a week, during both the regular academic year and summer quarter, and will open on May 25. The menu will include sandwiches, wraps, rice bowls, and salads, along with a rotating selection of featured items such as a falafel wrap, Thai-style bao buns, and shrimp tacos.

Input from the campus community was essential in choosing a vendor for the new café, according to Shannon Silva, business and program manager for facilities and capital planning at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences. “Our aim was to enhance the dining options already on campus with something new and great that would be convenient and cost-effective for everyone,” Silva said.

Approximately 2,700 members of the campus community participated in a survey that helped determine the type of food the new café would serve as well as its hours of operation and appropriate prices. The results of the survey revealed a strong preference for Pan-Asian cuisine. In January, more than 100 students, faculty, and staff were randomly selected to try sample dishes from four vendors chosen as finalists.

Heritage Eats at Stanford was the overwhelming favorite, earning rave reviews for its eclectic offerings. “We’re really excited about what Heritage Eats at Stanford will bring to the table,” Silva said. Koenig expects his “fast, fresh, flavorful, and affordable” dishes to add welcome variety to lunchtime on campus.

The former occupant of the Jordan Hall space, the Thai Café, was a popular spot for lunch for 30 years. Its owner Mykhanh Bahlman retired in May 2016.

Media Contact:

Joy Leighton, School of Humanities and Sciences: joy [dot] leighton [at] stanford [dot] edu (joy[dot]leighton[at]stanford[dot]edu), (650) 721-5711