The JSB Café, one of City College’s hidden treasures, has revamped its style, altered its service tactics and broadened its capacity.

The food service department provided funding for the remodel; the department is a separate account from the culinary department and includes revenue from the café, according to Marc Sullivan, a culinary arts instructor and brains behind the remodel. Though the project is not completely finished, Sullivan said the final cost would be close to $50,000.

“We knew we had a potential to serve more people, but a lack of seats and tables,” said Sandra Allain, a culinary arts lab-teaching assistant who has been running the JSB Café for 13 years.  “Instead of only being able to serve about 98 people at once, we can now serve about 130.”

Located across from the bookstore, the JSB Café provides a welcoming place to sit down with friends and enjoy good food for affordable prices, but the atmosphere was not always as inviting as it is now.  Summer renovations turned what used to resemble an out of date cafeteria into a beautiful, restaurant-inspired dining room with a large connected patio.

“I think the students deserve it,” said Sullivan.

The new design inside includes high bar tables, freshly painted walls, and a fountain wall sconce.  The patio is no longer lined with overgrown shrubs, concrete was added to enlarge the patio space and a few large flowerpots were placed along the back wall.

“The new format in the café is more casual and relaxed,” said Randy Bublitz, a culinary arts associate professor.  Students order their lunch at the counter, receive a number, seat themselves and wait for their food to be delivered.

Labor costs decreased significantly after the format change because JSB now only has two paid cashiers instead of eight waiters, according to Sullivan. Also, the removal of the salad bar has decreased expenses drastically.

Allain describes the loss of the salad bar as a “big issue.”

“We’re a learning situation,” she said. “Sometimes we burn things and sometimes we lose a ticket, so [the salad bar] would pacify our customers to eat a salad while waiting for a meal.”

Monday, the Channels asked City College student Dolores Bretado, 20, her opinion of the remodel while enjoying her lunch at JSB.

“I like it,” said Bretado. “It was terrible before.  Now it’s bigger and more inviting.”

Sullivan still has minor details to work on in the café, but the majority of the work is done.

“This college is beautiful,” said Sullivan. “Why not have a beautiful JSB?”