Burgers, fries and pizza, City Café is more than just a place to grab an affordable meal. It’s a place of opportunity for its workers.
City Café like many other sites on campus is a part of California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids. The CalWORKs program strives to promote self-sufficiency by giving students access to education, vocational training and employment.
“I got involved through CalWORKs, the work study program,” says Jaisha Alvarez, who started washing dishes last semester at the Café and now works at Java City.
Working on campus allows students to focus on their studies while still being able to earn an income. The Café like other places on campus is just like a regular job: payday is biweekly and shifts are around eight hours.
“Tuesday, Thursday I work eight hours and then Monday, Wednesday I work four because of my schedule,” says Alvarez. “They work with me. I give them my schedule at the beginning of the semester and that’s what they do my hours around.”
To get a caffeine fix, Java City offers speciality coffee drinks and pastries. Java City gets its coffee from farms that focus on environmental protection, community enhancement and fair worker compensation.
No matter what someone is craving the café has a array of choices. For the perfect slice of pizza, Bene Pizza is available. There are tacos, burritos and salad bowls at Raging Burrito or you can create your own deli sandwich.
“I like the burrito. I like that they use fresh, fresher vegetables than they use too,” says Vanessa Huizar, who enjoys the food but wishes it wasn’t as pricey.
For those sweet-tooth enthusiasts, there are brownies, cookies and even a custom milkshake machine.
City Café also offers full-service catering where you can choose from a number of menus that they have or custom design a menu that suits your special occasion.
City Cafe and Java City are open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and closed on Saturday and Sunday.
