On March 26, 2015, Chatham’s Student Government (CSG) met with administrators and Chatham’s architect to discuss changes on campus—including the relocation of the post office and bookstore. When discussing the future use of The Carriage House, it was suggested that a smoothie or juice bar could be added. The proposal gained moderate support and was put into motion.

Rob Coyne, the general manager of dining services at Chatham said, “Residence Life was looking for something to attract students to come to the Carriage House. They had received a lot of feedback from students wanting a fresh fruit smoothie and juice bar.”

When the remodeled Carriage House was opened, there was space for a smoothie bar in the main room. The Carriage House Smoothie & Juice Bar was later opened on September 24. For the first day, the hours were restricted from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. but have since been switched to the usual hours of operation from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

When asked if it was hard to pull the smoothie bar together in such a short amount of time, supervisor Stephanie Cervi said, “It was not hard at all; we were very organized.”

The menu of the Carriage House Smoothie & Juice Bar offers many options. These range from the Eden Hall Bliss juice (Eden Hall tomatoes, spinach or kale, and fresh-squeezed Granny Smith apple juice) to the ‘Fu Smoothie (silken tofu, fresh bananas, local honey, and organic soy milk) to the Melon Cuke Mint juice (watermelon, cucumber, and mint), and more. There are even options that allow students to create their own drinks from a list of optional ingredients. Students can also always add a “boost” to their smoothies (green tea matcha powder, energy, protein [whey], or immune support).

“Some of the smoothie recipes (the Cougar Cooler and the Going Bananas) were from the McGrady Café Smoothie Bar that was opened when the AFC came on line,” said Coyne. “The others are based on popular trends in smoothie bars. The juice recipes were developed with help of Delicious Raw, a Juice Bar concept as part of the Hello Bistros’ (Eat’n Park restaurants) partnership within downtown Pittsburgh.”

Cervi said, “It’s a great option for all customers. Vegans and vegetarians seem to really enjoy it. The athletes enjoy getting a drink after practice or before going to the gym and adding protein powder to their drink.”

The current menu offers 11 options—seven smoothies and four juices, with two of the smoothies and one of the juices being CYO (choose your own).

“We will tweak the menus around seasonally available fruits and vegetables. We will also make menu changes based on guest feedback,” said Coyne. “So far we have very positive comments around the smoothie and juice recipes.”