Shreya Pabbaraju/Asst. Opinion Edtior
The Depot by Kaldi’s Coffee has reached its Stalingrad moment at the peak of its fascist expansion.
Kaldi’s failed its health inspection by the DeKalb County Board of Health on March 15, receiving 60 points out of 100; the minimum score to pass is 70 points. According to the inspection report, the coffee shop stored raw food next to cooked food; contained expired black beans, kale and turkey; and used dirty dishes as if they were clean. During the inspection, the main cook was “constantly pulling up pants while making food,” according to the report.
Kaldi’s will receive a follow-up inspection from the Dekalb County Board of Health on March 26, and its fate as one of Emory’s prime dining locations hangs in the balance.
The failed health inspection is a significant shock to Kaldi’s successful four-year tenure at Emory. Kaldi’s, which also boasts locations in Cox Hall and the School of Medicine, has become a staple of Emory University. Although not specifically requested by student demand, Kaldi’s has the most locations on Emory’s campus of any vendor, and every time I step into the Depot between 9 p.m. and midnight, it’s full.
I’m not the first to describe the expansion of Kaldi’s as “fascist.” In an op-ed for the Wheel, Zachary Issenberg (17C) provocatively labeled the fact that Kaldi’s has three locations — two of which are within a 5-minute walk of each other — as fascist.
“I did not necessarily choose this term so much as the term chose the situation,” Issenberg wrote. “Who asked for this? Who does this benefit?”
As a College senior, I witnessed the end of Zaya Mediterranean Cuisine during my freshman year and the unstoppable rise of Kaldi’s that followed. Zaya, which occupied the current Depot location, was usually packed with students too, and the Wheel Editorial Board once called it “one of the most convenient spots on campus,” so it’s unclear why Emory had to replace it with Kaldi’s in the first place. I would even go as far as to say that any dining location that serves coffee and stays open late would achieve the same level of success that Kaldi’s currently does.
I can attest that most drunk, hungover or stressed Emory students recovering from poor decision-making do not usually care about the quality of food or coffee they consume. To paraphrase an op-ed by Tyler Zelinger (17B), who cares about the difference between coffee from Kaldi’s or coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts when you have a raging hangover or multiple assignments and endless exams to study for?
Zelinger continued his article by reiterating that no students asked for the increase in quality from Dunkin’ Donuts or Zaya to Kaldi’s. Many of us, especially low-income students, can’t afford to pay $2.50 for a soda, $3 for a yogurt parfait or $9 for a less-than-satisfactory breakfast burrito.
Kaldi’s poor performance on the health inspection is no exception among Emory dining locations, as Cox Hall received a “C” grade on its health inspection last October. Part of the appeal of Kaldi’s, however, is that it supposedly offers higher quality food compared to Zaya or Dunkin’ Donuts. But when Kaldi’s poor health practices risk pathogens from raw food contaminating its dishes, it is hard to believe Kaldi’s is truly better than its predecessors. Combined with the lack of affordable food options, students are forced to cough up more money for potentially unhealthy and unsafe food.
It is not failure but hypocrisy that should damn Kaldi’s and encourage Emory students to revolt against the restaurant’s monopoly over accessible dining locations on campus. An Emory student might be able forgive a poor health inspection grade, but not a failing one from an establishment that charges $9 for avocado toast with bacon. I’d rather hedge my bets and eat at Cox Hall, because paying $4 for two tacos at Twisted Taco is much more satisfying, more economically feasible and apparently healthier than the allegedly high-quality Kaldi’s.
Kaldi’s’ failed health inspection rips away the facade of quality that would have justified its unaffordable prices. While its Depot location may offer students a convenient study space, the Emory community should resist its exclusionary dominance of the accessible coffee shop market.
Ryan Fan (19C) is from Stony Brook, N.Y.
