“My worst experience is pretty bad. One time, this one kid took all the[beer] taps and pulled them over and was just sitting there and laughing, and all the beer was spilling. It was so busy, and I turned around and screamed at him, of course. That was pretty bad. It’s hard for us to keep a mirror in the men’s bathroom because every time we get one, they punch a hole in it. And the ceiling tiles—I don’t know how many times we’ve had to replace them.”—Renee, Smokes'
“Those Penn students are the tits.”—Jesse, United By Blue
“They were all really wasted last Saturday. One of them threw up in here. That was the worst, or maybe the funniest moment. The owner of the restaurant had to carry her out. She threw up on the carpet.”—Schuyler, Greek Lady
“Penn kids are great. They really behave well. Unlike any other college students who we get. Sometimes we get Saint Joe’s students in here. Depends on what kind of events are at the Palestra. We get Drexel students in here. It’s a completely different animal when you get the Penn students in here. They’re no trouble at all.”—Bryan and Nicole, Copa
“One time during Spring Fling, this girl wanted to use the bathroom in the back. This bathroom was packed, so I told her she could use the bathroom in the back. She just went to the office and she took a piss in the office. So I had to kick her out. She came back the next year—we were cool.”—Lou, Allegro
“There’s a lot of nice kids too that come, regulars. We know their name and everything—invite us to parties and stuff.”—Dan, Allegro
“We had a happy hour for a fraternity here, and the guys just totally wrecked the place upstairs. Even the parents. The parents were worse. They left holes in the walls. Overall, Penn students are really good to this company. They spend a lot of money here. I think the best moment was another fraternity had a party here. And they just really interacted really well with the bartenders. They didn’t give anybody a hard time.”—Mashante, Harvest
“There was a moment a couple weeks ago, when a group of young gentlemen and young ladies came in, and the gentlemen serenaded the ladies. It was an a capella moment, and the whole restaurant stopped to watch. Very neat!”—Shohan, Hip City Veg
“Well, everyone’s been really nice and courteous. Really smart people. You could definitely tell that everyone’s into their classes.”—Steven, Metropolitan Bakery
“The students each year, like the groups, are very different from one year to the next. That first year, a lot of those students were very, very arrogant and very rude all the time. But there was this one group of theater students that would come in every day, and it was really nice actually having a relationship with a group of students that year because it was otherwise very hard. Not a lot of people make an effort to have a relationship with us.”—Evan, Capogiro
These interviews have been edited and condensed. Reporting by Talia Sternman.
