The Levee is an iconic staple of the Fairfield community that houses, arguably, some of the best food on campus. My friends and I have deemed The Levee to be one of our personal favorite spots to eat on campus because of their great pizza, burgers, mac and cheese and more. The staff are so friendly, and they truly create such a welcoming environment.
My friends and I have demonstrated our love for this restaurant time and time again by enduring the long trek up Loyola Drive in freezing weather for just a taste of The Levee’s food. Yet beyond the food and atmosphere, The Levee provides a unique function on campus: late-night dining.
The main dining hall here at Fairfield – The Tully – is open until 8 p.m. every day. The 8 p.m. deadline is a relatively early closing time for any college campus dining hall, since college students tend to have evening classes and stay up late into the night.
The Levee, however, is open until 10:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Yet, the restaurant is notoriously closed all day Friday and Saturday.
But it was not always like this; prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Levee boasted a much broader set of operating hours compared to today. Sources vary about The Levee’s prior hours of operation, so I will try to piece them together to form a clearer picture of the ghost of Levee’s past.
At the time it was written, a 2013 interview with former Levee bartender Jim Fitzpatrick ’70 clarified that The Levee’s hours of operation in 2013 were “Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.”
Not only was The Levee open on Fridays and Saturdays in 2013, but it was also open past midnight on those days. This extended schedule created more flexibility for hungry students who may be staying up late on the weekends.
But 2013 was 13 years ago, and much has changed since then. Sometime around 2023, the hours for The Levee fluctuated.
At one point, The Levee was open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday through Saturday 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Even though the hours were shortened in comparison to 2013, The Levee still had very flexible hours that gave students many food options for late-night dining.
Flash forward to today, and The Levee closes at 10:30 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays and is completely closed on Fridays and Saturdays.
I believe this reflects a poor quality of life decision on the school’s part.
Firstly, as we have discussed previously, students will be most likely to stay up late on Fridays and Saturdays. With The Tully’s early closing at 8 p.m., it leaves students without a source of easily accessible food that is not blocked behind the paywall of services like Grubhub, DoorDash or Uber Eats. Secondly, Fridays and Saturdays would likely have the highest student traffic because night owl students would have no other choice but to resort to The Levee for their only source of food. Remaining open on Fridays and Saturdays could potentially help The Levee gain more traffic due to the weekend crowd and thus better serve the Fairfield community.
If switching the five-day work week to a seven-day one is non-negotiable, I would definitely prefer swapping the Friday and Saturday closings with Monday and Tuesday.
The Levee already has great services for student life, like occasional live music and board games. These additions make The Levee a central hub for students to socialize and gather with one another over a meal. With music, movies and games, The Levee has a unique, energetic atmosphere.
Personally, I would much rather spend time relaxing and talking with friends at The Levee on a Friday or Saturday night as opposed to nights during the week. Remaining open throughout the entirety of the weekend would definitely draw more customers and allow the weekend crowd to fully appreciate The Levee’s welcoming and sociable environment.
The Levee has such great potential, and I think it is sad to see it reduced to nothing more than another dining option with great food that closes just too early for a college campus. With extended hours and schedule rearrangements, The Levee might just have the chance to return to its former glory as the late-night hangout spot at Fairfield.
Photo courtesy of The Mirror