A.J.’s Cafe expanded its evening hours on Monday, and is now open until 10 p.m. seven days per week and serves hot food at all hours.

“Our goal is to meet the needs of the students and faculty,” said Metz General Manager Jeffrey Cassell. 

The changes extended hours past 9 p.m. when A.J.’s had closed previously this semester. It will continue to open at 7:30 a.m. every weekday and 11 a.m. on the weekends.

Cassell said the new hours will give students access to hot food after the dining hall closes.

“From my perspective, it made sense to give a hot food offering even later into the evening — even after the dining hall closes at 7:30 p.m. during the weekdays and 6:30 p.m. on the weekends,” Cassell said.

Senior Meera Baldwin, who has worked at A.J.’s since her freshman year, said students were surprised when A.J.’s closed at 9 p.m earlier in the semester.

“I worked a closing shift this year,” Baldwin said. “Students would come up, and they would be very confused when all of a sudden around 9 p.m, the gate was closed.”

Paul Bowman, retail manager for Metz at Hillsdale, oversees A.J.’s Cafe after working as a supervisor for Bon Appetit last school year. Bowman said Metz has also eliminated time restrictions on meal swipes at A.J.’s.

“We made it so you can get a meal at any time you want,” Bowman said. “ If you’re on the 19, all-inclusive plan, you could use all 19 swipes on Monday morning if you wanted to. But then that’s it for the rest of the week.”

Bowman said students were only able to use three swipes per day last year. 

“It’s up to the students to use them when they want, and they are allowed to use them in whatever time frame they want,” Bowman said.

In addition to later hours, A.J.’s also diversified its selection of snacks, drinks, and sides, according to Bowman.

“If you look at the counter at A.J.’s, it’s way more full now,” Bowman said. “We have all these snacks. Our drink options are way more than we had last year.”

Bowman said he expects to extend hours even more next semester.

“I’m hoping to at least be able to get it, at the bare minimum, until 11 p.m.,” Bowman said. “If I can get more workers, we are definitely looking into midnight, even 1 a.m. or so.”