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Jason Hood, former manager of the Espresso Roma Café at the Anderson School of Management, w

On a trip to the Espresso Roma Café, students can often find themselves bumping into groups of businessmen in suits chattering away about stock prices and indexes. This is just one of the many ways in which the Roma Café, located at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is very different from most UCLA restaurants.

Unlike most of the restaurants on campus, the Roma Café is not operated by the Associated Students of UCLA. The Roma Café is more an individual entity, part of a larger chain with stores in over 20 locations.

The Roma Café at UCLA has been under contract with the Anderson School on a lease basis since 1996. Roy Champawat, the UCLA associate director for operations and business management, said ASUCLA decided at the time that it did not want to make the investment. Consequently, the Anderson School was allowed to find an independent client.

As a result, the Roma Café has been able to operate more independently than ASUCLA restaurants. The cafe prides itself in providing a little something not likely to be found at UCLA’s other restaurants.

“With our fresh salads and fresh baked goods, we are different from what you get elsewhere. We also think we have a genuinely friendly environment, a little different from Ackerman and a little different from Kerckhoff,” said Jason Hood, who has worked with the Roma Café for the past three years and also served as manager until January 2004.

“But though we’re a separate entity from the other restaurants at UCLA, we still like to work to meet UCLA standards,” Hood said.

The staff behind the counter at Roma are indeed welcoming, and the fact that they don’t adorn the typical blue ASUCLA uniforms is refreshing in itself. The students at Anderson cafe say they enjoy this casual atmosphere. “The service is great, and the staff are very friendly and helpful,” said Vikas Gupta, a first-year business student.

The Roma Café came under scrutiny in 2002 when a health and safety inspection resulted the cafe’s two-day closure. It reopened with a C rating.

“When I came in, the first thing I wanted to do was to get rid of the C rating,” said manager Laurie Sammers, who took over from Hood last year. “We now have an A rating, and it has taken a lot of diligence for it to stay up there.”

Sammers, who is also a professional chef, sought to revamp the Roma menu as soon as she took charge. “I felt we needed variety to accommodate the needs of the Anderson community,” said Sammers. “I introduced low-carb items and fruit for the faculty and staff, and made the menu more diverse for the international community at Anderson. The menu is now more eclectic, and as fresh and seasonal as possible.”

This variety has made the cafe popular in the Anderson community. “Especially being a vegetarian, there’s a lot of choice,” Gupta said. “There are all kinds of salads and noodles.”

But Gupta also believes the menu could still use a few more changes. “I know it’s a cafe, but because many of the items aren’t all that filling, you see a lot of Anderson students being forced to go to Northern Lights or Ackerman for lunch.”

Nevertheless, Gupta still feels the Roma Café is an important part of the Anderson community.

“Anderson students do spend a lot of time at Roma. Whether just for coffee or even study groups, it’s perfect,” Gupta said.

Sammers likens Roma’s role in the Anderson community to that of a friendly neighborhood cafe.

“We make it a point to listen to the feedback from students and faculty. And with so many friends at Anderson, we’re very happy to be here,” she said.

With reports from Kunal Mehta, Bruin Finance contributor.