Lou's Café

Lou's Café

March 26, 2013
The business school's café provides more than just delicious food

When construction on Queally Hall was completed in 2011, the Robins School of Business had an added 60 percent more space. Among the expansion included a finance trading room, auditorium, numerous classrooms and offices, research and teaching centers and classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology. However, one of the most frequented spaces of Queally Hall is Lou’s Café.

Lou’s was part of the expansion, and since its inception has brought students, faculty and staff together on a daily basis for good conversation and delicious food, featuring grab-and-go fresh soups, sandwiches, salads and gourmet cupcakes, along with weekly specials. A long line can be expected every Tuesday when the soup of the day, Red Pepper Gouda, a favorite in the Robins School, is served. Lou’s prides itself on fresh and natural ingredients, having bread delivered daily by a master baker in Washington, D.C., who led teams to victory multiple times at the ‘Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie’ in Paris—the Olympics of the baking world.

Heather Wagner begins each of her days by bringing in this fresh baked bread. As manager at Lou’s, Wagner arrives at 6:30 a.m. to set up the salad bar, get the soups ready, prep food for the day, receive deliveries, reconcile invoices and “do a lot of dishes and cleaning,” she said.

Wagner began her career in the retail world, but in 2007 started working in the kitchen at Ellwood Thompson’s, a local organic food market. “I have always loved food and cooking, thanks to my Grandmother,” she said. “I decided I needed to make a change in my career, and that’s when I began working in food services.”

She first came to the University of Richmond as a full-time cook at Passport Café, another retail dining location on campus but then moved to Lou’s once it opened. “Lou’s Café is very challenging in that we have to do a lot in a little space, but I enjoy the super-fast pace! We make many things from scratch in small batches for freshness,” Wagner said.

Lou’s has not always been as popular as it is today. Wagner recalls the days when it was difficult to get people to realize they were there. “We have picked up from serving 300 customers a day to some days in the 600s,” she said. Among patrons’ favorite menu items are the Red Pepper Gouda soup, Boatwright Beach Club, Chipotle Turkey Reuben and the Orzo Pasta Salad. 

Dean Nancy Bagranoff frequents Lou’s herself, enjoying the long lines as a chance to talk with students, faculty and staff. “Lou’s is creating a community over soup,” she said, as many students take their lunch to common areas of the Robins School to socialize or study.

Many students take advantage of this in-house eatery to avoid bad weather or a long walk to another dining option. “Sometimes I feel as though I never leave the business school. I go to class, see my friends, eat and study here,” Colleen Tobin, ’14, said.

Wagner also makes an effort to employ students and get out in front of them as much as she can to gain feedback, enjoying when people tell her their favorite menu items.

Next time you find yourself on Richmond’s campus, be sure to head over to Lou’s to see what the buzz is all about. As it says on their website, “Join us at Lou's today. We're always worth the walk.”