Bold and creamy matcha, sourced straight from Japan. Fluffy eggs and crispy bacon, topped with melty cheese between a handmade bagel.
Is this what comes to mind when thinking of campus food? Probably not, but over the past academic year, SMU students have had new Dallas eateries to explore on campus.
La Maison Bleue and Sclafani’s New York Bagels and Sandwiches are local businesses that opened at SMU last fall, providing students a taste of Dallas’ diverse food scene without having to take a step off the Hilltop. While they’ve quickly become student favorites, expanding onto a college campus brings different challenges, from limited control over hours and menu options to tucked-away locations. As their first academic year at SMU wraps up, both businesses are learning to adapt to the unique demands and rewards of serving a university community.
Sclafani’s: Bagels and sandwiches, with a side of community
Chris Sclafani is a fourth-generation baker and owner of Sclafani’s New York Bagels and Sandwiches, which opened last fall in the newly reconstructed Cox School of Business.
In 2022, Sclafani opened his flagship store in University Park. Eventually, SMU approached him to expand and open a location in Cox’s Arnold Commons.
“You’re off summers and you’re off for December. Needless to say, that was quite attractive to me,” Sclafani said, laughing. “It’s been such a wonderful experience at so many different levels. It’s such a powerful blessing.”
Sclafani makes the bagels by hand daily, starting at around 4 a.m. He says what makes a good bagel is the recipe. The time spent proofing the bagels, letting the dough rise and develop flavor, along with how they’re boiled and baked, is key. This process creates the chewy yet crispy texture.
“The bagel is a bread that does not want to get made, but once it gets made, it’s so beautiful,” Sclafani said.
Campus restaurants are under SMU’s control and have limited say in the hours of operations and menu, but Sclafani hopes to eventually expand to a full menu and extend hours to 10 p.m.
Mike Esquenazi, executive director of SMU Hospitality, said in an email that hours of operation and menu offerings are set through a review of each dining location’s role in the SMU community.
“Our goal is to create a hospitality ecosystem that adapts to campus life while maintaining operational efficiency and being good financial stewards,” Esquenazi said.
If Sclafani’s can reach full menu and extended hours on campus, the goal for annual revenue is $1.2 million.
“I want [students] to come here at 10 o’clock during finals,” Sclafani said. “Make this a college experience, a cool hangout, good food, good environment, great music and become a colorful stitch in the fabric of your day.”
Operating in the heart of Cox has allowed Sclafani and his team to build a relationship with students. Both locations aim to bring the community-oriented main street style bakery back.
“Main street means community, bakery means community,” Sclafani said. “We like to know the names of the people, and we’re going to learn them and interact.”
Sydney Strollo, a senior majoring in advertising and fashion media, was a customer of Sclafani’s University Park location and was happy to hear about the expansion at Cox.
“They’re so friendly and welcoming to students and want to make good bagels,” Strollo said.
A New Jersey native, Strollo can be picky about her bagels but has found that Sclafani’s bagels remind her of home. To honor a family tradition of eating bagels every Sunday morning, she picks them up hot and fresh from the flagship location.
Above all, Strollo loves the hospitality of Sclafani and his team.
“Chris is always wanting to talk and hear about how everything’s going with me,” Strollo said.
Descending from Jewish and Catholic roots, Sclafani puts his faith into action daily through his business. The first bagel of the day is put aside next to a cross and Bible hanging on a small shelf, as an offering of the day’s best. At the end of the day, the bagel goes into the oven and burns to ash, and the cycle repeats itself.
“Each day we look over and we say, ‘Lord, this is the best. This belongs to you,’” Sclafani said.
Tenets of the family’s faith are inscribed in permanent marker on the front of the oven to serve as a reminder throughout the day: ‘Prepare and do your best today! Everything rests on your best!’ Another message on the side of the oven proclaims, ‘Be it for the Lord.’
La Maison Bleue: Authentic Japanese matcha finds a home on campus
La Maison Bleue (LMB) opened its SMU location at Lawyer’s Inn in October and creates handcrafted teas with an emphasis on health, fresh ingredients and unique Japanese flavors.
“We’re fighting against the acronym that I made up, BBS,” co-owner Jay Cho said. “Bitter, boring and full of sugar.”
With connections to suppliers in Japan, Cho can directly import ceremonial-grade matcha and real cherry blossoms for LMB’s signature drink: the Sakura Cream Matcha.
“We’re going to farms that have been around since Samurai times,” Cho said. “I’m pretty proud of that to establish these hard connections, especially a pure Japanese company allowing an American-based company to buy directly.”
With the new tariffs introduced by the Trump administration, LMB is preparing for the impacts they will have on its supply chain. The costs of sourcing ingredients are estimated to increase by 10 to 25%, Cho said.
“We’re planning to either eat the cost or spread the cost,” Cho said. “Either way, we lose. If we eat the cost, we have to cut people, if we spread the cost, we might lose customers.”
Despite the rising costs, Cho remains committed to offering customers an experience of Japanese culture by using authentic ingredients.
La Maison Bleue has grown from a catering side hustle started in 2020 by Cho’s wife, Anna, to three locations in North Texas. It also stocks drinks across stores and has partnerships ranging from the Dallas Mavericks to a future collaboration with Japan’s Tokyu Corporation to introduce Japanese high tea to the U.S.
Anna Cho generated over $80,000 in revenue while catering. Seeing the growth of La Maison Bleue, Jay left his job contracting for tactical medicine in early 2023 to streamline operations full-time.
La Maison Bleue sold its ready-to-drink teas to vendors throughout North Texas, including The Market in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. That began the company’s business ventures with SMU.
“I kind of went on a sales call everywhere, very persistent on it,” Jay Cho said. “Reaching out to SMU, I just dug through the chain of command.”
Impressed by the quality and health-focused mission, combined with a year and a half of sales in Hughes-Trigg, SMU proposed opening up a cafe at Lawyer’s Inn in the law quad. The new cafe opened on Oct. 14.
Tucked away in Lawyer’s Inn, on the northwest corner of campus, the location is challenging to reach foot traffic — especially for SMU’s undergraduate population, many of whom are unaware of the Dedman School of Law’s campus behind Dallas Hall.
“Many students have asked if we can be in the main areas because it’s convenient,” Cho said. “We’re out of the way for everybody.”
To reach a wider audience, lawn signs with La Maison Bleue’s drinks and location information have been set out around campus. SMU Hospitality has featured the cafe on its Instagram occasionally, though the most recent post was back on Feb. 12, promoting LMB’s Valentine’s Day-themed drinks.
SMU Hospitality has a marketing team, which includes current students, that handles social media, posters and events, with content shared across multiple campus departments. This team also works with the leaders of each restaurant to create a marketing plan for each semester.
Cho said SMU described Lawyer’s Inn to him as a vibrant community space before the COVID-19 pandemic, but efforts to revive it have not yet come to fruition. TeaCo, a boba tea store that opened there in August 2023, only lasted one academic year.
“Sometimes, changes like the transition from TeaCo to La Maison Bleue are simply part of the natural evolution of managing a dynamic dining program,” Esquenazi said in an email statement.
Esquenazi said introducing more small businesses to campus has allowed the department to showcase local talent and offer different options alongside established partnerships. He said numerous factors are considered when new vendors are brought to campus, including student feedback, vendor readiness and how well the concept fits into the overall campus dining landscape.
Cho is hopeful that students will continue to use their voices to spread the word about La Maison Bleue.
“Students have the most power,” Cho said. “If y’all don’t voice it, then there’s nothing anybody can do.”
Sofia R. Kirk, a sophomore theater and English major, has been a regular at La Maison Bleue and expressed how students have reacted to the location of the cafe.
“I think a lot of people don’t even know what that location is,” Kirk said. “It’s starting to become more popular through word of mouth. I wish they had a more central location, but I also understand there’s very limited real estate at SMU.”
Kirk loves the detail that goes into each drink, and the fresh ingredients from Japan used in LMB’s matcha. She also enjoys the food and dessert offerings, especially the matcha cheesecake.
“Having specialty matcha, it’s not something that you can find super easily,’” Kirk said. “I think it’s unique to have on campus rather than just another run-of-the-mill coffee shop.”
Kirk has enjoyed SMU’s efforts to diversify campus cuisine and looks forward to what these small businesses can provide.
“It’s special to be supporting small businesses, especially with everything going on in the economy,” Kirk said. “It helps SMU students connect with the community around us.”
