Continuum Café to Continue Serving-up Breakfast, Lunch, and Treats over Summer

A customer at the cafe pays for his order at the register
Dr. Victor Oppenheimer, a first-year small animal internal medicine resident, places his order at the Continuum Café with Akshat Jain, a sophomore Purdue student who has been working at the café this spring.

A Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine mainstay that has helped students, staff and faculty make it through the pandemic-induced challenges of the past academic year, will stay open through the summer.  The café won’t skip a beat as the spring semester gives way to the summer months, continuing the normal hours of 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, next week and on through the summer term.

“I would like to thank everyone who supported us in the past year,” said Tammie Hill, who manages the day-to-day operations of the café for Aramark, which operates a total of 35 dining locations on the Purdue campus. “The level of customer traffic we had this year at the Continuum Café demonstrated that we are meeting a need, which enabled us to qualify to stay open for the summer,” Tammie explained.

The café also has added some fun new menu items just in time for the summer season – Blue Bunny ice cream treats!  They will come in several flavors and will complement other treats on the menu, such as muffins, cookies, and brownies.  The café menu also will continue to offer breakfast and lunch sandwiches along with fruit and various snack items, from chips to energy bars. Tammie said the most popular items include the Philly Steak and Tasmanian steak sandwiches, as well as the bagel breakfast sandwiches that are served all day. 

In addition to thanking her Lynn Hall customers, Tammie also praised her team of café servers, anchored by three Purdue students who helped her carry the load of serving patrons throughout the spring while following all the special protocols necessitated by the pandemic. Along with limiting customer seating, the café made menu and procedural adjustments that were implemented last fall to provide for everyone’s health and safety. Those changes included requirements for employees and customers to wear masks, and for employees to have their temperatures taken before clocking-in and to wash their hands and sanitize their workstations every 30 minutes during their shifts. As for menu changes, food items have been served in a grab-n-go format, and self-serve items like soup were discontinued due to health and safety requirements.  Fresh brewed coffee remains available, but is served by the staff from behind the counter.

A big thank you to Tammie and her team for providing excellent service to the PVM family during this past academic year when the café served as a particularly important “bright spot” and touch of normalcy in the midst of all of the challenges related to the pandemic. And congratulations to the café and its customers for achieving a level of success that made it possible to keep the café in business this summer! 

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Recent Stories

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

This week we offer a very special “Paws Up” to Dr. Kathy Salisbury as she nears retirement as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and concludes a remarkable career during which she gave more than 40 years of dedicated and steadfast service to the veterinary profession, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Purdue University.

Petula the Papillon: from Heartache to Healing and Beyond

Our series of articles about animals and their owners who’ve found help and healing at the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital continues as we share the story of Petula, the Papillon. Ann Bruno will never forget the moment her Papillon puppy, Petula, jumped out of the bath and landed wrong. In an instant, her young agility partner could not put weight on her leg. Ann’s heart sank. Petula was more than a beloved companion. She was already in training for agility competitions, and Ann was determined to do everything she could to get her back on track.

2025 Purdue Veterinary Conference to Feature Top-Level Continuing Education and Events

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is set to host the 2025 Purdue Veterinary Conference September 16–20, and registration is open! The annual event held on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus brings together veterinary professionals, educators, students, and industry partners for a week of continuing education complete with opportunities for practical learning, collaboration and networking.

In Memory: Dr. Jennifer Anderson-Schmeltz (PU DVM 2009)

The Purdue Veterinary Medicine community is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of a member of the Purdue DVM Class of 2009, Dr. Jennifer Anderson-Schmeltz, of Mishawaka, Indiana, who died June 13 after a courageous battle with cancer. She was 42.