A night at On Call Cafe, by the numbers
Reflection
I entered campus in 2022 as a Larkinite. Slowly but surely I adjusted to the relative craziness of college life: from RAs hanging hotdogs down my ceiling to the occasional OOD (out of distribution) On Call. I remember, at the end of NSO, I was standing with a group near Galez St., and someone suggested eating at The Axe and Palm, or TAP. I followed along and found myself in a brightly lit room at an unmanned cash register. I discovered that I had $100 to spend on late night food over the quarter. I purchased the Black Bean Burger with a side of waffle fries, eating up around 15% of my allowance. After my first MATH 51 midterm, I told a close friend about the experience. We were determined to re-find TAP without using Stanford Tree Maps. We wandered for 45 minutes before silently giving up and using our phones. Typical frosh behavior…
I have now been at Stanford for three years, and over time you start to make mild observations. One observation is that Stanford obsesses over its spaces and meticulously curates experiences. Why else would the University force its freshmen to live on campus? Why else would students overwhelmingly push to bring Green Library to a 24/7 operating schedule? Why else would Coupa Cafe have actual lore?
The pop-up format has acted as a gateway for community projects at Stanford. The University’s Pavilion Pop-Up Project was designed to “fulfill the Stanford community’s aspirations for a new campus heart.” Placed in White Plaza, The Pavillion aimed to be a casual space for the community to work, relax and generally gather. I am unsure of its success, but its intent is clear enough.
On Call Cafe shares the same vision: to create something that lives between our academic and professional lives, to have a third space. On Call started off as a Haas Center popup and eventually secured funding and space from the University. An article in The Daily featuring the founders explains:
“I think tonight is just the beginning, which is really exciting,” Peyton Klein ’25 said. “Stanford lacks legacy institutions, and we want this to be one.”
The late night food scene circa 2022 was fairly sparse. Your options were TAP, Late Night at Lakeside or to venture off campus. Today, On Call has been added to the mix. I decided to join in for a night and see how far it’s come along.
The Line
A quick search on Apple Maps tells us On Call lives in Old Union and operates from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. I arrive and find myself waiting in a rather long line. Taking a look at the aggregated sales by hour, we get a sense of when On Call is busy. Maybe 10 p.m. on a Tuesday wasn’t the best time, but there is nothing we can do about that now.
Social butterfly that I am, I start chatting with folks in line. I learn about the mechanical engineer reworking CNC machining and the future psychologist visiting a friend from Brown. I, for one, came for YogiFest. The Cafe partnered with a number of groups in 2025. The largest contributors were RURAL, Day of Giving, Admit Weekend, ORSL and The Stanford Daily.
Group orders accounted for over 5,000 items sold in 2025. Yes, On Call benefits from groups but, importantly, the community stands to benefit from On Call as well. According to Kate Wang ’27, a Community and Culture leader at On Call:
“We use events as a way to heighten proximity and comfort for groups of campus at a time. We bring people together who all like music or poetry or chess or are queer and introduce people to activities and environments that they would not normally go to.”
Even groups outside of Stanford are starting to join in. From Cursor to Figma to Notion, tech is sponsoring On Call orders to reach students.
The Order
After a few minutes of waiting, I approach the end of line and start scanning the menu. The first item I see is called “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me.” A bit… flirtatious, are we? The menu is playful, teetering on the line between childhood and adulthood. It is clear that serious thought went into it. The “Love You So Matcha” is even accompanied by an audience shoutout: “an iced matcha sweetened by a strawberry puree. You asked, we served… iced ;)”
The initial release of the grilled cheese was similarly inspired: “You have a regular grilled cheese, but you’re throwing in apples and caramelized onions for a little sweet taste to contrast the cheese’s flavor.”
Low and behold, students responded well to the elevated classic. In fact, aggregating the sales by quarter, we find that the Kim Cheese is by far On Call’s most popular food item, closely followed by the Ice Spice.
I place my order: an Ice Spice with regular milk, no ice, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. Hey, it sounds annoying, but I am definitely not the only one with a custom order. Plus, the barista assures me that it is (somehow) easier than the default option.
I pay by card — apparently Visa is a popular choice — and wait for my name to be called.
The Setup
I receive my drink and thank the server. At this point I have two options: to leave or to linger. I walk around. I browse the shelves housing “The Art of Deception” and “Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe.” I enjoy how the art goes from poignant to patently absurd. I start paying attention. The background music. The ambient light a touch above strain. The On Call logo designed by Lucy Duckworth. The experience is quite different from my first time at TAP. It feels intentional yet unserious at the same time. It feels very Stanford.
The space is certainly curated to be welcoming, but it does not do so in the usual way. In passing, I liken Stanford to a dollhouse. The facade is beautiful but rigid. If you push too hard, it just might break. On Call adjusts. To Kate, this has everything to do with attitude.
“On Call Cafe [is] a testament to the power of student run institutions… we intentionally have a scrappy do-whatever-you-can attitude and flat org chart to reflect it,” she said.
The Community
The reading collection houses a thin book innocently titled “just checking in…”. I open the first page:
“Oftentimes, in the hustle and bustle of the Cardinal life, students may not have the time or capacity to reflect on how they have been feeling. ‘Just Checking In…’ aims to tap into this uncovered psyche of the Stanford student community.”
Stanford students are often said to suffer from duck syndrome. For the unfamiliar, the syndrome is named after ducks, who appear calm on the surface but furiously paddle beneath to keep themselves afloat. I find myself feeling the same. The commitments drown me in work to the point that I start ignoring the people around me, the people that I care so deeply about. For Kate, On Call is a third space.
“I feel energized when I am there, both as a customer and a barista. Knowing that I will see friends and regulars, maybe meet someone new or participate in an interesting event or have a stimulating conversation, and just be somewhere cozy and busy and warm for a while,” Kate said.
On Call appeals to a deeper instinct among the Stanford community, one that places emphasis on our intense, shared interest with each other. I hope we can sustain it.
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