Jenny Talana and Phillip Sotomayor don't usually drink coffee.
But on Monday, the UF students said they were cold, and the newest Starbucks on campus had just opened in the Reitz Union food court.
"It's nice to have this time of year," said Talana, a civil and coastal engineering junior, who ordered a hot chocolate. "I think people prefer Starbucks, especially when exams come around."
Sotomayor, a mechanical engineering junior, agreed, saying the coffee chain's popularity is probably why there are so many stores.
"I see them popping up everywhere on campus," Sotomayor said. "There's a lot of them in the world. It's kind of a fad."
The new Starbucks replaces Java City, which has been moved downstairs to the Orange & Brew.
Talana said she thinks the Starbucks makes the Reitz Union food court look "modern and new."
"I bet it brings the university a lot of money, too," Talana said.
In a June interview, Mike Mironack, director of Reitz Union operations, said the company's locations on campus have been very profitable.
Mironack said UF gets a 10.4 percent commission off all food sales. About half of that commission goes to the Reitz Union, and the rest goes to the finance and administration department that oversees food-service contracts, he added.
The café is open only weekdays, according to Gator Dining Services' Web site.
Christos Traikos, a classical studies junior, said he thinks the new Starbucks is convenient.
"The one at the Hub is overcrowded, and the one at Library West is overcrowded," Traikos said. "It's sort of distanced between the busiest places on campus."
