After a long day of class and an even longer night of drinking, most students have one thing on their mind: food.
With the start of the new semester, many downtown restaurants are tapping into this market of late-night munchers by extending their hours of operation into the early morning.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Jimmy John's, The Pita Pit, Little Italy and Taylor's Bakery and Coffee Shop have begun catering to the late- night bar crowd.
"A lot of people wouldn't make it down here were it not for our late hours," said Dave Hard, general manager of Five Guys. "It's funny how it just takes a bar to get people in."
While it may not take much more than the promise of a juicy hamburger to draw a crowd in, some restaurants are finding creative ways to lure in students.
Taylor's Bakery and Coffee Shop has begun serving a gourmet breakfast from midnight to dawn on Wednesday through Saturday.
"We have a chef-driven menu that is cooked-to-order, and the chef has a different special every night," said Jan Taylor, owner of Taylor's. "The biscuits and gravy are to die for."
Taylor said the goal was to offer an inexpensive, fresh breakfast option for students in the downtown area.
Around the corner from Taylor's, Little Italy serves up slices of pizza until 2 and 3 a.m.
Mark Mccaurg, general manager of Little Italy, said they stay open late because he finds it has worked at other locations, such as Athens, Ga. However, he also has seen some disadvantages to staying open late.
"There are occasionally fights in here," Mccaurg said. "Obviously people in here are a little inebriated and cause a little bit of trouble from time to time, but it's nothing that would outweigh staying open that late."
Taylor Peacock, shift manager at The Pita Pit, agrees that intoxicated students can get unruly at times, saying they have had a couple of people arrested before.
"Most of the late-night crowd are pretty cool though," Peacock said.
Downtown restaurants are open late for those late night craving.
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