A new bar and restaurant on Marywood University’s campus welcomes students and their families, as well as members of the community.
Bar None opened over the weekend in the student center of the university in Dunmore and Scranton. Its name is a reference to excellence and not a pun on the university’s founding by a Catholic order of nuns, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, said Sheryl Lynn Sochoka, the director of communications.
“I think that’s what people think, but honestly that was not the purpose of it,” she said.
Bar None is part of an effort to make the campus a community gathering spot, she said.
“We wanted to have a nice place in the neighborhood for people to come to,” Sochoka said. “We wanted to have a nice place for our own students and their families. People come to visit their students on different weekends.”
The arch at Marywood University.
Prosecco on tap
Gourmet Dining, Marywood’s dining services vendor, funded construction and runs the restaurant, which has indoor and outdoor seating in the Nazareth Student Center, 1300 University Ave.
Bar None is open Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., with alcohol served from 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. on Monday, Thursday and Friday and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.
Marywood University School of Architecture students contributed to the design. A brewery owned by alumni is providing Marywood-branded beer.
The establishment serves prosecco on tap, in addition to a coffee menu, mocktails, Detroit-style pizza, burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads. It is open to all ages and cards customers who order alcohol.
The pub-style menu includes some regional touches, including a NEPA Butcher Block Meal of noodles and cabbage, homemade pierogi and kielbasa for $19.99. The deep-fried spaghetti is a $9.99 appetizer, made with breaded and fried spaghetti served with marinara and alfredo sauces.
Bar None is cashless. Aside from university dining plans, the only forms of payment are credit cards. It does not accept reservations.
Marywood students can use school payment plans — meal swipes, Dining Dollars and Pacer Points. Pacer Points, an additional optional spending plan, can be used to pay for alcohol.
Bar None creates an exception to Marywood’s alcohol policy. Previously, alcohol was only allowed in common spaces for certain special events by the college and student organizations.
Marywood bans alcohol from its traditional dorms, regardless of students’ age. Students living in the apartment-style housing of Woodlands Apartments, Bethany Hall and Perpetual Hall can drink and store small amounts of alcohol. The rules ban kegs and other large containers, while governing how much alcohol can be kept on hand.
Open to the public
Bar None joins nearby Lackawanna College in offering a dining establishment that invites the public in.
Lackawanna’s student-run restaurant, 409 on Adams, is open for part of the academic year. Hospitality students create elaborate themed pop-up bars twice a year celebrating the holidays and spring, using indoor and outdoor spaces at 409 Adams Ave., Scranton. The building also houses the dining hall in another area.
The holiday pop up, called Misfits, opens Nov. 13.
Keystone College in La Plume Twp. once had a public restaurant staffed by hospitality students, but it no longer does.