With the addition of Tiger Bites to the commons expansion, students now have another spot to grab a snack during the day, joining the long-standing Tiger Den.

Since it opened in 2016, Tiger Den has provided students with morning snacks and drinks. It is open before school starts and first through third hour and employs CASTLE and FLS students to make and sell baked goods.

Junior Kaitlyn Pender said she prefers Tiger Den for its coffee and donuts. She appreciates that it employs CASTLE students.

Tiger Bites, however, has struggled to attract the same level of popularity.

In a recent survey of 194 students, just 16 percent said they preferred Tiger Bites to Tiger Den.

The new snack spot opened this year on the gym side of the commons addition. It is scheduled to be open before school and during lunch, but it has struggled to keep to this schedule.

Because the grab-and-go stand relies on kitchen staff instead of CASTLE students, it often closes when staffing is short, leaving the stand empty.

While students said they appreciated the more lunch-focused stand, they found the inconsistent hours problematic. “Sometimes it is closed during lunch when I want to buy snacks,” freshman Zachary Majors said.

Other students are unhappy with the lack of extra selection at Tiger Bites.

“I feel like Tiger Bites is kind of disappointing,” junior Ethan Krag said. “Almost everything there can be found at the end of the lunch line, and you don’t even have to use cash in the lunch line, so why not just get it from there?”

With the criticism of Tiger Bites, many students agree that Tiger Den is the stronger option.

“Tiger Den is a classic, and cheaper than Tiger Bites,” senior Soha Rahman said. “It also has a bigger menu and variety of fresh snacks and drinks.”