If you walk outside campus after 11 p.m. and there will be two restaurants open: Romeo’s Pizzeria and Hardee’s walk-up window.

All other businesses, even franchise restaurants whose branches in other locations are open 24 hours a day, have their lights turned off.

One of the first popular new Salisbury University Memes on Facebook is one of King Leonidas from the movie “300” yelling “Tonight, we dine at Romeo’s.” That is very true for SU students because there is no other restaurant adjacent to campus that has its dining area open late on any night.

If you go to Romeo’s Pizzeria on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday after midnight, you will often find many SU students waiting for a meal after coming from a party. There are bound to be a good number of intoxicated students sitting in one of Romeo’s averagely maintained booths waiting for a slice of pizza or a “Fat Bitch” sandwich.

However, if you go to Romeo’s Pizzeria before midnight, you will most likely be the only customer in the restaurant. Romeo’s Pizzeria stays open until 3 am because it does most of its business in the wee hours of the morning.

Hardee’s also does a lot of business after hours at its walk-up window. If you go to its walk up window on a party night, you will probably have to wait in a long line before you are able to place your order.

So, if Romeo’s and Hardee’s are able to do great business at night, why don’t other restaurants follow their example?

The McDonald’s right across from campus closes its dining room doors at 10 p.m., which is quite early for a restaurant near a college campus. Most McDonald’s restaurants in the United States keep their dining rooms open 24/7.

The McDonald’s across from campus used to be that way too; however numerous confrontations between intoxicated students and attempted robberies led to the Salisbury McDonald’s abandoning its 24 hour day. The high crime rate in Salisbury prevents businesses like McDonald’s from wanting to keep its doors open all night.

One of the managers of McDonald’s also said he was aware that there was a robbery at their next door neighbor Romeo’s last year. He said he thinks that is why Romeo’s now closes at 3 a.m., rather than 4 a.m. like last year.

“We do not want to put our employees in a potentially dangerous situation by staying open all night,” he said.

So for now, the after-midnight menu at Salisbury includes hamburgers, pizza and “Fat Bitch” sandwiches. If you are in the mood for ice cream at TCBY or wraps from Roly Poly late at night, you should probably order them ahead of time.

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