The USC Village location of Greenleaf Kitchen & Cocktails, a company that describes itself as offering “healthy gourmet meals,” closed earlier in January. Greenleaf had been operating at USC Village since the complex’s Fall 2017 opening.

In a statement to the Daily Trojan on Jan. 30, USC Real Estate and Asset Management wrote that details about a new business replacing Greenleaf will be announced “soon.” The statement did not specify an exact date for when the new business will be revealed.

Greenleaf did not respond to requests for comment.

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Sindhu Muppaneni, a junior majoring in business administration, said she was “honestly upset” when she heard Greenleaf was closing.

“I really liked their sandwiches and their fries,” Muppaneni said. “Sometimes I’d just go in and work there and it was nice that it was closed off. There weren’t that many people in there.”

Muppaneni said she mostly ordered salads or sandwiches from Greenleaf, adding that she hoped the company replacing Greenleaf would have similar options.

“Technically [Greenleaf is] not really fast food, and we do have a bunch of fast food places, so [a good replacement is] probably something similar that offered some similar dishes but was also like, ‘Oh, it’s a nicer place,’” Muppaneni said.

According to USC Real Estate and Asset Management’s statement, businesses are chosen for USC Village’s lineup to “provide a diverse range” of options that don’t offer similar products or services. 

“Some potential tenants contact us directly and others are identified by market research,” USC Real Estate and Asset Management wrote. “Tenants are evaluated and selected based on their growth potential, market perspective, rental needs, and the existing business mix to create a vibrant community space.”

Joe Carreon, a graduate student studying public relations and advertising, said it would “definitely be cool” for USC Village to have restaurants that serve sushi or hot pot. He added that he is Filipino and would like to see Filipino cuisine at USC Village. 

Muppaneni said she liked Cava because it offered quality food for a reasonable price and quantity, but that many businesses at USC Village are “so pricey” for the average college student.

Ali Bhatti, a sophomore majoring in business administration, was elected to the Undergraduate Student Government senate in Fall 2024; one of Bhatti’s main campaign promises was to bring a Raising Cane’s restaurant to USC Village. He said he was motivated by what he perceived to be a lack of large-scale, popular restaurants at USC Village.

“When you look in the Village, there’s not a lot of fan favorites,” Bhatti said. “I just thought Cane’s is a fan favorite of so many students, and we don’t have a famous brand like In-N-Out that … you associate … with California. Cane’s is obviously up there on the West Coast as well for chicken.”

Bhatti added that Greenleaf’s closure would not affect his plans to bring a fast-food restaurant to USC Village, as he was instead looking at replacing Stout Burgers & Beers, which closed in Fall 2024. 

Carreon said there should be more places for students to “congregate and relax” at USC Village, adding that he felt there weren’t any such spots other than Cafe Dulce. He said he also wished USC Village had more social activities for students.

“We have the 901 [Bar & Grill] on Wednesday, but it’s a Wednesday,” Carreon said, referring to the bar’s Whiskey Wednesday events. “Gen Z doesn’t really like to drink as much as other generations, so there should be other activities. What those activities are, I’m not too sure, but I feel like [it could be] anything that could just bring a big congregation of people.”