Insomnia Cookies satisfies students' late-night cravings

Late-night delivery is very popular with most college students and now they have a new option. Insomnia Cookies, which opened Feb. 8, specializes in delivering freshly baked cookies and brownies from 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. seven days a week.

Insomnia Cookies , located at 502 E. John St., is the first one at a Big Ten university and the fourth storefront across the country.

The idea for late night cookie delivery began at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. Founder Seth Berkowitz started out baking the goodies in his apartment for his friends and eventually started selling them to other students.

Following its success at Pennsylvania, Berkowitz partnered with Jared Barnett in the summer of 2003 and expanded Insomnia Cookies to many Philadelphia schools along with shipping them to corporate and consumer clients across the country.

Lindsay Gall, manager of Insomnia Cookies in Champaign and a 2004 graduate of the University, is not surprised by its success.

"Students are looking for an alternative to greasy, heavy delivery food and Insomnia Cookies offers just that," she said.

With six types of cookies, six types of brownies and a variety of Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors, there is something for everyone at Insomnia Cookies.

"There are so many choices," said freshman in LAS Eunice Wang. "They have combinations where you can choose some brownies and some cookies."

Along with the combinations offered every night, Insomnia Cookies also has holiday specials. The Valentine's Day special consisted of six heart-shaped cookies, six brownies and a long-stemmed rose.

However, students do not need the excuse of a holiday to order from the shop.

"Sometimes you just need a little sugar to help you get through the late nights of studying," said Ben Hardin, sophomore in LAS.

Wang agreed that it can be hard to satisfy a craving for freshly baked cookies when living in the dorms.

"I have a sweet tooth late at night and it's a hassle to bake cookies in the dorm," Wang said. "When I got my cookies I could tell they were fresh because they were still warm."

In the coming weeks the storefront on John Street will be a Tasti D Lite by day, serving frozen yogurt along with cookies, and by night it will be Insomnia Cookies.

Gall is very excited about what the future holds for Insomnia Cookies.

"We are excited to be moving into John's Town Center," she said. "Along with Sark's Caf‚ and Junior's, which are coming soon, we are looking forward to making it a great place for late-night food and also a great place to hang out."