MSU students now have the option of combining their books with their beer.
Buffalo Wild Wings, 360 Albert Ave., now offers wireless Internet access to students looking to study and surf the Web while enjoying a brew and some buffalo wings.
Assistant General Manager Aaron Weiner said that the restaurant is the first Buffalo Wild Wings in Michigan and the only bar in the area to offer this service.
"We just figured students would rather come and do some research while having a beer than go to the library," Weiner said.
The service was added after the bar's general manager got a new lap top and a router. When he realized the router could accommodate 250 wireless users, he decided to take advantage of the service at his bar, Weiner said.
Weiner said the main goal was to increase customer flow during lunch hours. Buffalo Wild Wings has been in its present location since 2001 and has a 275-person seating capacity.
Last September, the City of East Lansing installed wireless Web systems in Fountain Square and the Ann Street Plaza, both at the corner of Albert and M.A.C. avenues. The systems allow people to access the Web while in the square's vicinity. Some business, including The Riviera Cafe Restaurant and Lounge, 231 M.A.C. Ave. and Troppo, 213 Ann St., are included in the service area.
"I know that there were quite a few people who were using it last fall," said Lori VanOmmeren, an urban designer in the East Lansing Planning Department. "It contributes to a lively downtown."
Several other East Lansing businesses have jumped on the wireless wave, as well.
Espresso Royale Caffé, 527 E. Grand River Ave., has offered free wireless Internet service to its customers for more than a year, manager Kristina Lyn said.
"We've gotten positive feedback," she said, adding that the coffee shop also holds wall plug-ins for laptops. "This is great for a studying environment; people can use this as a resource. It's the wave of the future."
Beaner's Gourmet Coffee is another popular spot for students seeking wireless Web access. All local locations have featured this service for more than a year, but the 270 W. Grand River Ave. location may switch to "better alternatives" in the next few weeks because of technical difficulties, general manager Mason Trowbridge said.
"It's been breaking down," Trowbridge said. "We might look into using cable or DSL."
The coffee shop still features several dial-up plug ins for laptops, Trowbridge said, but wireless service was "pretty popular" among regular customers.
Civil engineering freshman Lindsay Sagorski said she would take her Gateway laptop to Buffalo Wild Wings for the "advantage" of simpler, modern access to the Internet.
"My friend just got wireless service, and he loves it," Sagorski said. "It's a lot easier. Even in your dorm room, it's hard to hook up to the Internet sometimes."
English senior Agostino Visocchi said wireless service was "widely popular" in Internet cafés he saw during a visit Europe last summer, but the venture is not appropriate in U.S. establishments such as Buffalo Wild Wings.
"It seems so out of place to me," Visocchi said. "I can't picture people bringing their laptops there then going, 'I'm wasted - let's e-mail people!'"
