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Turning loose 3,500 hungry teenagers into the city’s small downtown area at lunchtime has created friction between the students and businesses. 

So the city, working with the Berkeley Unified School District and the Downtown Berkeley Association have made plans to sell food at Berkeley High School in the fall. 

The city has asked only Berkeley merchants to participate in the vending, because “they are the businesses that are affected by the students in the first place,” Mayor Shirley Dean said. 

Some eight businesses expressed interest in setting up a quasi-food court in the courtyard between the school and the Community Theater, Dean said. “We’ve been all working together for several weeks to get this worked out.” 

Said Gharbiyeh of E-Z Stop Deli at 2233 Shattuck Avenue, is one of the businesses asked to participate. It’s “good for the High School and good for the city,” he said. “We’d like to be part of it.” 

Dean said that businesses have complained to the city and the School District about students they contend are wreaking havoc downtown during their lunch break. 

Theresa Rye, a shift manager at Mel’s Diner at 2240 Shattuck Avenue said she’s been thinking about looking for another job before school starts. 

“I’ve been working here for four years and I’m fed up,” she said. “They come in here and hang out, yell across the restaurant, bang on the windows and don’t pay for their food some times. I won’t miss their business.” 

Allen Martinez, owner of Baskerville Hot Dogs on Milvia Street has another view, however. The students aren’t near as troublesome as they were 10 years ago. 

“These kids are good kids,” he said. 

Martinez suggested having two staggered lunches instead of one. 

“There are just too many kids coming out at once. Anywhere you go there are long lines,” he said. 

He said that he enjoys serving the students and he didn’t expect he would lose much business because of the on-campus vendors.  

Construction of a new cafeteria is scheduled to start this fall, Dean said. The old cafeteria was torn down in the early 90’s because it was seismically unsafe. 

She said students would be able to purchase food and eat it on campus or across the street in Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Students would still be allowed to leave campus. 

Dean said she is also helping to coordinate communication between the merchants and school district, so that merchants know when there is an assembly and other events during which students leave campus. 

“It gives (merchants) some way to do some planning,” she said.