Campus Trolley, a beloved Lebanese food stall located in the heart of Boston University’s campus on Commonwealth Avenue, has shuttered. The wooden red trolley has drawn regular customers with its falafel wraps, grape leaves, and other Middle Eastern staples since it first opened in 1988.
The decision to close the trolley came about after owners Nadim and Diana Kiwan were informed that they’d have to abide by cost-prohibitive new city regulations, such as in-ground plumbing, in order to continue. The other option, to add wheels and make the stall mobile, was rejected due to the trolley’s age.
“They want us to build stuff like plumbing,” Diana Kiwan said. “It’s too much money and we can’t do it. So we decided to close down.”
Kiwan and her husband purchased the business from her father and brother 15 years ago. She said she’ll miss her customers the most, having built relationships with those who regularly stop by.
“I know their stories, their families, their kids. . . . That’s what I’ll miss the most,” Kiwan said. “Money was OK. We were surviving. We were not rich, but we were going by like everyone else. Of course we’ll find work and get the same money, but it’s the people I’ll miss the most.”
Sonia Rao can be reached at sonia.rao@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @misssoniarao.