Eating at dining halls can range from the best to the worst experience you have in the day. Here are some tips and tricks on how to order successfully!
Ordering on campus can be the most stressful experience you ever go through in your college life. You speed into the dining hall to avoid the crowds — this never works — then spend an absurd amount of time waiting in line just to feel pressured to order as fast as possible so the student-employee and the students behind you don’t get impatient. Then after all of that, you hope your order comes out the way you ordered it. All this is a lot to go through a couple times a day, and even more so if you also are the one behind the counter.
To relieve some of that anxiety, here are some tips and tricks from your very own student-employees on how to make ordering on campus at least a bit easier.
Starting with some things you shouldn’t do: Avoid coming in 10 minutes before they close, since the student-employees will be busy closing. If it is a day in which the location closes earlier than usual, chances are you are not even going to be able to order as they cut lines at a certain point. So, look for times where these locations are most empty. For instance, at Starbucks in Memorial Union, the slowest hour during the week would be at 5 p.m.
Knowing how to order in each dining hall is also essential. What I mean by that is, each place has their own ordering system. At Olive and Oil in Southwest, you start by choosing which type of pasta you want, then your sauce, protein and toppings. You can also end up ordering something that you didn’t even mean to in the first place. An example would be learning the difference between ordering a combo, instead of just a burger and fries. By ordering a combo meal, you also get a drink. Learning how to most effectively order will make your experience much easier when getting food between classes.
Our last, most useful tip is that ordering to share is almost always cheaper than ordering separately. Sometimes a plate can seem too big for just you, or you only want part of it. If your friend wants the other part of it, the best way to go would be to order the plate to share and work out the payment forms afterward. Two examples of this on campus would be the breakfast platter in 1839 Kitchen, and at 1•5•3 Salads and Soups, where a meal comes with a salad and a soup.
With all these tips and tricks, ordering on campus should be way easier than before. Getting food should be your break from all the stress and pressure from a day full of classes, clubs and assignments. It’s the time to sit down and unwind while talking with friends, so take advantage of that and give your brain a rest by making ordering as smooth as a calm sea.
Edited by Abigail Henshaw, ahenshaw@themaneater.comCopy edited by Ashley Dickey and Lauren Courtney