This is relevant I think

OK so this is a review, not necessarily about media but its definitely an amateur review.

It's about the horror of RU dining services.


Subject: The train wreck that is dining services.


To whom it may concern:

At the beginning of the semester, I understand that every dining hall was
trying to get used to not having Dalton open, and so of course they would
have been swamped and unprepared. But it has been almost a whole semester
now, and nothing has improved. This is an exhaustive review of everything
that you have open at the time.

The Terrace Shops, first off, are way overpriced, especially since they are
the only quality food service establishment on campus. But when I say
quality, that doesn't mean that they're still up to scratch. They still have
their problems:

Au Bon Pain:
This is really the only place to eat that I have very few complaints about.
My first complaint is that the food is incredibly overpriced. The food is
better than it was at Salvador's Deli, but so much pricier, it's not even
worth it...
My second complaint is that the way orders are processed is less efficient
than it was at Salvador's or at any sandwich shop I've been to. If they just
took your order and let you call out stuff and they'd put it on for you, it
would work. Frequently my order isn't correct just because they can't see
what's circled apparently. And the soup, if it's been out for more than a
few minutes, has ONLY liquid because people have taken all the meat,
veggies, and noodles. The pastries, salads, and pre-made wraps are great.
But again, these are incredibly overpriced.

Sbarro's Pizza:
At first the food here was good, but after a couple of weeks, it seems that
they just stopped trying. Everything there (and I have tried most
everything) seems to just be overlooked. They forget what they're doing and
burn stuff sometimes. Seriously, sometimes it makes me somewhat nauseous.
The prices are fine, but the food leaves much to be desired.

Mean Gene's Burgers:
This establishment has suffered an incredible drop in quality. The only
thing that is consistently good here are the chicken strips, which you can
rarely get because they are always out.

Freshens:
The only thing I can say about Freshens is that it takes longer for them to
scoop ice cream than it would for me to make it from scratch.

Chick-Fil-A:
This is the ONLY consistently good food service on campus. The workers make
a LOT of noise in the back, singing along LOUDLY with the radio, but they
always have plenty of quality food out no matter if its in a rush, it's
always warm, and special orders are always done fast.

Stacks:
Not exactly a terrace shop, but it doesn't fit in anywhere else. Everything
is overpriced and it has much worse coffee than when it had Starbucks
products.

Now, the Satellite locations:
The pricing is fine, but the food is just horrible. I really don't think
these are enough to try to deal with the rush caused by the lack of Dalton,
especially when the food is practically inedible.

Now, for the grand finale...
Muse Hall:
If this were a restaurant without the captive audience it has because we
HAVE to eat there, it would have gone under long ago. During peak hours
there is never enough food. Today, at about 6:30 PM, the pizza place had ONE
slice of pizza with no cheese, just bread and sauce, and the next pizzas
hadn't even gone in. There were no breadsticks, the sauces were almost out,
and so was the spaghetti, which was very rubbery. Let's go through each of
these locations:

Traditions:
The food has plenty of variety, but it's a variety of bad food. I've never
eaten anything there (this semester anyway) that I liked.

Hyde Park Grill:
The burgers are rarely undercooked, but VERY often overcooked. And even when
they're cooked properly they aren't good. The fries are always hard or
soggy, incredibly salty or not salted at all, and never very tasty. The
chili seems grainy somehow, and the flavor is sometimes great, but sometimes
very bad. The bacon and the nacho chips are good though, I don't imagine
they're made on site.

Menutainment:
Not bad food, but always the same kind of thing. And the noodles are always
rubbery.

Pazelli's Italian:
The marinara is horrible, the meat sauce, also horrible. The alfredo sauce
is great, but its only there once or twice a week. The noodles are ALWAYS
rubbery (noticing a trend here) and the pizza is just wretched.

Sub Central:
The sandwiches aren't bad, but it takes them way too long to make a
sandwich. I'd come back and make it myself if it were allowed.

General comments about Muse:
The workers are always unfriendly; often you have to wait on them to get
done eating to get your own order taken. The salad bar always has wilted
lettuce, the condiments spreaders are always COVERED in condiments. I can
safely guarantee to get some on my hands if I ever want to use it. The chips
are great, but again, I doubt they're made on site. The chocolate milk is
always out. The frozen yogurt sometimes turns to liquid, as if the machine
isn't taken care of. There is NEVER enough food during peak hours, and
although lines are understandable, the workers are way too slow for the
heavy load they are getting.

Regardless of the academics of a school, eating is something that you must
do to LIVE. The academics at RU are great, but the food service, in this
state, can't be good for admissions. When anyone asks about the food service
here, they're going to get an honest answer, and that would almost
definitely turn them off to RU, if only a little. It could be the deciding
factor though, and this should be taken care of as soon as possible.

I hope you take my comments seriously, I know I'm not the only one who feels
this way.

Thank you for your time,
Travis Newman