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Restaurant Name: Dig Inn Seasonal Market

Restaurant Address: 2884 Broadway (Between 112th and 113th) New York, NY

Restaurant Type: Fast-Casual

Here's the Deal on the Meal: Spicy Meatballs, Sweet Potatoes, Cauliflower Salad, Brown Rice

Introduction

Dig Inn is a new place that just opened on Columbia's campus this semester. Modeled after Chipotle's serving style, Dig Inn provides multiple options including sandwiches, salads, and plates in which you chose one type of protein and two sides. Their philosophy is "Real Food, Real Quality". All meats come from animals that are raised without the use of hormones and antibiotics and produce comes from local farms. You can find more information at: http://www.diginn.com/food/

Atmosphere

C+

Dig Inn is nicely decorated and, with its all wooden tables and seats, has a homey feel. My favorite seats are the ones right next to a huge window which can be opened and faces out onto Broadway. On a nice day, its very relaxing to sit, enjoy your food, and people watch. I always go around 11am for an early lunch or around 8pm for a late dinner because, at any other time, it can be very busy and impossible to find a seat. Even at its busiest, Dig Inn doesn't get too loud which is a huge plus.

Taste

C+

Overall, Dig Inn's food taste pretty good. The brown rice is a bit on the dry side but the sauce from the meatballs more than compensated. The cauliflower salad is a mix of cauliflower, raisins, and a few types of nuts. The raisins are a nice touch and add a bit of sweetness to the salad, but its masked by the ridiculous amount of salt added. The sweet potatoes are decent, nothing special. The skins are often really hard and occasionally clumped together (I've gotten a plate where most of the sweet potato was just the skin). The best part of the meal for me was definitely the meatballs which were spiced just right, enough to get a kick but not enough to burn your mouth. The only thing that sucks is, with a small plate, the serves only give three meatballs.

Price

Sandwiches and salads are around $7-9. Small size plates (depending on the choice of protein) are between $8-10 and large plates are between $10-13. The prices are pretty typical and what you'd expect to find in New York City.

Serving Amount

C-

Unfortunately, the quantity of food that the servers give is ridiculously small. There was one time I ordered asparagus as a side (which costs an extra 50 cents) to get literally two pieces. I would estimate that the small plate is a little bigger than 4 x 4 inches. On a good day, in terms of quantity, the plate will mostly be filled up. In general, the servers will give three meatballs and one scoop for each side (estimate 1 or 2 ounces) or a few pieces of non scoopable foods such as the asparagus. Overall, Dig Inn portions are unfortunately small.

Service

The servers are all extremely friendly. Service is decently fast, though there can be really long lines during the busiest times. Unfortunately, the quantity of food that the servers give is ridiculously small. There was one time I ordered asparagus as a side (which costs an extra 50 cents) to get literally two small pieces. I go to Dig Inn mostly out of convenience, but the small servings really deter me from doing so more frequently.

Overall

-Gabriel (2Gs)

#out4lunch #food review #food pictures #food blog #dig inn #nyc #new york #healthy #awesome #yummy #yum #health

Restaurant Name: Bettolona

Restaurant Address: 3143 Broadway New York, NY 10027

Restaurant Type: Sit-Down

Here's the Deal on the Meal: Norcina Pizza - sausage, mushrooms, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Introduction

One of the plethora of restaurants in the ten blocks above Columbia University, Bettolona serves as one of the faster more available restaurants there. Looking for a bite with some friends on a Saturday night, we found that some of the more popular restaurants in the area (Jin Ramen, Pisticci's, Dino BBQ) were booked for the entire night. But Bettolona was there for us when our backs were against the wall. Certainly not the best tasting restaurant around, but a convenient one.

Atmosphere

B+

Bettolona seems to effectively blend a casual eating environment for large parties with a candle-lit ocean-side dinner with wine. I'm not sure how well that image works for you guys but it's the first thing that came into my head. All I'm saying is that the atmosphere works for whatever event, definitely one (if not only one) of Bettolona's strengths.

Taste

Imagine sinking your feet into the sand on a beach, sounds good right? Unfortunately, it's stranded, you're alone and you're starting to feel hunger pangs. You survey around and all you see are some edible plants, nuts, and if lucky, some fruit. You have no idea how to cook so you gather them, put them together, and call it your gourmet stranded-island dinner. Haha, cut the bull. What I'm saying is that the menu looks healthy, food tastes natural...but at the expense of flavor. Bluntly, it's bland.

Price

C+

The pizza was $13.50, not too bad for the serving amount. Expect to spend in that range of $10-15 on other dishes as well.

Serving Amount

B-

I ate the whole pizza pie. Does that say more about the pizza or about me?

Service

C-

The night I went, I was treated very casually, maybe too casually. The waiters appeared very apathetic and a bit tired. This was probably something I ran into that specific day I went, probably not a recurring problem. In the atmosphere section, I compared two different dining environments. I feel the service could be improved to mimic that sense of flexibility.

Overall

B-

For this specific occasion, I was looking for something fast and convenient, but slightly unique. Thus, I put more emphasis on service and taste.

-Nathan (nKay)

#out4lunch #food review #food blog #food pictures #foody #food #foodporn #pizza #nyc #new york #ny #italian #sit-down #pasta #yummy #bettolona

Restaurant Name:Iron Age

Restaurant Address: 1054 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852

Restaurant Type: Sit-Down

Here's the Deal on the Meal: Gogi A: Beef Brisket and Pork Belly

Introduction

Iron Age is personally my go-to korean bbq restaurant because it is relatively close to my house compared to the other korean bbq restaurants which are in Annandale VA. There are two selections from the menu, Gogi A and Gogi B. Gogi B is more expensive but has significantly more selections of meat.

Atmosphere

C-

I personally dislike the atmosphere at Iron Age. There are multiple TV's blasting korean pop music videos. I try to focus on enjoying the delicious food, although ignoring the music is not easy. Iron Age is also too dim for my liking, but I'm not too bothered by it.

Taste

A-

I love korean barbecue in general, but Iron Age also has an array of free sides including kimchi, potato salad, steamed egg, korean pancake, some spicy korean soup, and more. There are 4 condiments that you can dip your pork belly or beef brisket in. Everyone has there preferences as the sauces are pretty different.The beef brisket is personally my favorite and the sauces complement it quite nicely.

Price

Iron Age recently changed the pricing of their menu which makes me sad. It costs $20 dollars for Gogi A which is average for an all you can eat restaurant. Gogi B has more selections of meat, but it now costs $25 dollars. They also started charging for extra steamed egg, soup, and korean pancake.

Serving Amount

Iron Age is an all you can eat restaurant so there is not much to say. The only reason that I am not giving this score a perfect is because they started charging extra for some of the sides as I said before.

Service

B-

The service at Iron Age depends on how crowded the place is. The less crowded, the better service. The waiters are all friendly and will almost always follow up with your needs. They usually will do all the cutting and cooking unless the place is crowded. It kinda sucks cutting your own meat, but I don't blame the waiters who are most likely preoccupied with other customers.

Overall

-Mengles

#tumblr #food pics #food review #restaurant review #maryland #iron age #sit-down #buffet #meat #meat lovers #restaurant pics #yummy #taste #tasty

Restaurant Name: The Food Haus Café

Restaurant Address: 2106 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Restaurant Type: Fast-Casual

Here's the Deal on the Meal: The Bleu Burger, MPC 187 Flatbread, and their fresh Raspberry Lemonade.

Introduction

This is a hole-in-the-wall restaurant just off of Figueroa that my brother and I happened upon when we were extremely hungry and wanted to eat right away. About 1.4 miles away from USC, this location is an up-and-coming café that just opened in January of this year, and I foresee more improvements and a large following soon once it starts getting recognition.

Atmosphere

B+

The Food Haus Café has a hispter-y feel to it. The café is in a obscure location, only has meter parking, but once you step inside the door, it's a different story altogether. The walls are lined with local artists' work, black canvas, chalk on the walls, newspaper clippings that are plastered in a formation of the LA skyline. There is a mellow ambiance about the restaurant, maybe because it was not many people were there, but that made the place more exciting. The drinks came in mason jars and every dish had a newspaper clipping under it which was a cool touch. Overall, a very homey feel and a little bit quirky...I liked it.

Taste

A-

The Bleu Burger was amazing. Everything about the burger tied together in a blend of flavors that was juicy from the burger and crispy from the onion strips, savory from the beef, fresh from the lettuce. The burger was phenomenal. Try it. The fries were well-done, sprinkled with some garlic and herbs and their homemade chiptole aioli sauce came together for a nice touch for the side. The MPC 187 flatbread was a little dry, not much sauce to be found but the cajun chicken and sweet corn combo on the flatbread was an interesting blend that I would definitely try again. Overall, this place was good, especially since the owner came by and dropped off some freshly made raspberry lemonade on the house.

Price

B-

The meal was around 24 dollars, which for the quality of the meal was great in my opinion. The Bleu Burger was around 12 as well as the flatbread, which are reasonable enough.

Serving Amount

The burger was really big. The burger definietly filled me up enough that the fries were just an add on. The flatbread was a flatbread; a light dish that probably will not fill you up so order with care if you are exceedingly hungry.

Overall

B+

-cLees

#cali #la #thefoodhauscafe #uscfood #usc #hipsterfood

Restaurant Name: Xi'an Famous Foods

Restaurant Address: 2675 Broadway New York, NY 10027

Restaurant Type: Fast-Casual

Here's the Deal on the Meal: Spicy and Tingly Beef Noodle Soup and a Lamb Cumin Burger

Introduction

I remember just given the name of the restaurant, my first impression was that this place would be a very americanized, typical chinese restaurant. I was pretty mistaken. Although just a small restaurant very easy to miss along Broadway, Xi'an Famous Foods features an original authentic recipe of pulled noodle soup and lamb. Given my pretty lowly first impressions, I was blown away by the food.

Atmosphere

Given the small, cramped interior, I was at first pretty disappointed. There really isn't more than 10 seats, or sorry, wooden stools. And you're over a metallic bench. So, really not the most aesthetically pleasing place to eat. They have a looping video of when Xi'an Famous Foods was featured in Andrew Zimmerman's Bizarre Foods on the wall - so that's kind of cool if that's your first time there. There are also many magazine clippings and reviews all over the place, so a few interesting things to do while you're eating or waiting in line. After giving it some thought and reading these reviews, I found out Xi'an Famous Foods is supposed to resemble street food in Xi'an, China - so this atmosphere may be one they were striving for, just a quick place to stop and eat. So, seeing it through that lens, the atmosphere is fitting but still not quite comfortable.

Taste

A-

First thing I do when I get my food, I go right into several bites into the lamb cumin burger. The lamb is spiced with substances I cannot identify for you, but personally, I believe it works beautifully. I find it a great way to stimulate the taste buds and begin the noodle soup. I would definitely recommend it.

Any spicy food fans? Because this stuff can get pretty spicy. For those who may not have heard of it, many chinese foods use a different kind of spice that may be known as "numbing" spice. Rather than a straight burning sensation, this spice has a slightly different taste and actually leaves your tongue just a little numb. Loving spicy food, I delight in having what is known in Chinese as "ma-la."

However, I caution that sometimes this spice may work against you. The numbing part of the spice is not really something you can taste but more feel. For those who enjoy very flavorful meals, the noodle soup can sometimes taste a little flavorless. When I get tired of the tingly spice, I sometimes wish there was more of a soy-based taste. Overall, back my own experience, I find the food delicious. I find myself craving it once a while and looking forward to that first bit of lamb cumin burger.

Price

The price for the meal is in between 10-15 bucks, so it probably doesn't quite resemble the prices of street food Xi'an. I believe the noodle soup is 7 and the burger was around 3. Overall, still a pretty solid price in NY.

Serving Amount

B+

The noodle soup doesn't look like much at first. But in combination with the lamb cumin burger, this makes for a sizable meal. To exliminate any confusion, the lamb burger does not really make a meal by itself - it's more a complement. Overall having both these foods left me surprisingly stuffed.

Service

B+

Apparently, Xi'an Famous Foods takes pride in their not having direct service as there our small messages along the dining area saying how no direct means of service means less pay on the customers! I guess that makes sense and there's really no need for it. You get your food on a tray and the contents are pretty simple to dispose. Also, I would like to commend the cashiers there, who are usually very friendly and talkative and make the whole experience a bit more pleasant. Lastly, the wait for the food is relatively short.

Overall

B+

-Nathan (nKay)

#xi an #xian #china #famous #foods #xian famous foods #food #foodie #restaurant #restaurant reviews #reviews #out4lunch #nkay #nathan #awesome #taste #yummy #yum #foodporn #food pictures

Restaurant Name: John Jay Hall at Columbia University

Restaurant Address: 511 W 114th Street New York, NY 10025

Restaurant Type: Cafeteria

Here’s the Deal on the Meal: Asian Sesame Chicken, Caesar Salad, Pepperoni Pizza, Vegetarian Sushi with Spicy Mayo Sauce, and Banana/Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Introduction

John Jay dining hall is located on the first floor of John Jay, a freshman residence hall. The newly renovated dining hall is an interesting combination of medieval-style architecture, with its high-ceilings and large decorative windows, and fast-paced atmosphere. John Jay has good vegan and vegetarian options as well kosher and halal options. The permanent food options include pizza and pasta station, salad bar, desert station, vegetarian sushi, and a sandwich station. Furthermore, there are dining options that change daily and for each meal such as an Asian action station (where a server prepares meals such as Asian noodles, Korean barbeque, and stir-fried rice) and grilling station. Students and visitors can either sit-down and enjoy a meal with friends or take the food to go using eco-friendly trays which cost 50 cents. Although the dining hall food is pretty typical on a day to day basis, there are four special dinners each year which are definitely worth checking out: Thanksgiving Day dinner, Christmas Day dinner, Valentine's Day dinner, and Surf and Turf dinner.

Atmosphere

: During rush hours (11:30-1:30pm and 6:00-7:30pm), John Jay is extremely crowded and loud. It's almost impossible to find seats and I would highly recommend not going during these hours. You can barely hear a friend right next to you talking and you usually end up sitting next to people you aren't even eating with just because there is no space. During off hours however, John Jay can be relatively quiet and seating isn't an issue. I personally go around 2:00pm for lunch and 7:30 for dinner.

Taste

D+

The vegetarian sushi with spicy mayo sauce is my go-to dish when all the other food looks bad. Although the sushi is a little on the dry side, the sauce is an excellent complement and has just the right amount of spice. The pizza often has a soggy crust and is literally dripping in oil. I usually have to dab it with napkins so I don't feel like I'm going to go into cardiac arrest after finishing a slice. The salad bar is pretty typical and has your usual variety of vegetables such as lettuce, tomato, corn, broccoli, and carrots. I'd recommend staying away from the carrots which were so hard I got a headache from biting them. The Asian sesame chicken was way too sweet and mostly breading rather than chicken. If you're at John Jay however, that might be a good thing because they almost always undercook the chicken and I have many times bitten into a chicken leg and had blood drip out. In comparison to the other dining halls at Columbia such as Ferris or JJ's Place, John Jay has the most variety of options. With that being said however, the options are all pretty bad and, as most Columbia students have discovered, John Jay is not the place to go if you are searching for a good meal.

Price

A meal at John Jay costs $15. Considering that I could have a bento box at Vine (check out our review of Vine Sake and Sushi) for $15, this price is ridiculous for the quality of food. With that being said however, it is pretty hard to get a meal in New York for under $10 and considering that John Jay is a buffet, you can at least never worry about not having enough food.

Service

C-

The one good thing about John Jay is that, in two years at Columbia, I have never seen John Jay run out of food at any of its stations. At the action station, the servers give very little food in a very small bowl. However, you can always get seconds, thirds, fourths, etc. It's just annoying, when there are a lot of people, to have to get back into line and wait. The servers at John Jay are often rude and impatient. They always have frowns on their faces and literally throw the plates full of food at you rather than hand it politely.

Overall

D+

-Gabriel (2Gs)

#food #restaurant #dining hall #college #dining #college life #food review #out4lunch #gabriel #2gs #fast food #john jay #sit-down #school #columbia #university #cu

Restaurant Name: Hewitt Dining Hall

Restaurant Address:607 West 116th Street New York, NY 10027

Restaurant Type: College Dining Hall

Introduction

During rush hours (11:30-1:30pm and 6:00-7:00pm), Hewitt, like any other campus dining hall, is extremely crowded. It's almost impossible to find seats and I would highly recommend not going during these hours. Furthermore, the wait for food is even longer than at John Jay or Ferris and can take up to 25 minutes. During off hours however, Hewitt can be relatively quiet and seating isn't an issue. I personally only go to dining halls around 2:00pm for lunch and 7:30 for dinner. Another perk of Hewitt is that there's a flat screen T.V. which will usually be tuned into ESPN or TNT so you can enjoy your food and watch the game.

Atmosphere

Taste

C+

Hewitt without a doubt is the best option for dining at Columbia/Barnard. The meatloaf was juicy and well-seasoned unlike the meatloaf at John Jay which is usually dried out and bland. The salad bar is pretty typical though, on certain days, they provide buffalo chicken which tastes amazing with the Caesar dressing. On the particular day, the action station was chicken lo mein. Although it's a safe choice if you're looking to add some Asian flare to your meal, it's packed with too much soy sauce. Although I wasn't feeling pizza that day, Hewitt's thin-crust pizza is actually comparable to restaurant-quality pizza. They usually serves two types each day: Cheese and either Hawaiian, Pepperoni, or Sausage. To top it off, the dessert bar always has chocolate or coconut cake and, if you're lucky, New York Cheesecake (though it runs out pretty quickly).

Price

C+

A meal at Hewitt costs, according to their website $5 for breakfast, $7.75 for lunch, and $10.75 for dinner. This is cheaper than John Jay or Ferris and, considering that it is buffet style, is a pretty good price for the quality of food.

Service

Hewitt rarely runs out of food at the main stations and often serves past its closing time. However, the lines are insane because all the food is served by staff. Also, the portions are small and, for the main station, you are only allowed to chose one type of protein which can get pretty annoying. Although your welcome to get seconds, thirds, etc, it's a huge hassle due to the wait time. Compared to the staff at John Jay and Ferris, Hewitt staff are much friendlier, especially the kind lady who runs the action station.

Overall

-2Gs

#columbia #college #dining #food #food blog #food pictures #food review #dining hall #hall #school #foodie #out4lunch #2gs #o4l #hewitt

Restaurant Name: Ezra Stiles Dining Hall

Restaurant Address:Yale University, New Haven, CT

Restaurant Type: College Dining Hall

Introduction

Unlike your average college, Yale University runs its housing out of dining halls found within all of the colleges on campus. My personal residential college, Ezra Stiles, is known for its brick oven pizza and overall superb food quality. Even better is the fact that the dining hall is buffet style! Full buffet style with options changing from day to day from Asian to Thanksgiving to Mexican night and everything in between! The dining hall is open to the public for around $12 for dinner, a reasonable price for a good quality dining hall buffet style dinner.

Atmosphere

B-

The dining hall is fitted with an entire wall of windows which lets in sunlight and gives the entire room a little bit more "huzzah," if you know what I mean. Since it is my colleges dining hall, there are always familiar faces to sit with making it hard to have a lonely meal. The openness and availability of seating is a huge plus of this dining hall, especially since we are connected to another colleges dining hall...twice the space! The major problem is that because of its prime location right across the street from the main gym, athletes and students from other residential colleges come to eat here a lot resulting in longer lines for food (but not nearly as bad as Silliman). All in all, solid atmosphere, due to its geographic location and overall awesomeness it can be busy, but it is not really a big problem!

Taste

The food is above the standard that I have seen at other colleges, but let’s be honest…a dining hall is a dining hall. After a semester of dining hall food, we all get tired of it, but I am happy to say that I still enjoy swiping into the dining hall for the surprise that the chef presents. There are also two kinds of meats, ones made at the chefs table and another presented on the buffet bar. The meat served at the chefs table is usually fresh and seasoned professionally by the chef but the lines are usually longer. The buffet bar’s meat is sometimes dry and unappetizing but there are usually many options to supplement the lackluster quality of the buffet meat. One of Stiles’ best taste options is the brick oven that is installed in the kitchen. The chefs make amazing brick oven pizza every day for every meal, besides breakfast, which makes up for any other options that may be unsatisfying.

Price

B-

For a decent quality buffet with the option of having food directly from the chef with him there for any special requests, $12 is a reasonable, if not generous, price for a meal. Breakfast is around $4 an lunch is around $10. The only down side is that we have to pay for three meals a day, 7 days a week. If you have an 11AM class or later, it is unlikely that you will want to make it to breakfast, so that is a lot of wasted meal swipes!

Serving Amount

Hey, a buffet is a buffet! Lot’s of high quality food will get anybody excited, and Stiles does just that. You can only swipe in once per meal unless you get the unlimited plan (which is $70 dollars more, but also comes with $70 of EliBucks).

Overall

-H.A.

Restaurant Name: Blue Plate @ The Diner

Restaurant Address: Ellicot Community, College Park, Maryland 20740

Restaurant Type: College Dining Hall

Introduction

The Diner is the go to place to eat for North Campus residents. Located in the Ellicot community, it is the most convenient place to eat for hungry college students. With an a la carte menu, the Diner has a variety of food to offer.

Atmosphere

B-

Because the Diner is a few blocks away from where I live, I regularly eat there. The best thing about the diner is the substantial amount of available seating. No matter how busy the Diner is, there will always be enough tables. However, the cafeteria itself can get quite crowded especially during peak dinner and lunch times. Consequently, lines can get very long.

Taste

C-

This particular meal looked promising. However, the burnt bread and the excessive sourness of the marinara sauce made the meal a quick turnoff. While the spaghetti itself was fine, the peppers were soggy. The saving grace of the meal was the Italian sausage, which was cooked well and had a nice spice to it.

Price

C+

The meal itself cost around 8 dollars, but because of the mediocre serving amount and quality of the food, the price of your meal can quickly add up. Adding a salad and a drink can quickly bring the price up. Sadly, Blue Plate probably has the best value meal because it comes with a complementary desert or fruit of your choosing.

Serving Amount

C+

The staff gives inconsistent amounts of food. It all depends on the person. Sometimes you can have a lot of food, but sometimes you barely have enough to satisfy your hunger.

Overall

C+

-Mengles

#maryland #md #restaurant #restaurant review #food blog #food #out4lunch #mengles #diner #college #college life #life #foodie

Restaurant Name: Rundown Cafe

Restaurant Address: 5218 N Virginia Dare Trail, Kitty Hawk, Nc 27949

Restaurant Type: Sit-Down

Here’s the Deal on the Meal: Oriental Sesame Noodles with Grilled Chicken Breast

Introduction

I was down in North Carolina for my Spring Break (OBX!). Rundown Café was a nearby restaurant that was both gluten and vegetarian friendly. As a meat-eater on a quest for some Southern barbecue, I was sort of bummed by the sound of this place. TOO BAD THE FOOD WAS FREAKING DELICIOUS. Proceed and read the best vegetarian/gluten/meat-eater friendly restaurant I’ve ever been. Leggo.

Atmosphere

A-

First off, cute little place. The restaurant had a nice koi pond where you could feed the fish for 25 cents (felt bad about eating its relatives later though). Rundown Café had colorful décor all over the walls and super hip music (Pompeii, anyone?). Overall great, casual atmosphere. Southern Hospitality is a real thing!

Taste

B+

The noodles were chilled, the fried tofu strips were crunchy, the fruits were succulent and the chicken was delicious. All around great meal! I had previously ordered the Game-fish (Mahi that day) burger which was pretty mediocre and sort of smelly. I’m going to recommend y’all stay away from the burgers and stick to more interesting dishes like the noodles.

Price

B-

The dish with the grilled chicken was 10.95, which is not cheap. However, if you just get the noodles, it’s just 6.95. That’s an awesome deal if you’re a vegetarian (or you don’t mind not getting meats).

Service

All around great service. They sat us down really quickly (even with a party of 10), which was probably due to the fact that it was off-season. This probably gives me a biased report of the service, but it was pretty stellar. Food served quickly, drinks refilled often AND they split checks (yessss).

Serving Amount

The dish was just enough to get me full, but I might not have been as satisfied without the chicken (4 dollar price jump).

Overall

Great place, definitely go here if you are around the Outer Banks! -Sweet D.

Restaurant Name: EVK (Everybody's Kitchen)

Restaurant Address: 3505 S. Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90007 (New/North Residential Halls)

Restaurant Type: College Dining Hall

Here's the Deal on the Meal: Chicken Gyro w/ Tzatziki sauce and lettuce, Green Beans, Beef with Broccoli, Vegetable Chow Mein, and BBQ Roast Beef sandwich.

Introduction

EVK. Oh EVK… As a student at USC, this is the dining hall most freshmen will frequent as the majority of residential halls are in close proximity to it. Serving food buffet style, the dining hall offers its customers the quintessential salad bar, desserts table, main entrees, a gourmet special of the day option, as well as a grill out in the back. I have had my fair share of EVK this past year, so bear with my review as it may include insights from meals not pictured above.

Atmosphere

C-

EVK is always bustling. At all times. The basic meal plan as a freshmen at USC includes unlimited meal swipes, so students take advantage of their swipes and flock to the dining hall from opening to closing. The overall layout of the dining hall seems like a menagerie of structures, ranging from the bright lime green tables near the front, the black seating in the middle, and low hanging red lamps from above. Trust me, I know, that's a weird image.

Taste

C-

I have to say, this particular meal was one of the finer meals served at EVK, but solely because of the chicken gyro. The fresh pita bread grilled on a flat top with the chicken topped with the tzatziki sauce was a welcome newcomer to my tastebuds. The rest of the meal, unfortunately, derailed the majority of the experience at EVK. The green beans had a plastic-y taste, the beef with broccoli was lathered in a non-flatterring sauce, the chow main proved too bland and soggy for my taste, and the roast beef was so dry that I reserved to only eating the bread around the meat. Harsh, but it had to be said.

Price

$12.50 for the buffet. Not worth at all in my opinion. You'd be better off finding another restaurant or trekking to Parkside Dining Hall or Café 84 to spend your money for a buffet if you insist on eating something at USC. Please.

Service

B+

It's a buffet style dining hall, so the staff do their jobs in keeping up with refilling food and stocking up the salad bar. The only staff to customer service that is available is the grill outside, where the staff varies in terms of the their individual personalities and abilities to serve the college student's hungry appetite. The gourmet meal option is generally inefficient and sometimes messes up orders, but its dorm food, a gourmet meal is welcome any day of the week. (Lines are usually long so if you're in a rush, don't wait up)

Serving Amount

It's a buffet. Not much else I can say.

Overall

C+

-cLees

#usc #cali #evk #out4lunch #california #dining call #college #cafeteria #clees #foodporn #food pictures #food review #food #food blog #review

Restaurant Name: Ferris Dining Hall

Restaurant Address: Lerner Hall-115 Street 2920 Broadway New York, NY 10027

Restaurant Type: Cafeteria

Here's the Deal on the Meal: Alfredo Pasta with Peas, Carrots and Garlic and the Pizza Bar

Introduction

Ferris is considered one of the better dining halls at Columbia University. In the food area, there is a buffet line with several meals that rotate every week, a pasta bar, sandwich bar, and dessert bar. Aside from the pasta bar, which has a longer wait, you pretty much have access to all the food here. Let's see how it does on our scale.

Atmosphere

The way they have Ferris set up...smh. It's very cramped and not to mention they have this sad attempt at a spiral staircase that leads to a second floor of tables. Because Ferris is generally crowded you will always find people going up to the second floor which is totally normal besides the fact that the the staircase has the width of one person. The traffic going up and down the staircase is the result of bright engineering - going along with how you can hardly see if people are starting to come up or down. It's a hot mess at peak hours. Anyway, the dining hall almost always has a good amount of students so it's still a nice place to meet up with friends.

Taste

C-

Ferris buffet line food is split up in breakfast foods and dinner. The breakfast foods are pretty much the same every morning...and they last till late afternoon. So as you can see, there isn't much variety compared to the other dining halls. The day we went to Ferris, it was the infamous clam day - probably the worst day to go. So I decided to wait in the long line for pasta, which is the safest bet for decent food at Ferris. But it really isn't that special. You do get a choice of vegetables and a choice of sauce - pesto, afredo, or marinara. The meat is between chicken and meatballs. If you're willing to wait in a line for 10-15 minutes, I would encourage you to try the pasta bar where you can customize our own pasta but don't expect anything close to restaurant-tier pasta.

Price

Each swipe comes down to around 12-14 dollars. Given the quality of the food, it's definitely on the steep side. I guess Columbia has got to find a way to deal with those nutella food hoarders...which actually wasn't even true by the way. So I really don't know why the prices are so high. As a sophomore, I'm currently on 5 meals a week - I try to stay away from cafeterias when I can.

Service

B-

Ferris always keeps the food piling in. There have only been a few circumstances for me when there was no food in the buffet lines. Also, the pasta bar employees are generally nice. I've had one encounter with a pasta employee who scolded me because I was picking my pasta toppings one at a time rather than continously going though it. And as I've brought up before, the pasta bar tends to be a little slow - but it's not really due to the service but more that the pasta is in high demand and that they cook the pasta right in front of you.

Overall

My expectations going in were relatively high considering the money I was paying for it and Ferris is just average. Summary for the entire post here - if you're in New York, you not only save money but can also better satisfy your taste buds by taking the extra few minutes to walk down Broadway and find something. However, if you have to choose a dining hall, I would lean towards Ferris or Hewitt.

-nKay

#columbia #new york #new york city #nkay #out4lunch #cafeteria #ferris #dining hall #taste #food review #pasta #school #review

Restaurant Name: Bosie Tea Parlor

Restaurant Address: 10 Morton St New York, NY 10014

- Matthew

Restaurant Name: San Tung

Restaurant Address: 1031 Irving Street San Francisco, CA 94122

Restaurant Type: Sit-Down

Here's the Deal on the Meal: Original Dry Fried Chicken, Black Bean Sauce Noodles, and Dried Sautéed String Beans

Introduction

I was in San Francisco for 3 days to visit my brother and when we asked him for some good places to try out, he was pretty adamant on getting to San Tung's in a timely fashion to avoid the lines and to get their famous fried chicken. The restaurant is located between 11th and 12th Avenue, has few parking spaces, and generally has a long line going outside the restaurant. Overall, the initial feel of the restaurant seemed promising.

Taste

I will start with the real deal of why I went here: the Original Dry Fried Chicken. These creations were absolutely amazing. They had a great glaze of sweet, golden sauce. The fried exterior was awesome as well. Definitely one of the top chicken wings I've tried in my time. The noodles were on point. I admit I'm not the best Chinese food lover out there, but the noodles were pretty great. (excuse my picture, must stir first next time) The string beans were also a great addition to the meal.

Price

The pricing of Chinese restaurants should be looked at with and understanding of how one orders. Usually, dishes are served family style, with a large spoon for serving helpings of the dish to each individual. Therefore, the price was pretty decent as each dish was around 8-10 bucks and were of good quality.

Serving Amount

The serving amount was average. The chicken wings came 10 per plate, the noodles were a large bowl but probably enough for 2-3 people, and the string beans were good for the whole family.

Variety of Taste

Who would argue there isn't variety between macaroni and cheese and a field salad? However, that's still a pretty odd combo. Anyways, the eggs and sausages complemented the sweeter taste of the french toast of the lumberjane. Also, the potato wedges added a bit more flavor to the burger.

Service

The service here was pretty bad to be honest. I mean, it seemed as though they were understaffed for the masses waiting outside for the food. The waiters were a little inefficient with keeping up with tables. I expected a restaurant that knows it's pretty popular to accommodate the customers with adequate servers and waiters.

Overall

-cLees

Shout out to Jason for bringing me there my first time and Henok and Tony for coming with me the next!