Chew On This: Hit or Miss—Hasbrouck Dining Hall

On any given day on campus there are a few places to eat. You can eat at Jazzman’s, the Hawk’s Nest, the Hawk’s Street Station, or Hasbrouck Dining Hall. Of all of these places Hasbrouck is the only cafeteria-style location. Over the last four years, I have eaten there several times. However, Hasbrouck is not my favorite establishment. As my friends and I like to say, Hasbrouck is good when it’s good and bad when it’s bad; there is no in-between.

One of the good things about Hasbrouck, which you cannot find elsewhere on campus, is the versatility of the food. You can get a well-balanced meal with all the food offered as well as a dessert. For example, at breakfast you can take the high road and get fresh fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, and hard-boiled eggs among other healthy items, but you can also take the low road and load up on bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes, or desserts from the bakery. Also, because it is all you can eat it is difficult to maintain the right size portions.

Despite this there are good and bad sides to the cafeteria setting. It is good because you pay one price to eat all the food you want. At the other locations on campus you have to pay for your meal, your salad and your snack. Since the prices of food tend to run high on campus you will burn though your dining dollars very quickly. So going to Hasbrouck means you can get all of these things for one price.

Even though Hasbrouck is all you can eat you can’t always eat what you want. For example, if you go to Hasbrouck at three in the afternoon there is no hot food available. You are left with salad, sandwich, or cereal. They do have pizza at that time but the pizza is terrible. It is made fresh in the building but tastes like it was frozen. This style lunch is good once in awhile but if you get out of class at three everyday the options will get boring fast. It makes me feel bad for the freshmen whose only option is to eat there everyday, unless they want to use their own money to eat elsewhere.

These are reasons why I do choose Hasbrouck once in awhile,  I don’t find it a place that is enjoyable to eat at everyday.  In particular my favorite time to eat there is brunch on Saturday. There are always hot foods for both breakfast and lunch. Even though the options do not tend to change there are enough choices that I do not get tired of eating there on Saturdays. My favorite are the french toast sticks.

All in all, Hasbrouck is hit or miss. It is not the best location on campus but it definitely gets you the most for your money. The options are versatile and the food can be good quality (as long as you go during their busy hours). If you can’t make it during those times then find another place to eat.

Nicole Famulare

Next Post

Facing Off Against an NHL Superstar

Thu Sep 30 , 2010
Zach Bogosian, alternate captain for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Atlanta Thrashers, skates up the ice, fakes left and prepares to snipe a shot into […]

You May Like

TWITTER

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.