Almost a year into the GW dining hall experience, one thing is fair to say: adjusting to the new meal plan is confusing.
As the University continues to transition away from a dining dollar-based meal plan and toward one centered around dining halls, it can be a challenge for students to know each and every facet of eating at the refectories. From taking advantage of the chance to try new cuisines to properly setting expectations, there’s numerous ways to get the most out of the dining halls.
Jaden DiMauro | Managing Editor
College is a time to broaden your horizons, take reasonable risks and try new things. And the dining hall is a great place to start. GW’s three primary dining halls, plus District House, offer a rotating cast of diverse menu items across a variety of cuisines.
Take your tastebuds across the Atlantic on a trip to Poland with Kielbasa with Peppers and Onion at Shenkman Hall. If you’d rather stay domestic, dip your proverbial toes into the world of vegan food with Ginger Soy Seitan Pepper Steak at Thurston Hall.
Or, if you’re looking for a relaxing experience, head to Buff & Brew on the Mount Vernon Campus for breakfast, where a meal swipe gets you a breakfast item, a hand fruit and a beverage of your choice. Bring a book, plop down in a hillside adirondack chair and enjoy the view of Northwest D.C. away from the hustle and bustle of Foggy Bottom.
Nick Perkins | Culture Editor
When Thurston’s dining hall opened last fall, there were numerous topics campus could have been abuzz about — the transition to a totally new way of eating at GW, the various diet-specific stations, simply just the quality of the food. But one topic popped up in more of my conversations than any other: Thurston’s soft serve ice cream machine.
At first, all the chatter about the near-constant access to vanilla and chocolate flavored ice cream was something out of a dream. I fantasized about chowing down on some soft serve on a hot (or even a cold) day. But after a couple of weeks, discussions about the ice cream machine took a different turn, as more and more people realized that the appliance was frequently broken, and it was actually quite rare to leave the freshman dorm hall with a cone in hand.
Going into Thurston dining hall expecting a wonderful meal capped off by some delicious soft serve will probably end in disappointment, if for no other reason than the machine not working. But instead journeying into the eatery with a realistic set of expectations about the likely perfectly enjoyable but not entirely delectable meal on offer won’t lead to the same sort of let down, giving one a better dining experience overall. Plus, if you’re lucky, Thurston’s soft serve machine might even be up and running and you’ll be able to get the pleasant surprise of a sprinkle-topped treat to end the meal.
Jenna Baer | Contributing Culture Editor
As indie rock group Infinity Song sagely sings on their viral track “Hater’s Anthem:” “I love the way it feels to be a hater.” And there are few topics I love to rag on more than GW’s new dining halls. As a painfully slow eater, the set up of all-you-care-to-eat dining halls can be stressful and time consuming in an effort to wring out every last bit of a meal swipe.
A quick fix to this conundrum are to-go containers — which Shenkman and Thurston dining halls offer upon request. Even if you don’t see any takeaway containers lying around, you can get one by asking a staff member.
But if you really want to squeeze the dining halls for all they’re worth, it’s time to get serious. Bust out your own tupperware and fill the containers up to your heart’s content with waffles, cookies and fresh fruit, oh my!
Concerned you may garner stares for your resourcefulness? Just bring your own containers in a reusable bag, and no one will be any the wiser.
