More Would Be Merrier

UC Students’ Opinions on Campus Food Options

BY AMBER SIMPKINS Staff Writer

How satisfied do you feel about UC’s dining options? The dining options on campus are a topic often discussed among students. We asked some students on campus to see their opinions on UC dining.

One of the most often mentioned facts regarding UC’s dining options is the variety of options given to students. The campus has three restaurants, a dining hall, and three coffee shop locations. Although that may be a decent amount for students, many say that more variety would be better. We asked UC student Cole Hannon how he felt about the food options on campus; he stated that “it is a decent number of options to choose from, but it could use more variety.” Another student, Nathan Siler, has vouched for using the meal swipe at more places downtown, similar to how UC students can use their meal swipes at the downtown Cumberland River Coffee location. “I think it would be a great idea if we could use our meal swipe at some of the places downtown,” Siler said. “It would bring more options to us.” Nathan also mentioned the variety in the dining hall. “The variety is decent, especially the lunch and dinner variety, but breakfast needs more variety along with more variety on the weekends.”

There have also been a lot of strong feelings about the previous restaurant, Tossed, being replaced with Habaneros. Many students have expressed that they wish the university would have kept Tossed instead of changing it to Habaneros. Student Taegan Jones has expressed her feelings on the matter. “I really miss Tossed,” she said. One of The Patriot’s staff members, Hannah Mae Sizemore, added, “Habaneros is good, but it doesn’t compare to Tossed.”

Something else that has received a lot of commentary from students is how our meal swipes work. UC students are allowed three meal swipes a day but only two on weekends. Most students thought three meal swipes were a reasonable amount per day, some thought three swipes were not enough, and others said it depends on what counts as a swipe. Most students have said one less meal swipe on weekends is inconvenient. Student Rachel Wade stated, “I feel that three swipes are not enough. We are college kids, and we need coffee, and making us choose between [food and coffee] is making us choose between a normal meal and sanity.” Wade added, “When we have only two meal swipes on the weekends, it makes it very hard. I personally have to space out my food, and I am left hungry for most of the afternoon. It would be nice to be given an extra swipe along with some more meal options, but I am thankful for what I am given.”

There have been many complaints about only one coffee counting as a full meal swipe. The coffee shops offer food and most drinks, but not together as a swipe. Student James Haus has said, “Coffee isn’t a meal; therefore, it shouldn’t count as a full meal swipe.” Sizemore has also given insight into this by stating, “We should be able to get something else along with coffee.”

Do you agree with the students in this article? UC students seem relatively content with the current options, but more variety is always better. Many UC students would love to see more variety of options and changes to the way meal swipes work.