School cafeterias don't have a good reputation. No one can deny it. There's always that one food (or those many foods) that every senior warns you, the ignorant freshman, away from as soon as you walk in. But that's just one of the things I've learned from my own experiences in my university's cafeteria - excuse me, dining hall.
1. Don't go during peak times.
The best food will disappear as you walk over to it. So many people will want some of that amazing pizza that you will wait for half an hour just to get one tiny slice. It'll be burnt. Not to mention that there will be nowhere to sit. Nowhere. You will wander the hall with your plates of food until you feel your stomach begin to digest itself in despair.
2. Don't go during off hours, either.
Yeah, it seems contradictory, right? But if you go when no one else is there, the food will taste like thrice-boiled broccoli. And pasta that had been reheated three times, smothered in some kind of overpowering sauce to attempt to cover it. (It won't work.) The tables will be covered with the detritus of the rush hours, because the staff will be working to clean up the kitchens and prepare for the next rush. You will be the lonely food connoisseur in a wasteland of leftovers and crumbs.
5. Take advantage of the open soda fountains to refill water bottles.
Nothing is worse than walking out of the dining hall and discovering that, not only was that sandwich saltier than you thought, but your water bottle is empty. And now you have to pay for a second time to get back in.
4. If you've never heard of the food, don't touch it.
Yes, even if it smells amazing. If you've never heard of it, chances are the staff hasn't either. That can only result in tears and huge amounts of leftover whatever-that-was-supposed-to-be.
5. Just because the dessert is all-you-can-eat does not mean you should eat all the dessert you can eat.
Where do you think the freshman 15 comes from? That's right. It's the bottomless dessert buffet calling your name.
6. Eat healthy.
There is a salad bar. Don't eye it, tell yourself that you'll eat a salad next time, and head for the comfort food. Just eat one salad a week. Make your body happy. (Although, if the lettuce looks wilted and as if it's been sitting for as long as you've been alive, just go for that brisket with barbeque sauce. It's calling your name, and that lettuce is screaming "GET AWAY!")
7. Don't skip eating a meal just because the food sucks.
You will regret it in two hours. Find something. Dining halls normally have that one dependable option that they never mess up. Sure, eating pepperoni pizza for three days in a row, two meals a day, can get old, but at least it's food.
