Wednesday, September 16, 2009

good news for local vegetarians: college back in session



yes, school back in session changes the dining options on the weekends downtown. it also changes take-out options in the college view neighborhood, with the hours at the union college dining hall going back to regular (longer) hours.

their dining hall site is here. the college is seventh-day adventist, which means traditionally vegetarian. and anyone from the public can go get a tray of food either to eat there or take with them. one aspect of the religion that makes this dining option more convenient for vegetarians in town is that the religion's day of rest is saturday-- meaning, pretty decent hours on sunday around mealtimes.

the salad bar, represented up top, is fantastic (yes, that's edamame) and 3.99/#. they cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite-size, which is a basic standad for any salad bar. i put the dressing on at home, you know, even though they have nice choices. so the salad was just over three bucks.

the middle pic is some bread from their bakery which turned out to be quite delicious and not too carrot-heavy in taste at all, and obviously cheap. they have a large baked goods selection. you can tell some has been frozen and re-thawed, which bothers me; but i also understand the reasoning. i would just like to be able to decode their sale-date a little better. they have many many sweets for those wh0 seek those out-- i hear good things about the cinnamon rolls.

the last picture is some food from their hot bar, which still confuses me-- as i apparently always pick out sides (in this case: brown rice, asparagus, cheesy steamed cauliflower, some semi-spicy garbanzos and a spoonful of something that looked tasty), and i seem to avoid the meat-like but meatless entrees; and this causes confusion at the register. i'll get it worked out. that plate was just over $5. right now i'm wondering why i didn't just just load up with steamed asparagus.

they also have a sandwich-to-order bar, a pizza-to-order bar, and a coffee bar. not sure about the selections there. also a huge fruit bar that i wished i had grabbed a plate from, just to show here. to-go containers cost 25c but they'll let you re-use your own.

so, don't be frightened-- they're friendly and no one's tried to convert me. and it's seriously the healthiest option in college view, when they're open-- check that website.

2 comments:

Susan said...

the sell by 257 is Sept. 14th. For example Sept. 26 is day #269 of the year.This is the ordinal date that is used in IT and (I believe) military. Amazing I can remember this from my days in the data center!

I can also vouch for the cinnamon rolls. While not as great as the old Miller & Paine, they are good. The bakery does have a schedule of days they bake certain breads - or at least they did. Ask if there is something you want. They also used to hold breads so you can pick them up on the day they are baked.

lemonpig said...

Holy smokes! How did I not know this? I'd sooo much rather have that when I'm working at the south store than the other options in the hood. I'll be sure to pass the info on to our staff as well - I suspect they don't know either.
Thanks, chiquita!