Butler University

AramarkWatchDog - what are your current views of the food here, as a current student?

I've always had pleasant experiences with the food when I eat lunch on campus.

I was a student at Butler from 2003-2005.  My experiences with Aramark were so-so.  I found the best food and service to be at Resco.  I ate at the C-Club every now and then until I was told I could not use a friend's card to get food for him because he was sick.

I visit dawgnetnews.com frequently, and came across the article and wondered if Aramark's service is dwindling.

I'm a current freshman at Butler, so I eat quite a bit in Atherton, Resco, and C-Club. Although you hear a lot of complaining about the food on campus, I personally don't think it's too bad. I usually go to Atherton for lunch, sometimes Resco, and C-Club for dinner. I enjoy eating lunch in the dining halls... I always find something I like to eat, even if it isn't my favorite everyday. I actually just got back from lunch at Atherton about twenty minutes ago, where I had chicken and pasta in alfredo sauce and corn bread -- which was great! The desserts are always good as well... I usually can't even decide on just one. Like I said, there are good days and not-so-good days, but I don't think Aramark's food deserves as much disrespect as it is receiving.

As for C-Club, the food is good as well. I usually get sandwiches, quesadillas, or pizza. It can get a bit boring eating the same thing all of the time, but you can always rotate in dinner at Atherton instead. I know our dining isn't perfect, but after hearing about the food options some of my friends from different universities have, I can't complain too much. As far as cafeteria food goes, Aramark definitely isn't as bad as it is made out to be -- some people (me, for example) actually really enjoy it!

As a member of the Greek community at Butler, one of the things I really looked forward to when I moved into my house was freeing myself from the cafeteria food on campus. However, as a Student Orientation Guide, I was re-introduced to Atherton and ResCo for about a week in August and quickly realized that the wide array of options that are available at the dining halls was something that I definitely took for granted during my Freshman year.

I think that as a Freshman in college, with all of this new-found freedom, it's easy to get carried away at mealtime, especially when you're eating buffet-style ten times a week or more. Healthier options are offered, and I think it's up to each individual student to decide whether or not to take advantage of them. Personally, I think that salad and stir-fry are two of the healthiest things you can eat (as long as you don't pour on those dressings and sauces!!), and Atherton offers both of these, in a "build-your-own" style, so that you can not only eat healthy but also personalize your meal so that you can enjoy it.

It's really easy to skip over the healthy options and go straight for the chicken nuggets or french fries or chocolate cake, because who doesn't like those things!? But ultimately, it's up to the individual to decide what kind of eating lifestyle he or she wants to have. Think about it...would the food service we currently have continue to serve certain meal options if no one ate them, causing A LOT of food to completely go to waste? No! If you really want options that are healthier than the ones currently offered, make your voice heard and stop eating the unhealthy stuff.

I'm not a student at Butler yet, but have had to chance to dine at Butler on two occasions (C-club and Atherton).  I have also had the chance to dine at several other colleges.  I ate at the C-Club during one of my first visits to Butler.  The prices were not that bad compared to other places and the food was very good.  During my audition, I ate at Atherton.  The salad bar was one of the freshest of any that I've seen (minus the super fancy salad bars) and the food was very good.  Now I could understand the food getting boring after a while, but Butler students, especially Freshman, are lucky that they are allowed to have a car on campus so that they can drive to plenty of places in Indy.  My other college dining experiences included a very similar dining experience, but much more crowded and dirtier and a similar school and another school in which I recieved a $5.00 lunch ticket.  My small salad, sandwich, and large drink was over $7.00.  The salad was wilted and the bread was not fresh.  My other expierences with food at a college during Band Camp at a university were not so pleasing.  At the traditional dining, the food was barely edible and the only good thing was the ice cream, which was usually out of order.  We also ate one day at the Food Court-style dining (ala C-Club).  It was extremely expensive to our Band Boosters  - on average $9-10 per student for one meal just because the traditional dining hall was not prepared yet.  The food was OK, but not at the level of Butler.  While food is not what I'm looking completely forward to at college, I know fairly well that I have plenty of choices that are of quality at Butler.

Well, it’s no secret that the food can get repetitive and it’s not always what you’re craving for, but I still get annoyed when people make it seem like Butler is trying to poison us or something.

Now I’m from the land where amazing food is more common than the common cold. I still find something to enjoy here. If I can I know anybody can. You just need to learn how to jazz things up a little bit, or even better try something different!

That’s why they give you a microwave and have different toppings on the salad bar. Try melting a little cheese on the broccoli, or mix the sauces together at the stir fry station. There are a lot of different creations I’ve seen people do to take the repetitive factor out.

If your really worried about hardcore nutrition you wouldn’t be eating beef ravioli anyway. The calories mentioned in the article might be less than in a can of Chef Boyardee, but the sodium in Atherton is 245mg less than in the same can! So you really can’t blame it on Aramark the ravioli has a lot of calories in it.

Knowing that you are taking in more calories might encourage some people to live a more active lifestyle, like using the HRC (which many people who complain about the food don’t do) more regularly and not just when a break or formal comes around

People need to stop acting like there aren’t any healthy options in the food on campus. There are always plenty of vegetables, fruit, and creative salad toppings to choose from that taste fine. The only reason the fruit might be a little ripe is because they've just put it out and want it to stay fresh a little longer. Any time this has ever happened I usually can find a bananna or apple that is perfect, and if by chance it looks a little spoiled (which has only happened to me twice since I've been here) I let them know and they always replace it right away.

Many people who use slander against the on campus food, who are the same ones who constantly “sometimes eat more than the serving size.” Clearly there is something that you like about on campus food to do that.

My blog this week actually has some healthy tips for on campus eating. If you have a healthy tip share it with the rest of us as a comment!

seems like the article is wrong, based on what u all r saying.  im sure the food gets old after awhile, but it cant be that bad. 

Actually the food was the reason i almost didn't come here... Unforntunatly all the things in that article do happen and more i know i personally have told the lunch people about moldy bread only to watch them leave it and have found icing caps in pudding (it's definatly an interesting taste).  Even our little (in)-convience store doesn't understand how to read the dates on the food.  I worked in retail so i know the coding system most foods use and i found quite a bit of outdated food some a year old!  My eating habbits changed quite a bit because the food either had no taste or looked absolutly awful.  That's atherton, C-club on the other hand is better but they never change the menu so after awhile it gets pretty old.  I know a student's speech i judged last year was about our food situation and how we pay more and get less than most schools.  If I recall she even said that our dean would like to see better service.  all in all you will survive but for what we are paying we should get better service.