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Bon Appétit at Reed: What you want, when you want

April 09, 2010

 by Scott Heirshberg & Evan Tenenbaum

A lot has been written about the Lewis & Clark Bon Appétit. Some love it, some hate it (ok, maybe more hate it), but do we really have any other option? Well, yes! All we need to do is look to our neighbors at Reed College. They, too, have a Bon Appétit-operated cafeteria.

General experiences of the LC ‘Bon’ include the overwhelmingly stressful experience of braving the masses of people all fighting for a place in the pasta line, immediately thereafter braving the line to the bathroom, and of course structuring our days around the inconvenient schedule the Bon offers.

The Reed ‘Commons’ (the more pretentious/Reedie name for their Bon) on the other hand, offers an alternate version of Bon Appétit’s service which, on the whole, Reed students seem to be very pleased with.

Not only is their cafeteria open for the entire day (except for two hours mid-day when they clean the grills), but their style of cafeteria is comparable to a fusion of the ‘B on’ and the Trail Room. They have a grill open all day (until 10 p.m.!), and a salad bar,

In addition, because it is open all day, there are less people eating at once, which allows for a less hectic, more relaxed environment for students to get their nourishment.

They also have the option to eat their food anywhere on campus, and are even provided with receptacles around campus for their dirty dishes. The fact that Reed students order their meals individually also contributes to less wasted food, and fewer dirty dishes.

While it is an a la carte payment plan, the amount of meal points students are provided with allows many of them an almost unusable amount of money to spend on food, though they may be paying more per meal because of the a la carte system.

In the end, the food quality is notably tastier, and while the ingredients may all come from the same place, the fact that many students get their meals individually made for them at the grill provides them with a more satisfying dining experience.

One Reed student, Andy Malkin  (a Bon Appétit aficionado), summed it up and said,  “I can get what I want, when I want it. Can you?”