On Gettysburg College’s campus, there are five food options: Bullet, the Commons Cafe, Ike’s Pizzeria, the Dive, and Servo.

• Servo, the main cafeteria on campus offers a salad and yogurt bar, coffee bar, cereal bar, and four daily options ranging from self-serve to pre-plated meals. Some favorites include  buffalo chicken salad, burger bar, chicken fingers with seasoned loops, and Caesar salad. 
• Second to Servo is Bullet, which offers hamburgers, wraps, sandwiches and salads daily, and features various daily soup options and specials like pulled pork bbq, Greek salad and black bean quesadillas.
• Ike’s Pizzeria, situated above Bullet, offers daily pepperoni and plain pizza, and meatball subs. They also have specialty pizzas like buffalo chicken and Greek pizza. Also in Ike’s is a sushi bar, which will fix sushi fresh to order if you ask. On a daily basis, they put rolls in the fridge both in Bullet and at Ike’s.
• Nearby to both Bullet and Ike’s, centered in the middle of the College Union Building, one can buy coffee and snacks at Commons Café. This café is a perfect little coffee shop, with Servo-fresh baked goods, cheap snack foods, milk, and Starbucks coffee options for students and visitors alike.
• The Dive, which is located in the new Center on campus, features healthier options for the students. Every week they feature a new salad, sandwich/wrap, and smoothie options. They also make fresh salads, smoothies and pizzas to order, and have an assortment of sushi and healthy option snack foods.

It seems that the college really covers its bases with these five options, and in a lot of ways they do, especially with the addition of the Dive on campus. In fact, the Dive and the Commons are probably the most versatile options on campus, offering new options and food services to students. For example, having a “make your own” system at the Dive is wonderful for students who are tired of eating the same old food over and over again at Bullet and Servo.

The fact that Bullet and Servo only make the same things every day and every week can be very monotonous for students, especially those who have been here for 3 or 4 years. Furthermore, the options at both Servo and Bullet tend to be less healthy, and even the healthy options don’t seem to change making it easier to choose unhealthy options because they may look more appealing at the time! It would be wonderful if the staff at both dining options offered more options, especially heathly ones.

For example, additions to Servo could be:

• An outside patio for students to sit at in nice weather
• An improved salad bar with things like: roasted peppers, olives, red onion, and green pepper, and some cheeses like feta and mozzarella
• Bring the cheddar back!!!!
• Make sauté an everyday thing, so that vegetarians and healthier eaters can feel more excited about hot food!
• Some fresh made salad dressings– they are not difficult to make, and if refrigerated can last a very long time. Just put them in squirt bottles on ice!
• Steamed rice everyday

Ok, on to Bullet:

• Fresh grilled chicken like in Servo, everday
• Cheddar!!!!
• Grilled chicken Caesar wraps maybe?
• More exciting features, and possibly change the weekly menu
• Also, please please please put out what you have advertised online! And if you do not end up making what you say you will, please change the cite or notify students… please!

The Dive fix-ups:

• A “make your own” style yogurt bar like in Servo
• Grilled wrap options with meats maybe? Something like a grilled Caesar wrap, Asian chicken wraps, veggie wraps but all with new twists rather than just bringing over old Bullet food and offering it there too
• Mozzarella, cheddar and parmiggiano cheeses

The Commons suggestions:

• Having milk is an excellent idea, maybe we can run with that and also offer things like peanut butter, nutella, white bread, and jelly? Or even eggs? The students love the idea of a mini mart that “we don’t need to pay for,” maybe we can test run some options and see what is received?

Further concerns:

Many students have pointed out that all of the Dining Services are clumped together physically on campus, and all have relatively strict hours. Living in an area where it is difficult to get food off of campus if you don’t have a car, it is sometimes frustrating to not have more options around campus, and maybe even a late night option.

 If anyone has any questions, concerns, additions, or opinions about this critique please feel free to comment or to contact me.