By Cory Wickward
SC Contributing Writer

We all have our gripes with Dansbury Commons, more commonly known as “the café.” Each person has his or her own distinguishing dislikes and objections of what the café does or doesn’t do.

These range from extremely non-specific (e.g. “I don’t like their food”) to oddly specific (e.g. “The ice comes out of the machine too fast”). These complaints are seemingly neverending from the time one enters the school, until the day they graduate.

For the people, like myself, who have been here quite awhile, the changes never come easily. Through others’ and my own experiences, I’ve collected a compilation of the good, the bad, and the ugliest qualities of Dansbury Commons.

The Good: Dansbury has many good qualities to it that many overlook. The cafeteria workers are always overlooked and many times, they are the first ones many point fingers at.

The cafeteria workers are actually exceptionally nice if you talk to them. Sometimes, they seem grumpy, but don’t let that ruin their image. They work hard to serve you as best they can. Another good quality, and my personal favorite, is their newest addition. The sushi bar is the cafeteria’s newest addition, and one of the most anticipated by many students alike.

The sushi itself may not be the greatest on the planet, but for what it’s worth, it’s good enough for many. The gentleman who works the sushi bar is constantly making sushi from the time lunch hours begin until he runs out of ingredients. So when you’re picking up sushi that he just put out, thank him. He works hard for everyone.

The Bad: One thing most people do not like is a long line. As many have found out, if one were to visit the cafeteria between certain hours, the lines are unavoidable.

This issue is rather hard to fix because the resources are not available. In order to fix this problem, Dansbury Commons would have to make more stations to hand out food. The only station that has this option is the sandwich station, but it is not needed as they usually have two employees fixing sandwiches and wraps.

The two areas that I can see any improvement in line dispersal are the sandwich lines and the line to enter the café. A suggestion for the sandwich line would be to only make one sandwich per person.

Many times, I have seen the line being held up for someone ordering two sandwiches, and they are time-consuming ones at that. A constructive suggestion would be to have two lines, but this may be difficult to provide seeing how understaffed the cafeteria appears at times.

The Ugly: At Dansbury Commons, there is one topic that students consistently voice their disapproval of. The topic never seems to go away, either. Most people who have anything negative to say about the cafeteria voice their disapproval of “Late Nite.”

Many complaints about the food available and the prices of the options have gone unheard or unanswered. The options offered by “Late Nite” mostly include fried or grilled food. Of course, there are exceptions.

There is a turkey and cheddar wrap and a few pizzas that don’t include anything fried or grilled. Fortunately, these cost about the same as a meal plan. Unfortunately, if you want extras on these, it’ll cost you more than most want to pay. The same goes for any other food that comes with extras.

These extras, depending on what it is, can cost from 25 cents to 75 cents more than what you’re already paying with cheese being usually the most expensive. Why is that? Why does an extra slice of cheese cost 75 cents? According to Walmart’s website, they sell a 24-pack of Kraft White American Cheese for $3.99. That’s 16 cents per slice of cheese without looking at tax.

This is just an example of how the prices of these extras and all of “Late Nite’s” food prices are ridiculous. If this is what they call competitive pricing, they’re sadly mistaken. The suggestion here is to revise the menu and re-evaluate these allegedly “competitive prices”.

Email Cory at:
caw7244@live.esu.edu