Barret Dining Hall

The Barrett Dining Hall holds a reputation for being one of the best places to eat on campus. This place is like a luxury to students and its visitors. Unfortunately if you do not have a meal plan it can be pretty pricey considering that non Barrett students who have meal plans have to pay a few bucks even after getting a "meal swipe" (which means one of your meal counts being deducted from the total meals you are allowed for the week). At the end of the day it is worth paying a little extra to eat here because of the food quality and service. In addition, one of my favorite things that Barrett offers and no one else does is that they have a variety of fruits to choose from and don't just serve them for breakfast like Pitchforks and Hassayampa do.

Like at Pitchforks and Hassayampa, nutrition facts are also displayed for each type of food in each line. The quality of the food here is just great which is reasonable considering the fact that students pay more money to eat there. In addition, the waiting time to receive food is minimal to none which  can always seem to lighten the mood of a few people. The only negative side to the Barrett Dining Hall is that it is far off of campus and is convenient only to Hassayampa students and barrett students. Regardless of this it is still worth the walk if you have the money. Overall this place in my book is a 9 out of 10 stars but check out what barrett students have to say about their dining hall down below.

Hassayampa Dining Hall

When it comes to customer service this dining hall certainly knows how to make your day feel better. They know how to tend to you nicely, ask how your day is going, and whether they hate their job or not it cannot be seen from the outside which is good because it establishes a positive and comforting environment. In addition, this dining hall was the only place where I was able to sit down and interview the manager regardless of his busy schedule.

One of the best things I like about this place that no other dining hall offers is that they are open on Sundays. I live at the Hassayampa dorms so it is great to roll out of bed on Sunday afternoons and stroll on over to get a bite to eat. The breakfast there is heavenly from my point of view. There are usually no lines at all and if there are the wait time is less than 3 minutes unless you are in line for burgers. For some reason the line for hamburgers takes longer than it should.  Like Barrett and Pitchforks, Hassayampa also has nutrition facts placed in front of each serving location that specifies what food is being served in a specific line.

As for the quality of the food I would rate it a 7 out of ten simply because the food is decent but it can get tiring after a while but unlike Pitchforks Hassayampa actually has variety which earned it a few more points than pitchforks. The link down below will show you a video of the different opinions that other people have.

Devils Diner

Unfortunately when it comes to most of the mentioned criteria, the Devils Diner may not be considered such an ideal choice to eat. Of course like the rest of the residential dining locations there are a few things that do make the Devils Diner stand out more than others. For example, The Devils Diner is open until 2 am on Saturdays and Sundays which would come in handy if you are a student who likes late night meals for any reason at all such as taking a break from studying or just simply being hungry. Another important consideration to take in mind is if you are a student who likes to party and then eat with friends afterwards This place would certainly be a great location to hang out simply because meal plans are accepted so spending money at a restaurant like Ihop or Denny's would just be a waste considering you could receive the same quality of food, if not better, at the Diner . So why are they open so late on the weekends? Well its quite simple, this reflects back to an economics principle of equal trade. The Diner knows where their main business comes from so in order to increase profit it would make sense to stay open later on a weekend considering they may be aware that college students stay up late to socialize and do other things on the weekends. Therefore students that are up late at night will be aware that the diner is open and will head over for a meal.

Unfortunately the Devils Diner is the only residential dining location that does not offer its customers an "all you can eat" option. Although you cannot engage in the ancient art of "all you can eat" there is still a variety of options that can be selected ranging from pancakes, enchiladas, quesadillas, pizza, hamburgers, boneless buffalo wings, curly fries, and many more. Another negative thing about this location is that the food is not previously prepared, so once your order is placed you will have to wait a while for the food to be prepared (I once waited for more than 15 minutes for my cheese and chicken quesadillas with a side of curly fries to be made) . On the other hand, the fact that the food is not prepared until you order can be a positive thing because then we know that the food has not just been sitting there.

Overall, the food at the Diner is delicious. I would rate the quality of the food an 8 out of 10. In terms of healthiness, there are healthy selections such as salads, chicken sandwiches and other nutritious foods like fruit. To sum it up, you cannot go wrong with selecting the Devils Diner as a place to eat if you do not mind traveling to the area which is on the north side of ASU campus or perhaps you may go eat there before or after a sporting event at the wells fargo arena or the football stadium. To the right is a video of other people's thoughts about the Diner.

Pitchforks

Pitchforks Dining is located inside the memorial union by the POD market area (a convenience store inside the memorial union) and also by Chik Fil A. This location will be most convenient depending on the time you go. If you go during rush hour which is in the morning for breakfast expect to be waiting in line. Another rush hour time will be between 11 am and 1 pm simply because people are either getting out of class, have nothing to do but eat, or are barely waking up.

This location is open everyday of the week except Sundays  This is a convenient place for outsiders as well as students to come due to the fact that it is on campus grounds and not far away in the residential communities like all the other ones. It acts as a convenient location to make a quick pit stop in the middle of the day if needed.

Moreover, there are multiple areas inside of Pitchforks in which you can choose what to eat, whether it may be hamburgers, pizza, salad or the meal of the day. At the beginning of each line there is a conveniently placed menu that tells you all nutrition facts of the food being served to allow you to establish on your own whether or not the food is healthy. This must be kept in mind if and when you begin to gain a few pounds and want to begin eating a healthier diet that will not fatten you up.

As for the quality of the food, I would rate this place a 5 out of 10 simply because it can get mediocre after a while. Do not get me wrong the food is not bad but if you begin to eat there every day it can get repetitive. Pitchforks tries to add variety to their menus at times but it is usually the same things on a consistent basis. The link below will give you insight of what other people think about this place

"Lets Pig Out"

Lets admit it we are all suckers for good food. Well at least I am. Which goes needless to say that I am enjoying my Freshman year and the path down my freshman 15 at ASU. This blog will be of use to current freshmen, incoming freshmen, visitors to campus, and any other individuals who enjoy good meals. It is also for those who wish to have a healthy eating lifestyle while in college in order not to go down the path I am partaking in right now which is a time of "I eat what I want".

There are many temptations that college has to offer, one of those being the freedom to select your daily diet which for me typically consists of eating french fries and ice cream for dinner followed with sugary sweets, high sodium products, and salty snacks to fuel my late-night studying hours.

Arizona State University is a rip off, but when it comes to food, you can definitely get your moneys worth. whether you are paying with cash, Maroon and Gold dollars or using a sun devil meal plan. It all depends where you eat of course. Typically the individuals who benefit more from ASU meals are the students who live on campus with meal plans. The reason for this is because after doing some calculations eating with a meal plan is more financially beneficial due to the fact that if you are a person who tends to eat a lot and takes advantage of all you can eat, which ASU dining offers, then by the end of the semester you will have actually spent more than what you paid for and end up winning.

Do not fret, I am here to help you maqke a decision.

The first order of business is to address that there is not a specific location that seperates itself from the rest of the diners due to the fact that they all have  their own unique features whether it may be location, availability, waiting in line, and other criteria I will go over down below.

•  Availabillity

      Availability is key on my criteria for a good diner.A key thing to know, is what time each location is open.  Some places may be open at earlier times than others. Some places may close earlier or some may not even be open on some days. In addition, another time of availability would be during holidays and breaks.

• Location/ Convenience

Everyone will have a different perspective on what is exactly a convenient location to eat. If you are a guest at ASU, the Memorial Union would be the best location to dine considering it is technically at the core of ASU campus taking in mind all the important places surrounding it like the library, computing commons, classes, and big lecture halls. On the other hand if you are a student living in a residential area the best location to feast would be at the convenience of your residential dining hall. On the other hand it could all be a matter of where your location is when you get hungry. You may get out of class, be hungry, and be more than ten minutes walking distance from your residential dining hall.

• Healthyness of food

This criteria refers back to the freshman 15.  According to  kidshealth.org Recent studies find that some first year students are indeed likely to gain weight but it is not just the first year in which this occurs, so one must be careful when approaching their daily diets. Doctors are concerned because studies have shown that students (not just Freshman) gain 3 to 10 pounds during their first 2 years of college. Slowly those extra pounds will creep on you and do some critical damage to your appearance and probably self esteem so it is key to not let the freedom of being able to select your own meals be your downfall. To sum it up, I have decided to make this a criteria to inform the readers whether they may be students or visitors if and which places offer healthy eating selections.

•  waiting time for food

Patience is a virtue but it is definitely not pleasant waiting in line for food and waiting afterwards to receive your food. You are hungry, tired, cranky, and you just want to start eating. Well I can help you with that too. With this blog I will inform you about which locations tend to have waiting times, around what times is rush hour, and at which locations can you just simply walk in, get your food, and get right to it.

• Quality of food

   How I am going about evaluating this is by of course asking the first question which is, "does it taste good"? From personal opinion I will be determing the quality based on what I think is good or not. Considering my opinions may be biased I have also taken the liberty to interview students about their thoughts about the diners food quality on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best quality and 1 being the worst. In addition, I will be asking questions like, "what makes the food so good or so bad" and also "why do you come here"

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