2008 Woodie Awards
Cuisine at Charlie's leaves stomach and wallets empty
Katelyn Henry
Issue date: 4/16/04 Section: Viewpoint
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Over the years, combining my 3rd generation restaurateur background with the analytical English major in me, I have become quite the critic of nearly any establishment I enter. From the speediness of service and appropriateness of décor to the quality of the menu items and the cost of dishes, if there's something to critique, I'll find it.
Perhaps it is my absolute love for Taylor Dining Hall (yes, I'm one of those rare few who wouldn't trade Taylor for the world), or maybe it's the fact that the cost of each meal is easily forgotten with the swipe of my ID, but during my three years at Assumption, I've never really stopped to do the same for the food services on campus.
That is, until I started eating at Charlie's everyday and paying with Campus Cash rather than a meal plan. And now, my restaurateur blood is boiling.
Eating lunch at Charlie's seems to cost a small fortune. It costs $3.29 for a chicken sandwich, $1.20 for a medium soda, and $1.49 for a bag of the recently added Stacy's Pita Chips, adding up to a grand total of $5.18.
This may not seem too bad at first glance, but when put into perspective, food at Charlie's costs quite a bit more than most students should-or even could-pay.
In an October 20, 2002 poll on the Provoc's website, 88% of students who responded agreed, saying that AC food prices were unfair since we "pay $30,000 to go here!" Their sentiment, while well justified, is only half correct. Yes, we do pay too much to eat in Charlie's. Yes, we do a pay a lot to go to school here. But no, the two do not go hand in hand. Sodexho, not Assumption College itself, sets the prices at Charlie's (and Taylor). Despite hard work done by SGA and others in the past, Sodexo won't seem to listen to their customers.
Maybe they will, however, after realizing just why students get so angry at the cost of food. The same 20 ounce Coke in Charlie's is available for $.20 cheaper in any vending machine-including one right in the basement of Hagan. At Saint Anselm College's Coffee Shop and Bar, their equivalent to Charlie's, a Caesar salad is only $3.50, while here it is $3.99, plus the cost of salad dressing. Even places off campus have items at a lower cost. Bloomers on Highland Street charges $2.15 everyday at lunch for an individual cheese pizza, while Charlie's charges $2.49. Plus, ample fast food places in the area have jumped on the $.99 menu trend, with a variety of items similar to what you'll find in Charlie's at a fraction of the cost.
Perhaps it is my absolute love for Taylor Dining Hall (yes, I'm one of those rare few who wouldn't trade Taylor for the world), or maybe it's the fact that the cost of each meal is easily forgotten with the swipe of my ID, but during my three years at Assumption, I've never really stopped to do the same for the food services on campus.
That is, until I started eating at Charlie's everyday and paying with Campus Cash rather than a meal plan. And now, my restaurateur blood is boiling.
Eating lunch at Charlie's seems to cost a small fortune. It costs $3.29 for a chicken sandwich, $1.20 for a medium soda, and $1.49 for a bag of the recently added Stacy's Pita Chips, adding up to a grand total of $5.18.
This may not seem too bad at first glance, but when put into perspective, food at Charlie's costs quite a bit more than most students should-or even could-pay.
In an October 20, 2002 poll on the Provoc's website, 88% of students who responded agreed, saying that AC food prices were unfair since we "pay $30,000 to go here!" Their sentiment, while well justified, is only half correct. Yes, we do pay too much to eat in Charlie's. Yes, we do a pay a lot to go to school here. But no, the two do not go hand in hand. Sodexho, not Assumption College itself, sets the prices at Charlie's (and Taylor). Despite hard work done by SGA and others in the past, Sodexo won't seem to listen to their customers.
Maybe they will, however, after realizing just why students get so angry at the cost of food. The same 20 ounce Coke in Charlie's is available for $.20 cheaper in any vending machine-including one right in the basement of Hagan. At Saint Anselm College's Coffee Shop and Bar, their equivalent to Charlie's, a Caesar salad is only $3.50, while here it is $3.99, plus the cost of salad dressing. Even places off campus have items at a lower cost. Bloomers on Highland Street charges $2.15 everyday at lunch for an individual cheese pizza, while Charlie's charges $2.49. Plus, ample fast food places in the area have jumped on the $.99 menu trend, with a variety of items similar to what you'll find in Charlie's at a fraction of the cost.