Izzy Anderson ’25 is a prospective English major, president of Skate Club and an active member of Dad Jeans Comedy. She loves skateboarding, music and time with people she cares about. Though she did author this article, Izzy’s opinion has since been changed; she was in a bit of denial. Contact her at icanderson@wm.edu.
The views expressed in the article are the author’s own.
I think the food here is good. YEAH, I SAID IT! Maybe I am just overly accepting of circumstance and not picky, and maybe I just don’t have a good measure of comparison because I’ve never had another university’s cafeteria food, but there is actually some good stuff here. The deal is that you’ve got to get creative! Instead of just picking whatever one station has you have to scope out all the stations and see what you can make with everything. Here is what I intensely enjoy from the dining halls:
Item 1: Spicy sweet tofu in the vegetarian section in Sadler. Especially when over rice/quinoa with a sweet potato, it’s gas. Also, adding seeds for texture and nutrients is great and makes me feel like a bird in a good way. I get genuinely sad when there is none of that kind of tofu. It’s hot and good, and all you have to do is add some salt and pepper, and you’re good to go.
Item 2: Anything in the panini press. I highly recommend using the bagels next to the ice cream machine for sandwich bread and seasoning from the vegetarian section. Also, adding greens and peppers to sandwiches helps balance them out and add volume. Again, just try different stuff from all the sections to make a great panini. Just make sure to use the paper with the panini press because I’ve ruined the panini machine before by forgetting — I’m sorry.
Item 3: The Sadler pears (when ripe) and other fruits and veggies. I take a bag and steal a bunch of pears from Sadler because they’re so good after a few days out of the dining hall. Try letting the fruit ripen — it gets so juicy and will be great especially when it warms up. Also putting veggies on a pizza and adding a vinaigrette can work for a caprese pizza. The cooked broccoli is also good in the soup sometimes.
Item 4: Salads and lettuce wraps. Grab a protein so that the salad has some substance and then pick a theme based on a sauce. You could go vinaigrette with tomatoes and cucumbers, southwestern with stuff from the taco section, simple caesar with chicken breast or whatever else you can think of. If you want to get more protein, just double it up and wrap it in a lettuce leaf to have a pretty good lettuce wrap. I haven’t tried this, but you could even grab a bag of chips, break it up and put it in the salad instead of croutons.
Item 5: Caf’s Mediterranean section — enough said. Go crazy with the gyro.
Item 6: For dessert, mixing Sadler ice cream with cereal or a crumbled cookie from the dessert section is unreal. Also, granola with fruit and yogurt never goes wrong.
Honorable mentions: Anything in the Caf’s fridge with oat milk, certain foods from the Tribe Truck (I’m especially excited for the poke bowls!), cotton candy at 6 p.m. in Sadler, Sadromas food, the variety the “W&M Free Food Fans” GroupMe provides and those goofy hit-or-miss Swem snacks.
We all hear over and over that the food here isn’t good, but that’s such a tired and boring take. There is a way to enjoy it and keep it exciting; you just have to put in a little bit of effort. I enjoy the dining experience here, and I don’t care what you say. Make the freaking lemonade from the freaking Sadler lemons.