When settling into the College of William and Mary, one of my biggest concerns was the dining experience. Sure, I was plagued by the gamble of add/drop and the struggles of moving away from home like every other college freshman, but I knew those issues would resolve in time.
But I couldn’t say the same for the dining halls. While the food at Sadler exceeded my low expectations, it quickly became stale in the following weeks. As I searched for alternative dining options, going from Town Center Cold Pressed to Chick-fil-A, I found a new dining love: Bento Sushi.
Formerly tucked away in the Campus Center’s Marketplace, Bento Sushi became an adventure for me to break the monotony of college dining. When I first visited, I expected to be greeted with a limited grab-and-go sushi section. Surprisingly, not only was there an extensive menu containing ramen, poke bowls and more, but I got my meal made fresh.
I was pleasantly surprised by the setup, and I was even more impressed by the quality of Bento Sushi. Sure, it would never beat the sushi restaurants back home, but it was miles above typical gas station sushi. I instantly gained an appreciation for poke bowls, gladly suffering the $15 dent on my dining dollars every trip.
Though with Marketplace being so far away from the central hub of campus, I, along with many others, scarcely visited Bento. It was a hidden treasure on the other side of Jamestown Road.
This would soon change with Bento Sushi’s recent relocation to Sadler’s Student Exchange in the middle of this fall semester. Just walking by the Student Exchange, anyone will notice the Bento Sushi station and its accompanying steam. Along with many other students, my dining dollars would quickly be put in jeopardy. Beyond with its more convenient location, Bento Sushi made itself even more accessible to the student body by taking its orders exclusively through Grubhub. These two factors have allowed Bento to thrive under this transition.
Before its relocation, many students had never experienced the fresh offerings of Bento Sushi. Sarah Lee ’25 spoke about how she liked the ease of the new location.
“I live off-campus, so whenever I have class, running in-between, it’s hard to grab food there, so I just grab it here, and it makes it easier since it’s at Sadler,” Lee said.
Veena Larsen ’25 similarly preferred the new location and compared its convenience to a Qdoba present on campus during her freshman year.
“Our freshman year we had Qdoba there and it was really nice just to have a place that you could just grab some food from later at night,” Larsen said.
She went on to compare the hours of the locations, expressing support for increasing the hours of operation for Bento, which is currently open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“Qdoba was up until midnight, so maybe they’ll end up extending the hours eventually.” Larsen said.
Larsen has had Bento both in Marketplace and at Sadler, with her usual order being a California spicy poke bowl or a salmon poke bowl. She saw no difference in the quality of food between the two locations.
Hannah Stocker ’28 noted that the relocation of Bento Sushi from Marketplace to Sadler was a very convenient change, and like Lee, she had never eaten it before the relocation. Since the move, she has visited Bento three to four times, her order changing with each visit. While she had trouble using Grubhub to order in the past, the issue got fixed pretty quickly. Overall, she expressed support for the relocation and Bento as a whole.
“The food quality is pretty high, and it is a nice alternative,” Stocker said. “It is in the same location as the dining hall, so if I’m going to be heading over here anyway, it’s a great place to be.”
Considering these reviews, the relocation of Bento Sushi from Marketplace to Sadler has allowed more students to enjoy its delicious offerings. The relocation came at a crucial time in the semester when students have long been stuck with their meal plans and repetitive dining hall options, and thus are more ready than ever for a change of pace. With finals on the horizon, Bento can be either a high-quality quick meal during peak studying or a celebratory treat after powering through exams.
Before, I was the only person in line to Bento when it was located in Marketplace. Now, I need to place my order on Grubhub ahead of time to avoid a fifteen-minute wait during peak hours. Though, no matter the wait, my salmon poke bowl never disappoints. While I never had to be stingy with dining dollars before, I will be counting mine down to the cent to save room for one last poke bowl before winter break.
As the College has become a home for me and countless others, Bento Sushi will hold a special place in our community, as it reminds us to slow down, enjoy the college experience and have a good meal while we’re at it.