After all the great efforts made to repair the damage in the cafeteria after the flood, we are starting the year with full cafeteria services at CHS! What do students think of the food in the new cafeteria? Is it worth their money or should they just bring lunch from home? Do they miss the food trucks from last year when the cafeteria wasn’t fully operating? Let’s take a look.

Last year when hope arose that the cafeteria would go back to what it used to be prior to the flood this upcoming school year, I (a senior at CHS) sent out a survey to the high school students asking what food they would like to see. Out of 49 responses, 41 students, as well as every person I interviewed, agreed the cafeteria can’t be what it used to be

without the iconic cookie stand. Being the clear fan favorite, the cookies were brought back. Physics teacher Mr. Z, who absolutely loved the food trucks last year, especially the chicken teriyaki from Rolling Yatai, views the chocolate chip cookies as the “star” of the cafeteria. Beyond their taste, the cookies represent nostalgia to CHS students. When Tiko Tvauri walked into the cafeteria for the first time her senior year, she was delighted to see the cookies she ate daily for lunch in middle school be served again. While they tasted just as good as she remembered, she was disappointed that the price of a cookie was raised from fifty cents to a dollar. Even with the new price, the line for the legendary cookies is never ending.

Similar to the cookies, the chicken fingers are another returning fan favorite, but the pricing seems unreasonable to students. The savory and tender chicken fingers “nailed the old taste” that the students missed. After tasting the chicken fingers at the cafeteria, senior Sina Aghily stopped missing the food trucks. Again, the only concern students had was the pricing of $5 for three chicken fingers. $5 seems like a high price, as three pieces of chicken are not a full meal. At McDonald’s you can get 10 chicken nuggets for $4.59!

Beyond bringing back the cookies and chicken fingers, students noticed (and appreciated) the cafeteria offers more diverse food options than ever. You can find all sorts of foods from vegetables, fruits, pasta, sandwiches, french fries, various side dishes, and packaged snacks, making it a lot easier for each student to find something they love eating. In regards to the packaged snacks, senior Savannah Cummins said, “the only availability is the healthy versions of snacks which aren’t as tasty.” It is true that the cafeteria serves “healthier” versions of snacks, but that is out of their control. When I observed a student council meeting about the cafeteria, Mr. Ryan, the head of our cafeteria, explained that there are certain laws that prohibit cafeterias from serving food with certain amounts of ingredients like sugar in an attempt to protect the health of students. 

Overall, from my interviews and seeing the long lines of the cafeteria, it appears that CHS students prefer the cafeteria food over the food arrangements from last year. The food trucks had some very lovable and fun food options like boba tea, but the diversity and quality of food in our cafeteria is elite. While the students are happy and grateful that their favorite foods made a comeback and many more are available, the relatively high prices cause many of them to alternate between bringing lunch from home and the cafeteria food.