Prelude to Fast-Food Battles

We all need food, yet there are times that we have to decide what to eat and where to eat. During my undergrad years especially when living on campus, there were times when such decision had to be made. On the main campus of the university, there are more than 25 fast-food chain outlets as well as different places one can go to eat.

I would say, that there are just two places to go to eat on campus namely in the Student Centre and in the York Lanes. Each one has several fast-food outlets to pick from. We were offered a wide array of choices and although different, they are almost the same. The comparable food items do not differ by much and so were the quality, along with the amount given but I have to admit that there were some exceptional cases. However in my second year, I mentioned something that changed my way of viewing the various campus fast-food outlets:

"The hardest challenge is to look for what is acceptable among all."

At first, it does not seem to make much sense, but then when you consider factors such as having to eat campus food countless times over the year when I was living on campus via their mandatory meal plan, you will surely get the point I am making. My rating system for food changed and there was no more a scale of appreciation but a scale of opinions about the food I was given.

Over the weeks to come, I will try the various fast-food outlets on campus and I can see that it will be a quite an expensive project. However it is something I always wanted to do since my second year of university but due to lack of motivation or time, I always cancelled it. Eating food from the various food places on the university campus; from fast food chains, to privately owned restaurants and to cafeteria places will now finally be a reality.

Unfortunately there will be some places that I will not have access. Some of them will be used for another project. One thing is certain, If all the places were still operational, there would be nearly 40 food places to eat on campus. Since my first year till today, I did eat at most of the places I will be reviewing.

It will be a massive hit to my monthly budget. Eating at all these places which are open this term, might require at least between $300 and $350 which is quite a hefty sum of money to spend just on campus food and that is why this project might take a long while to reach completion.

What makes it hard is that in addition to the grad lounge which is restricted to graduate students, there are three places which have closed down and will not be accessible but can I still make a review. Henceforth no picture would be posted.

Food Place	Inaccessible / Future Project
Blueberry Hill	Closed Down
Mangia Mangia	Closed Down
Taco Villa	Closed Down
Maclaughlin Cafetaria	Future project
Complex 1 Cafeteria	Future project
Complex 2 Cafeteria	Future project
Blumont Bistro	Future project
Freshii	Future project
La Prep	Future project
Underground	Future project
Orange Snail	Future project
Executive Dining	Future project

However despite all these challenges and that eating fast food is quite unhealthy, it is something that will bring self-satisfaction. I only hope that I will not have food-poisoning or be sick. As I mentioned earlier, the food they serve on campus are different yet similar in some ways and as this project goes on, one will see that the similarity will be more obvious. I would also like to mention that it is based on my point of view therefore it might differ from anyone else. Despite having mentioned my own rating system, I will use another scale and it will be based on 5 criteria: price, quality, atmosphere, service and revisit factor using star and dollar system with ★ meaning a filled star, ☆ as empty and the "$" represents the amount paid for the food. 1 "$" is capped at 6, and each additional "$" is at $2 increments. 

So let the food battles begin!