Lower/middle school students are given the option to bring food or eat the cafeteria food, while high school students must bring their own lunch or go out to eat. Gloria Castillo was recently hired as the new head chef and manages the cafeteria at the lower/middle school, so we decided to try out the new food. For one week, we went to the cafeteria and tried the food they serve to faculty members and students.
The cafeteria offers four main options for food: the main meal, a vegan/vegetarian option, a salad/yogurt bar and other sides. We decided to choose our favorite meal from each category.
Main Meal: The main meals we tried were chicken tenders, pasta and sweet chicken. The sweet chicken was by far our favorite even though we are not normally huge fans of the meal at restaurants. Its flavor surprised us. The sweetness of the chicken struck a perfect balance with the tanginess of the sauce. The chicken was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was not overpowering.
Vegan/Vegetarian option: We tried vegan chicken tenders and plant-based chorizo and rice. The chorizo was definitely our favorite. The meal was phenomenal. Initially, we were nervous to try it because vegan substitutes are generally not as good as real meat. Surprisingly, however, the sauce was perfectly coupled with the rice. We had green beans on the side, which were warm and delicious. Overall, this meal was one of our favorites despite it being both vegetarian and vegan.
Salad, Soup and Yogurt Bar: This station is in a build-your-own style and remains the same each day. We tried the salad, soup and yogurt options and were impressed by the large selection. There were several types of greens, along with many toppings and dressings, all of which were very flavorful. The soup bar also had a variety of options like broccoli cheddar soup, tomato soup and chicken noodle soup; one of our favorites was the broccoli cheddar soup. After our first time trying it, we got a bowl every day because it tasted so good. It was perfectly salted, and the cheese complemented the other flavors very well. The yogurt bar had many unique flavors like berry and fig yogurt. It also featured multiple toppings such as cantaloupe, honeydew and granola. The food at this station had a variety of tastes and textures.
Additional sides: Each day, there were sides served with the main meal. Some of the vegetables were salty, but they complimented the food very well. One of our favorite sides was a black bean salad. The saltiness of the salad went perfectly with the sweet chicken meal. The black bean salad also had seasoned potato wedges, which were a warm addition. The cafeteria served turkey pesto sandwiches and sun butter jelly sandwiches. They were slightly bland, but we thought they were good alternatives for people with allergies or for those who might not like the other meal options.
Drinks: Each day, there was lemonade and a different infused water. Some that we tried were basil water, cucumber water and hibiscus-infused water. Of the various drinks we tried, we especially enjoyed the lemonade. We were very pleased to see that there was a lemonade option every day.
Service: The people who worked in the cafeteria and at the lower/middle school could not have been more helpful. Gloria Castillo helps manage the kitchen in the cafeteria and helped create the wonderful dishes we tried. Lower/middle school office manager Kelly Morris gave us access to try the cafeteria food, even though high schoolers are not normally allowed to eat in the cafeteria. Additionally, people who worked in the cafeteria helped us find the food we wanted to try.
Something that stuck out to us was the appeal of the cafeteria to all palates. At every meal, there was a plethora of textures and flavors served. We saw teachers with more developed tastes happily eating the same food as younger students who are generally pickier.
With so much homework, it is difficult to find the time to prepare a warm, tasty meal for lunch at school. It is also hard to go out to lunch when we generally have meetings during that time. We encourage the GDS administration to allow high schoolers to get lunch from the cafeteria because the food is very accessible and delicious.