There are few students who don’t, as Asher Roth’s anthem sings, love college. There’s only been one piece of the college experience that leaves students hungry for home all year: the subpar cafeteria food. The newly opened diner, 251 North, is slowly chipping away at that last bit of homesickness by serving up gourmet, buffet style food.
251 North, located in the Denton community, opened this year with five separate stations of gourmet food: Italian, a salad bar, grill style, sandwiches and Asian inspired noodles. It even has a Cold Stone-esque ice cream parlor called Cool Beans in the lobby that boasts tasty flavors such as cake batter and charges Terp bucks.
“Yesterday we fed 1,316 people, so I think everyone likes it,” said Jaqlyne Mba-Jonas, a sophomore computer science major and employee of 251 North. “I mean we have actual chefs here. All of this for just $18.”
Although the food certainly trumps that of the other two diners, there are several catches to eating at 251 North, the $18 price being one of them.
“For a buffet this is normal cost,” sophomore history major and cashier at the new diner Jennifer Brady said. “It’s gourmet food, and most students don’t know that it goes on their dining points.”
There has been much confusion concerning how many times a student can eat at 251North. The answer is that any student can eat there however many times they please, but depending on where you live you get a certain amount of free meals.
If you live on North Campus you get 16 free meals (one free meal per week) per semester, while South Campus residents only get four free meals (only once a week on the weeks of their choosing), for the entire semester. Otherwise, any student can go whenever they want, but they must pay full price once they run out of free meals. However, the high price of the meals is not the only deterrent to eating at 251 North.
“This diner is definitely so much better,” senior biology and psychology double major Lauriane Stewart said. “But I don’t know if you get your money’s worth when it’s this packed.”
The diner is often extremely full since it is only open from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM during the school week. These short hours lead to long lines of students outside of the diner waiting to get in and then having to hunt for open seats after finally receiving their food.
“I wish they were open for lunch because that would help with the number of lines,” Stewart said.
Regardless of the higher price and the short hours, students are continuing to flock to 251 North for the excellent food it serves.
“The salad is fresher, the meat is more tender and the menu changes every week,” said Brady. “In my opinion as a student and worker, this food is better.”