The first week of school, I thought that nothing could beat the new West Union. I mean, it has fancy crepes, a pasta bar and sushi! What else could a girl ask for? But as time passed and the hype surrounding the new eatery started to fade, I noticed the stark absence of food trucks at the bus loop. I also had a nightmarish moment in which I tried to order Sushi Love from Perkins, but couldn’t because it was before 8. It made me start to wonder whether all of the new dining options are worth our now severely restricted access to what used to be campus staples.
Don’t get me wrong, West Union is obviously both beautiful and a source of variety for campus, but most of the vendors at West Union provide similar to lower quality options to the MoP options—which I don’t actually have to leave my dorm to get. The food from Tandor, for example, is great, but is also pretty much only a more limited selection of food that students could already get from Dale’s. And The Cafe has great crepes, but so does Parlez-Vous—the food truck that is now stationed behind Kilgo or on Swift—where it is much less conveniently located. A lot of West Union vendors follow the same pattern: sushi (Sushi Love), Ginger and Soy (Dragon Gate), Il Forno (Enzo’s), The Skillet (Humble Pig). When putting them side-by-side, it’s pretty clear why Duke scaled back the Merchants-on-Points hours and relocated the food trucks. Dining doesn’t want so much direct competition within itself. However, that raises the question of why more of an effort wasn’t made to add variety and actually new options to campus. Flavors such as Latin American food, the much-loved sub station previously located in Penn Pavillon, or foods with a British/Irish flare could be choices. All of these options could have actively worked to expand the network of foods on campus, instead of merely replacing what was already available.
So is West Union worth it? That answer depends on how Duke Dining chooses to respond to the outcry of students demanding their favorite MoP’s hours to be returned to normal—and if the food trucks are given a fair shake.