Even though Leo O. Donovan’s on the waterfront has been renovated, actually accessing acceptable food at Georgetown University is still a struggle.
Starting with upstairs Leo’s:
Five Spice: Probably the best food location in all of Leo’s. It rotates through five countries, with each country’s cuisine taking the spotlight for the duration of a week.
Recommendations: The rice bowls of Korea are pretty good, as is the sesame chicken offered when it’s China’s week. The ramen bar of Japan is also acceptable, but warning: sometimes it takes FOREVER for your order to be ready.
Tip: Also, if you don’t feel spending money on sushi at Hoya Snaxa or at the sushi bar of Epi, Five Spice also sometimes offers sushi as a Meal Exchange as well. The sushi is admittedly mediocre, but the tradeoff of quality vs. finances is up to you.
Olive Branch: Focuses on Italian cuisine, with a selection of pasta, lasagna, and pizza.
Recommendation: The pizza is pretty good, but be warned: it usually takes 20 minutes to actually get your order. I have no idea how anything else at Olive Branch tastes, but I’ve heard the vegetarian lasagna is terrible.
Sazon: Also okay. Offers Latin-American cuisine and chips.
Recommendation: The pork empanadas are amazing, and if you get guac with chips, get extra spicy because the “spicy” guacamole lacks flavor of any kind.
Launch: Can’t really be classified; Launch ranges from (what I’ve seen so far) seafood to Indian cuisine to a noodle bar to Korean-Spanish fusion cuisine. The Korean-Spanish fusion portions are REALLY small, so treat this as more a of a snack than a meal.
Recommendation: The noodle bar is really good (Buffalo Chicken noodles in particular), the Indian and Korean-Spanish cuisine are not as good but okay.
Bodega: If you don’t have time for any of the above locations, you can also order food at the Bodega, where you can purchase a “fresh” sandwich or salad for a Meal Exchange.
Whisk: The bakery shop of Leo’s, where you can use a Meal Exchange for a pastry or muffin with a coffee and “fresh” fruit.
Recommendation: Not a super popular item for some reason, but the fruit tarts are actually really good. The fruit tarts are basically fresh fruit embedded in custard, so you can trick yourself into thinking you’re eating healthy fruit with this dessert.
One thing to keep in mind for upstairs Leo’s – make sure you know what counts as a Meal Exchange. There are lots of other confusing items on the menus that are not included within a Meal Exchange and require Real Money. Also, the upstairs Leo’s food locations are open at some kind of arbitrary hours on the weekends, so familiarize yourself with the hours before you seek food.
Downstairs Leo’s: If you want to actually eat your fill, feel free to hop downstairs and use a Meal Swipe. The food is worse, but you can get as much food as you want.
Recommendation: The chicken tenders are delicious. The banana/bread/??? pudding in the dessert section is also a personal favorite.
Tip: If you go at the wrong times, downstairs Leo’s will run out of places to sit. Also, lines for the Saute, Grill, and Produce Market sections can become extremely long. If you don’t want to wait in line at the Produce Market (the salad bar) but you absolutely need salad, there are spinach leaves at the sandwich bar which I guess you can sprinkle some dressing on. Also, beware the soda machines. If you choose ginger ale at a certain soda machine in front of the Allergen section, the button will get stuck and you will be caught in a never-ending tide of ginger ale.
In essence, it may look like a new Leo’s, but some things just don’t change. Enjoy!