When the Brody Square Cafeteria opened in fall of 2010 as the largest non-military cafeteria in the United States, the rave reviews caused Michigan State to reconsider their cafeteria standards everywhere on campus. Brody Square featured stations like Pangea for stir fry, Cayenne’s for Mexican fair and Veg Out for vegetarian options. However, the new South Pointe Cafeteria, located in Case Hall, takes a leaf out of Brody’s book and adds in some of its own original flavor. Despite being open since the beginning of the spring semester, South Pointe’s Grand Opening occurred on February 23rd, giving patrons and students alike a chance to discover the quality and variety of food this café has to offer.
There are five diverse stations that South Pointe presents. Serving main course options is Great Lakes Plate, which offers only food provided from the Great Lakes area. This station truly has everything. For breakfast, they serve made to order omelets as well as breakfast sandwiches and waffles. Lunch and dinner, however, are always an adventure. There has been everything from a macaroni and cheese bar to oven-roasted salmon to duck and sausage gumbo. Great Lakes Plate is sure to always keep us on our toes. This isn’t even the best part, though, according to sophomore Brian Anderson. “The food is fresh,” he stated, “a lot more fresh than other café’s in the neighborhood.”
Another station is S2, where fresh salads and hand rolled sushi are prepared. Although similar to the S2 at Brody’s café, South Pointe has a different made-to-order salad every day, along with a salad bar, giving students another healthy option. Furthermore, students like Kyle Wright are happy about the sushi, because it’s something that many in South Neighborhood have had to travel far and wide for in the past. “I usually get sushi,” he said, “so I like that it’s here.” The dishes vary every day, but you can expect familiar sushi like California rolls and unfamiliar salads, like the spicy chicken salad or steak and bleu cheese salad. Undoubtedly the healthiest option, S2 keeps the tongue on its toes while keeping the food lively and fresh.
In the very back of the cafeteria is Brimstone. Like Brody and The Gallery, Brimstone offers cooked to order burgers, chicken sandwiches and fries each day. In the morning they also serve scrambled eggs and various other breakfast foods. Brimstone is one of the reliable stations in South Pointe; it is always open and always has something good to eat. This station also offers vegetarian options from time to time, serving black bean burgers as well as vegetarian mini-burgers. With everything it has, this station can help satisfy that fast food craving at any hours of the night without going through the drive through window.
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Another station is Ciao! which serves only the best pizza and made-to-order sandwiches. Many students are raving about the quality of the ingredients served at the improved sandwich line. “They have a new house bread that they don’t offer in any other café,” said sophomore Jillian Draheim, “It’s like pizza bread, but not. It has onions and tomatoes on it, it’s really good.” Other students enjoy the new variety of ingredients that this sandwich line now has. “The meats and cheeses are better,” said sophomore Alex Flach, “they have gouda and fresh mozzarella.” The pizza is also a nice staple. Every day there is cheese and pepperoni as well as a different kind anywhere from buffalo chicken to taco pizza. Ciao! is one place in the café where everything is guaranteed to be delicious.
The final station in South Pointe is Bliss, the area where desserts are baked, frosted, and hand crafted to perfection. Everyday Bliss has cakes and brownies ready for the taking as well as self serve cookies and soft serve ice cream. The real delights of Bliss, though, are the crepes. Each day there is a different variety of crepe being made. Strawberry crème cheese, s’more, banana and nutella—you name it and they have it. Crepes are also a much lighter dessert option than the usual pie or ice cream, so we can be a little less guilty every time we get in line. Freshman Leah Wainwright recommended, “Go before 2 or after 4 so you can get a crepe. The crepes are awesome.”
Despite all of the good thing being said about South Pointe, there are some questions about the design. Alex Flach has problems with the area where fruit, cereal and coffee are served. “It so clustered, there’s so many people trying to get the same thing and there’s no room.” Also, tray placement is an issue. “When you’re waiting in the sandwich line,” Brian Anderson said, “or any other line, if you put your tray on the ledge it will fall off.” Many other students recommend going around the rush. Going to South Pointe at noon for lunch or six for dinner will cause nothing but seating troubles and crowds. But seeing past these few kinks, the food, decorations, and atmosphere make up for whatever the cafeteria lacks in layout. “It’s a lot more vibrant and cool to be in,” said Jillian Draheim, who is most likely voicing the thoughts of many students who eat here. As its first semester in action marches on, South Pointe Cafeteria is quickly becoming the best place to grab some fantastic food in South Neighborhood.