Meal Plan Glow Down

Image Courtesy of pinterest.com

By Caroline Morris

Growing up, we all hear the college diet horror stories. Parents claim they survived off of Cup Noodles, TV shows and movies depict meatloaf that still moos, and siblings claim they didn’t drink a sip of water for four years.

Compared to those cautionary tales, Pryz dining is nothing to sniff at. But there are a lot of details about Catholic University meal plans that are just absolutely brutal.

As a junior with a full meal plan this semester, I’ve gotten to experience the two different food providers the university has employed. My first two years: Aramark. This year: Chartwells. After three months eating the new fare, I don’t know if Catholic U traded up.

Let’s start with the Lower Pryz. Under the new regime, students can use two swipes a day downstairs as long as their meal fits the Meal Deal requirements. This initially sounds like a huge improvement, until you realize that options downstairs are extremely limited and not particularly healthy.

Last year, the Lower Pryz offered Which Wich, Chick-Fil-A, Zoca, Fusion, Grillworks, soup, sushi, and a salad bar. And of course no one can forget the amazing chocolate chip cookies. Now, the options downstairs have been stripped to the studs. Only Which Wich, Chick-Fil-A, and the sushi remain. Grillworks, with its great variety of choices (including veggie burgers for those who do not eat meat), is replaced with Burger 202, open for a whopping one meal a day.

I truly mourn the demise of the Lower Pryz, since I can only eat an incorrect Which Wich order so many times. None of this is to mention that the Meal Deal options are quite unhealthy, as vegetables are a rarity with the side options being chips or dessert.

Moving upstairs, the situation is more touch and go. Dining Services now puts the menus up on the website, which is helpful in theory, but frustrating in practice as they are always “subject to change.” Change they do, or rather they just remain inaccurate.

In my opinion, the biggest change and letdown of the Eatery, aka the Student Restaurant or Upper Pryz, is the deli. Where students could once personalize their sandwiches, we are now subjected to just three choices a day. And when I tell you one of the choices was egg salad for a month straight, I am not kidding.

But the Upper Pryz has improved in a lot of ways from last year. The G8 station, intended to cater to those with food allergies and intolerances, is truly a gem. The hot options for the salads are usually good and it offers tons of mix-ins to make the box feel like a full and satisfying meal.

I will also say that the Grill offers special menu items during the week and these can be incredible. I have been thinking nonstop about the pulled pork sliders from a few weeks ago. 

But there is a big change from last year that’s caused some strife with students: how swipes can be used.

Back in the old days, freshmen and sophomores were required to get full meal plans which meant unlimited swipes. Now, the most comprehensive meal plan is 21 swipes a week, averaging three meals a day. This is a downgrade in a lot of ways, especially for upperclassmen who would borrow swipes from underclassmen.

The real kicker is this: a student cannot use more than three swipes in one day.

This is honestly a ridiculous rule. Sometimes, I have leftovers or want to eat breakfast in my room or get non-Pryz food as a treat, and that means I have extra swipes for the week. But if I ever spend less than three swipes a day, those swipes are basically gone for good, because I cannot swipe more than three times a day. This rule is stealing my food.

I am paying for my meal plan and I should be able to distribute my swipes however I please. If I have five swipes left on the last day of the week, I should be able to swipe five times or maybe lend a swipe to an off campus friend who needs food in a pinch. I have prepaid for this food at a somewhat exorbitant price and Dining Services is unjustly keeping me from being able to access it.

A piece about Pryz food would not be complete without a moment to pay tribute to Murphy’s Grill. The restaurant has been closed for the semester and it has been one of the biggest losses in terms of the meal plan. Every week I crave their quesadillas and a Shirley Temple.

The space for Murphy’s is still there, so I just hope that next year the restaurant will rise from the ashes and operate once again. If it does, it might just convince me to get some sort of meal plan as a senior.