Listen HereBy: Alexis Mitchell
Twitter: @alexismitch14
Email: mitchella2@findlay.edu
The new Center for Student Life and College of Business building has been opened for a while now and with it has come new options for students at the University of Findlay. These include a new bookstore, study space, and, of course, new food options.
Before the addition, the food options on campus were limited, since Jazzman’s and the Cave were the only other options besides Henderson Dining Hall. Now, students can choose between Tres Habaneros, similar to chipotle, SubConnection, similar to subway, Lo Mein, a panda express inspired restaurant (also has sushi), the Grill, which serves food the Cave used to, and Jazzman’s, the coffee shop and bakery.
Not only did I ask students what they thought of the new dining options, but I also went to try them out myself. This past week I tried food from every restaurant in the Refinery and this is what I came up with:
First up is Lo Mein. Panda Express has always been one of my favorite restaurants so I’ve been excited to try this out and compare it. I ordered the kung pow chicken with noodles and vegetables. It was delicious! My only complaint is that the chicken could have been warmer. Is it comparable to Panda Express? To an extent yes, because of the same type of flavors of chicken you can order, the veggies, and how the food is served.
Next is SubConnection. I ate here twice and ordered the same exact sandwich, crispy barbeque chicken. This dining option much resembles Subway. You tell the workers what bread you want, then what meat, cheese, if you want it toasted, then you add what veggies and sauce you want. The first time, I ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich it was very good. The sandwich was toasted perfectly and was made well overall. However, the second time it was not as good. The chicken tasted funny and afterwards my stomach was upset for hours. Not that SubConnection is a bad place to eat, I just think it depends on the day and how long food has been sitting out; a regular Subway restaurant is the same way. It wasn’t a huge hit, but, not a miss for me either.
Then I ordered from Tres Habaneros. I am not a huge Chipotle fan to begin with so this dining option didn’t strike my attention at first, but I still wanted to give it a try. I ordered a taco salad with black beans instead of meat, lettuce, veggies, and the ranch sauce. Overall, it was a very good salad. The portion size was the only thing that was not to my liking. College kids are busy and don’t have a lot of time to eat, so decent portion sizes are important. Also, if you do decide to order the taco salad know that there is no to-go box, so plan on eating it there.
Lastly, I tried the Grill. Even though it serves the same type of food as the Cave, I wanted to see if there was any difference. When the Cave was open, which seems like so long ago, it was a hit with UF students because of the quick, fried food. The Grill is a hit for the same exact reason. The fries take a while, but, besides that, what you see is what you get. Good, quick, fried food that you can easily take to class if you are short on time. Who doesn’t love chicken strips and french fries?
I wanted to find out what students thought about the dining options as well, so I went and asked people that were eating food from the Refinery.
One student I talked to, Farrah Connolly, a junior studying occupational therapy, is excited about all the new food options in the Refinery.
“I really like it”, said Connolly, “It’s a lot more options. I think before options were kind of limited. Everyone’s super friendly when you go get food and I just really like it”.
One thing Connolly points out, that I agree with, is the service. No matter how long the line is, the workers at every restaurant are very friendly and have a smile on their face. They can make your day while you’re grabbing lunch.
The Refinery is a positive addition to campus because now students have way more options than before all in one convenient setting. I think having all these options on campus not only makes the students and faculty happy, but it also adds to UF’s campus. I would recommend any of the restaurants to grab a bite to eat.
