The Mycenaean

The Raleigh area has many places to go out to eat. As a rising junior, I need to get ideas of good places to eat around Leesville’s campus. 

Ryan Huffman, senior, cannot decide on just one place to eat. He said, “Chick-fil-a, Bojangles, and if you’re gonna skip for a little bit, get some hibachi.” 

Taft Brock, senior, says that Chick-fil-a is the best place to be. Like Huffman, Brock sees the time constraints but chooses not to skip even with the limited time to eat.

Brock said, “If you go somewhere like Chick-fil-a, it’s kinda far. You only have probably ten minutes to actually sit there and eat.”

If I wouldn’t be grounded for a lifetime for skipping school, I definitely would go get some hibachi, but because I want to have a senior prom, Chick-fil-a seems like the winner so far. 

When asked if going out to eat every day is financially responsible decision Brock said, “Definitely not. I spend all my money on food.”  

For a sophomore without a job, this would definitely not be the best choice for me.

Grace Stauffenker, junior, chose to go to a more financially responsible establishment — her house. 

Stauffneker said that going home  is not only the cheaper option, but it also gives her more time to relax and not worry about getting back to class on time. 

Stauffneker said, “If I go home, I have like 15 or 20 minutes [to eat], because I live really close, but if you actually go somewhere you have maybe five.” 

Home is starting to sound like a really good option. I can relax on my couch, see my dog, and I’ll have access to my entire pantry of free (to me) food. 

Stauffneker also threw the idea of Tropical Smoothie into the ring. This would be a fan favorite, but my bank account might take a few devastating punches along the way. 

Some people will go to local grocery stores to get pre packaged meals, which are quick, simple, and relatively cheap options. 

After interviewing all of these people who were going off campus, I started to wonder why they don’t just stay back on campus. I thought maybe they didn’t want to sit with all the immature underclassmen, or the cafeteria was just too loud. 

Jules Gibson, junior, has an opinion on why people race out to lunch every day. She said, “It’s like you get a break away from school. You get time to refresh.”

It does sound great to not spend all eight hours of your day in school and being able to leave for a short, but refreshing, break.

Gibson also agrees Chick-fil-a and Tropical Smoothie are the two best. 

Now that I have some students’ opinions, I will look at this logically. I have looked at the top choices for eating that the students gave: Bojangles, Chick-fil-a, Tropical Smoothie, and home.

Starting off with Chick-fil-a. If you go to the one on Glenwood it is a 10 minute drive. Starting with 35 minutes for lunch, that would leave 15 minutes after driving there and back. I would give five minutes for traffic, so that’s 10 minutes to eat.

The average cost of a meal at Chick-fil-a is around $15. 

I was kind of surprised that the cost is so much, so I definitely wouldn’t go there every day, but once or twice a week would be fine.

Next up is Bojangles, which is seven minutes away, also on Glenwood. Seven there plus seven back and five for traffic leaves 16 to eat. 

The cost of a meal at Bojangles is anywhere between $6-10, which is much better than Chick-fil-a. 

I have to say Bojangles is much more convenient than Chick-fil-a, but in my opinion, Chick-fil-a has the better food.

Tropical Smoothie, in Brennan Station, is another popular one. With nine minutes there and back plus the five for traffic which leaves 12 minutes to eat.

The average cost is $15 for food with a smoothie. You can split up the cost and do around $8 for a smoothie and $5 for a sandwich. 

Lastly, there are lots of students who go home for lunch. For this example, I will use my house. I live about 10 minutes away, So, 10 there and back with five for traffic would leave me about 10 minutes to eat.

The average cost of a meal at my house is $0 which makes my house take a major leap towards the top of the ranking.

From all of my research, I have decided that going back to your house would be the best option if you live close enough to school. 

If you really want to go out to eat, Bojangles would be the smartest choice both time wise and financially. However I personally don’t like Bojangles so I would always lean towards Chick-fil-a.

There are many more options for eating off campus, but these are the few most popular that I have heard of from asking around.