When school starts, priorities change. You no longer have browsing eBay and reading magazines at the top of your to-do list, but instead switch it to homework, class and more work. Finding a quick meal that isn’t too expensive becomes a daunting task.
Although the food carts close to campus will probably not be as good as mom’s home cooking, they still beat a bag of Fritos and a Gatorade for lunch any day. With a wide variety of worldly foods to choose from, you are bound to find something that will keep your attention. Most of the food carts offer large portions of food for a low price (on average $5), and are usually open in the afternoon for lunch.
Location: Fourth and Harrison
Five out of five stars. I ate a chicken burrito and it was delicious (not to mention enormous). This was one of the best burritos I have had in my life, and it was only $4. They have a large menu to choose from, with five different tacos, 13 burritos and eight combination plates. I would recommend this stand first, although I am a little biased because I am a big burrito lover.
Location: Fourth and Montgomery
Four out of five stars. The food here is good, you just need to be one who can handle spicy curry. Indian spicy and American spicy are two different things, and although the man who took my order assured me the dish I was ordering was not spicy, it still had my nose running. They also have a large menu to choose from, although it was hard to be sure what everything was. They have an original drink list that includes a mango shake. I am assuming the Mango Lassie is excellent because the girl in front of me got the last one. I suggest you try one just to find out.
Location: Next to the library
Five out of five stars. This stand also offers burritos, and I would say they are equally as tasty as Taqueria Villanueva’s. They have a much smaller selection, with either a vegetarian or chicken burrito in a flour or wheat tortilla, and in a small or large size. They do have sauces to add, and from personal experience, I highly recommend the sweet chili sauce. Again, the sizes here are on a larger scale, so a small burrito is actually big enough to fill you all afternoon.
Location: 10th and Montgomery, next to Science Building 2
Four out of five stars. This is a Vietnamese stand, with most choices including curry. There is curry and chicken, curry and tofu, salad rolls, teriyaki chicken over rice, and if you order a large size you get a side salad. It only costs $3.75 for most of the small orders. Unless you plan on having the same thing for lunch and dinner, just go with a small.
Location: On Harrison, next to Neuberger Hall
I wasn’t able to eat here because they are only open during the school year, but from what I’ve heard from others, they have one of the best food carts on campus. They have a large menu, including chicken, lamb, hummus, feta cheese, spinach pie, falafel, baba ghanouj, and kafta. All plates come with basmati rice, hummus, or pocket bread, and they even have baklavah for dessert (everyone must try this at least once in their life). To make ordering easy, they have helpful descriptions of what each item is.