Students spent a pleasant, relaxing summer away only to be backstabbed on their return — Russell House food was changed. Gone are Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and that quality Asian restaurant that no one knew the name of. Instead, frauds filled in their places and hid their food downgrades behind the niceties of a fancier looking food hall.
First, the biggest heartbreak of them all — Taco Bell is gone from Russell House. No longer can students use a meal swipe to get two Quesaritos and a drink. Now they are forced to get unsatisfying, overpriced tacos. Taco Bell may not be the highest quality of food, but man, it tasted so good. It was an establishment in Russell and no fancy food hall will ever be enough. By removing it they removed the heart from Russell House and that cannot be forgiven.
Second, Pei Wei is a disgrace compared to the old Asian restaurant. The previous place provided you with so much more food and that was much better tasting. What monster can seriously taste test Pei Wei and think the change was the right move. No amount of yum yum sauce can make up for it.
Additionally, the old restaurant gave students a large amount of rice (don’t get me started on Pei Wei’s rubber rice) or noodles (I will admit, Pei Wei’s lo mein isn’t too bad) to pair with multiple scoops of delicious chicken. Additionally, the access to other sides that often wouldn’t be charged improved how much bang students got for their buck. Now that’s just beautiful.
Lastly, the nerve it takes to cover up these downgrades by making the hall look nicer is heartbreaking. Sure, it no longer looks like a high school cafeteria, but if you’re upgrading aesthetics then at least upgrade the food with it. My stomach churns when I’m forced to eat poor food in such a pretty hall.
Despite all of these downgrades, there is one commendable part of this crazy Russell House change. Panera Bread is a bomb restaurant and will dominate the student union, so cheers on that.
Hopefully the contracts with these new restaurants are only for the year and next year they can be fixed. It’s plain disgraceful to see the school you love fall from grace like this. How can I brag to other schools about our food options if my Gamecock overlords betray me like this? Shame Russell, shame.