To kick off the new school year, SCDS added new restaurants to the hot lunch menu and increased lunch prices.
New lunch options include Sourdough & Co., The Old Spaghetti Factory, Round Table Pizza and Mountain Mike’s Pizza.
In the past, the menu included meals from Boudin Bakery, Noodles & Company, Noah’s Bagels, Domino’s Pizza and Chilli’s.
“I decided to go with different vendors because I wanted higher quality food,” said Lunch Program Director Jennifer Adams. “Some of the vendors’ quality of food had really gone downhill.”
Adams replaced the Noodles and Company lunches on Tuesday with meals from The Old Spaghetti Factory, which provides a variety of pasta, including ravioli, mizithra cheese spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, spaghetti with marinara sauce and mac & cheese. The meals are served with a bread roll and a small salad.
Junior Imani Cochran said that she prefers The Old Spaghetti Factory lunches because “the containers are better, the salad isn’t soggy and the food comes in warmer.”
A student complaint last year was that the Noodles & Company portions were very small and often left students hungry. Freshman Annabelle Do is enjoying The Old Spaghetti Factory’s options and looking forward to upcoming Tuesdays.
Students also enjoy the new lunch offerings from Round Table Pizza. Previously, Country Day catered pizzas from Domino’s and Pizza Hut. Freshman Annabelle Do described this year’s pizzas as much warmer and tastier than last year.
“The pizzas, in my experience, weren’t always cut all the way. So I always had to end up ripping the pizza slices.” Do said. In a more critical opinion, Senior Jackson Fox said: “I would say that Domino’s isn’t pizza. It’s like the worst thing ever created.” But it’s easy to say that the new pizzas have a much more positive reaction. “Most of the time it’s cut better. It’s still not cut great, and I think that’s an issue. But it just tastes better. It’s better pizza and a better brand.” said Fox.
This year’s lunches look like they are having a good start, but what should improve? Fox said “I never want Chili’s on Fridays because it’s just gross. And I think we should move pizza to Fridays because it makes more sense.”
Another change with the lunches this year is the price. Last year, prices sat at $8.10 a meal for the entire school. This year, prices have increased and now vary for different grade levels.
High school and middle school lunch prices are $9.30, and lower school lunches are $9.10.
Prices vary because lower school students are offered smaller sizes, Adams said.
For example, lower school students receive four slices of a kid’s pizza on Thursdays, while middle and high school students receive full personal pizzas.
As a private school, lunches are not provided along with the price of tuition.
“I think for the fact that it’s a private school, and you spend so much on tuition, I think there are these little things that we should get,” Fox said. I don’t think they need to increase the price. I’m not mad at it, but I don’t think they need to.”
On the other hand, Do said “I think it’s reasonable because the cost of everything else has gone up and the food has been better. ”
Overall, the new lunches have had a substantial positive response from the students. And besides the small critiques, it’s safe to say that the lunches this year are an improvement from previous years.
— By Zema Nasirov
To read a review of some of the new offerings, click here.
