In-person classes are back in session and so is the return of on-campus meals.
Metz Food Culinary has been preparing hot meals everyday since the students returned to campus last month. Students who enroll in FAMU’s meal plan are opted for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day from the buffet, or pizza from Pizza Express. Those were the two businesses open as school got underway.
The renovated upstairs and downstairs cafeteria are scheduled to reopen on Friday.
These restaurants include Wing Stop, Tropical Smoothie, Pizza Express and The Chopping Block (downstairs), and the buffet, alongside another pizzeria and other restaurants will be open in the upstairs area of the cafeteria.
Students who have been dining in the cafeteria shared their opinions on the buffet’s meals to date.
First-year political science student Jadasia Wells said the meal plan is pricey.
“We get three meals a day and two on weekends,” Wells said. “So it seems like the right amount of food for me, but because of the meal plan price, the math isn’t mathing.”
Students pay between $800 and $2,000 for their meal plan, depending on how many flex points they have. They can have a maximum of three swipes during the week and two swipes on weekends.
First-year business administration student Don Skipper, explained the difference between the different prices of the meal plan, and the options students can get.
“You’re not limited as much when you have the most expensive meal plan,” Skipper said. “You get more flex points so you get more opportunities outside the caf.”
FAMU’s cafeteria offers most of the items on the government’s food pyramid. Students get a variety from fats to meat and fish to fruit and vegetables.
Senior health science major Aisha Peguero, has been at FAMU throughout her four years, and she believes the quality and variety have improved during that time.
“The food has gotten so much better,” Peguero said. “The food used to be bland, but now I can say that it has more seasoning which is good for an HBCU.”
Senior public relations major Jeffrey Dean likes how convenient the cafeteria is.
“There’s a good variety of food every day. But I do wish it was cooked with a little more love though,” Dean said.
With the pending opening of the upstairs and downstairs restaurants, students will have more options for what they may be craving while on campus.