Formerly "The Commons and Other A&M Food Options"
This "Special Collection" features food options on campus. There are links to four outbound articles, all of which you should look at.
Sbisa
Originally written at this article, I originally included Sbisa on here, but in later revisions, I moved it out.
The Original Mess Hall
Found here.
The Commons
The Commons is now found here.
The MSC
Covered in MSC Old and New.
The Rest
- The University Club, which we won't cover today—it's the only places in campus where I didn't eat in spring 2012.
- The Golf Course Snack Bar—which closed circa 2004 and had hamburgers and grilled cheese. It was later functionally replaced with the Grill at the Pavilion, which took on a new name (from Pavilion Snack Bar) at about the time it closed. It got a menu update when the MSC closed, as well.
- The Ag Café was built circa 1991 and had Tomato Bar Express, Chick-fil-A, and Which Wich at the start of Spring 2012. Which Wich replaced a self-branded sandwich counter, and apparently the Ag Café was more of a cafeteria-type outlet at first until the mid-2000s, when Chick-fil-A was added, and the sandwich counter was renamed West Side Deli. Tomato Bar Express came later. Not much is known beyond that. (from MyBCS) In August 2012, it got some updates, including a repaint (from faded maroon to that pale green color I've seen around) and some removal of the florescent lights which gave it the "1980s food court" look. Tomato Bar Express was changed into 2-Mato and now has pizza slices instead personal pan pizzas.
- Pi R Square is in the CE/TTI basement. Until August 2012, it had the only known Olla Roja left, a disgusting Asian place called Lucky 8, a kiosk with Freschetta pizza, and Pickles Deli. No information is known beyond that. In August 2012, however, Olla Roja was replaced with a new concept (Chick-n-Grill), Lucky 8 was renamed as Wiki Wok, and like the Underground, Pickles became Mondo Subs.
- ChopStix may have opened in the mid-2000s. I'm not too sure. In August 2012, it became Feisty's and serves hot dogs instead of the mediocre but somewhat pricey for what you got rice bowls, which were never any good (hint: the microwavable stuff you can find the frozen foods section that look like rice boxes were about on par in terms of quality)
- The "Bus Stop Snack Bar" near Reed-McDonald had sandwiches and drinks. It closed circa 2006.
- Critical Care Café in the Veterinary Building used to offer food until the afternoon, but it does no longer serve food at all.
- At some point in the early to mid 2000s, "Zachry Snackry" closed down.
- Back when Cain Hall housed athletes, there was a buffet with gourmet food (at least, better than Sbisa and Duncan had to offer). Unfortunately, you had to be an athlete to eat there. (from Epinions)
A&M also used to have a full distribution center for its dining center, which it quit doing in the mid-2000s. The Fred Dollar Commissary was the place, complete with a functioning railroad spur. Since A&M no longer does the full distribution center, the Commissary is currently used for other purposes (like bike storage), although the railroad spur is still connected (the only connected spur in College Station in the city limits, in fact).
One of the things that was great was the Maroon Plate Specials, the "meal" plan: if you weren't eating a full meal at one of the Dining Centers, you could use a MPS as a meal, which included (usually) a drink, a side, and an entree, perhaps a fruit as well. Unfortunately, it began shrinking as of 2009, until it was announced they would be eliminated, with no meals in fall 2012, which means that it wasn't Compass Group's fault after all (at least for the loss of MPS). Another change that happened in fall 2012 was due to a mix-up in convenience store ownership...I heard from someone that Rattler's apparently won the contract to operate the convenience stores but was no longer affiliated with the University...so the convenience stores no longer accept Dining Dollars (the Rosenthal Meat Center store never did, by the way). I had heard that the convenience stores had Maroon Plate Specials at one time, though.
You can get more information on whatever food A&M is currently hawking at Dining.Tamu.edu. For everything else, please write it in the comments or check out the source thread at MyBCS.com.
I'd like to get more pictures too...you can wait for me to slowly collect them or you can be kind and send them to me!
