<p>If one dorms at Bowles, is it worth it to walk to Crossroads for meals? How does the food compare at each location, with emphasis on nutrition?</p>
<p>Crossroads > Foothills anyday, anytime (except latenight, when crossroads close and foothills is still open)</p>
<p>that seems like too far a walk to me when you’ve got foothill right there</p>
<p>Oh, yeah foothills is definately fine for day-to-day dinning. You don’t get as great a selection as you do at Crossroads, but I tried it at CalDay and it’s not as bad as some people make it out to be. At the very least, it’s a big step up from school lunch.</p>
<p>with the standard plan of 2500 points, do many of you find yourself skipping meals to conserve points? Also, what happens for weekend dining? Can’t decide between Standard or Premium plan!</p>
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<p>I know people who sometimes, maybe a few times a wekk, eat at Crossroads, just to mix things up and get what most people at Berkeley seem to think is slightly better food.</p>
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<p>Crossroads has some late night- is Foothill’s longer?</p>
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<p>I skip to eat the awesome food in Berkeley. The hours on the weekends are different. I did the premium and bought a lot of weird, interesting, new food at the Bear Market. You can always add points later with the standard plan, or go with the premium and not worry bout it. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>I’ve seen both, and Crossroads is definitely better.</p>
<p>foothill food is basically the same as crossroads food, only you have about 1/3-1/2 the selection so individual bad dishes (turkey meatloaf with instant mashed potatoes, for example) are a bigger deal. </p>
<p>2500 points basically means two meals per day: one all-you-care-to-eat dining commons meal, and one points meal (sandwich or such) from GBC/ramona’s/den/terrace/pat brown’s.</p>
<p>Crap, so for us big eaters, the main meal plan isn’t sufficient? I was convinced out of going premium, and the argument made sense. I love food, and it’s thing I least want to sacrifice.</p>
<p>Foothill’s late night menu has gotten better and better. It was pretty hilarious to see almost nobody go to Foothill dinner but see a huge line waiting for the doors to open at 9:00 PM so they could get some “good” food. There were many, many nights where Foothill’s late night offered better stuff than dinner. Note - some late night items are ridiculously overpriced.</p>
<p>And bring some cash along, because you don’t want to skip out on the excellent food that the city of Berkeley has to offer. There’s no reason to eat campus food for every single meal.</p>
<p>you shouldn’t stay in the dorms too long if you love food, the off-campus offerings are great, especially if you learn how to cook.</p>
<p>On that note, how difficult is it to access a “kitchen” during meal hours? I actually love to cook and would rather prepare food myself and for others.</p>
<p>EDIT - specifics on Bowles and the vicinity would also be appreciated</p>
<p>oh…u should’ve got foothill then…</p>
<p>there is a secret kitchen in the recroom (building 5) in foothill. There might be one in bowles…</p>
<p>There was, but it was closed down and is now a rec room.</p>
<p>DC Food at Cal has definitely improved since I got there. We hit a real nadir the Spring of my Freshman year (what didn’t suck about that period of my life? Hehe) and the food was just lousy. Starting Fall 2003 though, it’s been getting steadily better. :)</p>
<p>I love to cook. However, recipes? I don’t really use them as a science. I play it by ear. Always ends up different everytime, but invariably good. </p>
<p>If anyone wants to attempt this, I welcome you to…</p>
<p>Pan Blackened Lemon-Mustard Chicken with fried peppers and mushrooms:</p>
<p>Serves 2 people:</p>
<p>Two medium sized, good quality chicken breasts.
2 Bell Peppers, shelled, seeded and sliced. Any bell pepper will do. Or if you are more creative and colorful than me, use several halves.
8 large mushrooms, plain garden variety white or brown one that you get at the supermarket work fine. Slice them into slivers or quarters, depending on your preference.
1 Half of a large lemon
2 decent handfuls of good quality grilling or honey mustard. Use a spiced mustard, DO NOT use frenches or Dijon.</p>
<p>Take a large pan (enough for two chicken breasts) and put about a tablespoon of sunflower seed oil and thoroughly coat the bottom of the pan.
Take the chicken breasts, place them on a cutting board and gently massage the mustard into the surface of the chicken. Be sure to be thorough about this. After thoroughly marinated, place ingredients in pan and then squeeze the half lemon over the chicken and some of the veggies.
Turn heat on to high, and cook the chicken and veggies until the mushrooms and chicken are browned or blackened, but not burnt. The peppers don’t brown or burn too much, sod don’t worry overly about this. This part is a bit tricky, you will have to do a lot of stirring to get this right. After the chicken and vegetables are cooked, serve and enjoy. </p>
<p>We should start a recipe thread!</p>
<p>Foothill Late-Night has the most extensive menus of all the late-night DC’s, including half and full-rack of ribs (which are exclusive to this location), and other goodies also found at Crossroads late-night like Steak Plate, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Burgers, etc. On the whole, it’s much tastier than lunch menus and equally (if not better) than campus restaurants (plus, it’s super-convenient when one relates to a normal Berkeley student’s study hours). A lot of Bowlesmen go to Foothill late night, a lot of Bowlesmen like it. Foothill DC runs from 9pm-1am.</p>
<p>Bowles no longer has a kitchen/dining common, and it currently has something that resembles a kitchen but is not worth pursuing. It consists of a sink, the most disgusting refrigerator you have ever seen, and a soda machine (that is usually devoid of any potable drinks). If you are into cooking, then, it’s simply not possible at Bowles. As a Bowlesmen, you will have a key that will allow you to access Foothill for DC purposes, but it doubles as a key to get into both Hillside and La Loma. Therefore, you may use Foothill La Loma’s recreational facilities as well as, yes, their kitchen. Again, it’s not pretty, but at least there’s a stove to cook your meal and a microwave in working condition.</p>
<p>I found that my meal plan was sufficient in the first semester, but dwindled quite rapidly as second semester progressed (I spend a lot at late night). Instead of purchasing the premium plan, a better option is always to save that money and spend it on- as others here have suggested- off campus foods that range from decent to delicious, but definitely more worth it than dining commons food.</p>
<p>Answering specifically to the original question: Crossroads won’t serve as an everyday or every night thing, but you’ll find out that some of your friends live in the units and their weak little legs cannot muscle their way up the eastside hills, so you’ll have to come down from your perch high above the university of Berkeley to dine with your compadres. Or, you have just come out of a late meeting on campus, and your stomach will not allow you to fight all the way back up the hill, so you settle for Crossroads food. These two cases happened to me a lot, so you shouldn’t necessarily go out of the way to get Crossroads, but it’s a good option when you’re in the area.</p>
<p>Good luck with FOOD,
TTG</p>
<p>Thanks for the comprehensive review, ttgiang! Hope everyone dorming in the area gets a read.</p>
<p>IMO foothill food is terrible. Somedays there’s absolutely nothing to eat. Crossroads is much better.</p>