Friday, April 22, 2011

The (so-called) Cougareat

Today I saw a random tweet about how someone loves the Cougareat at BYU (the school's main student eatery, for the non-BYU people). It reminded me that I used to love the Cougareat when I was little, but that today it's completely lame.

When I was a kid and came to BYU during family vacations, it was still more of a cafeteria type place. I loved the food at the time, but even if it wasn't haute cuisine at least it was unique-ish to BYU. In other words, it was something at BYU that could be found nowhere else in the world.

Fast forward to today, and it's mostly filled with generic chain fast food places. Taco Bell, Subway, blah blah blah. Sure, these places aren't bad, but they're nothing to write home about. There are a few unique places (Sugar and Spice, for instance), but for the most part the place feels like it could be anywhere. Actually, no that's not true. It feels like it could be in any suburban mall. And I can think of no greater insult. (I heard students in the 90s actually wanted the Cougareat to be based on a mall food court. WTF.)

2 comments:

  1. You forget that some people are stuck on campus with very little opportunity to go else where. So a broad range of recognizable food is a good thing for the few years you are campus bound.

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  2. yeah, I guess. but I'd prefer to never eat at mega chain fast food restaurants. so whether I'm stuck on campus or not, I'd prefer that they were gone. But I know not everyone feels that way. I just think that tacos from taco bell are inferior to just about every local taco chain I've ever been to. Subway is pathetic compared to, say, Sensuous Sandwich or even Gandolfos. The Cougareat burger place is horrible compared to places like Sammy's.

    So basically I'm saying I dislike huge corporate food chains, and that the old food was better.

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