With the March Madness season underway, brackets and bets have been made, leading to feelings of disappointment or victory. Those who were unlucky in the first weeks of the NCAA basketball tournament may have a second chance. Instead of picking a new basketball team to follow, the decision falls between two sauces: chipotle mayo or West Zest.
Ohio University’s dining hotspot Earl’s Coop welcomed back its Menu Madness initiative, imploring Bobcats to dabble in friendly competition and choose their favorite dishes.
Earl’s is known for its juicy chicken tenders, homemade Texas toast, West Zest sauce and crispy waffle fries. However, the menu offers other options, including vegan and regular chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and a variety of sauces. Students with a traditional or flex meal plan can use one swipe and receive a box combo with their favorite fixings, a cookie or fruit, and a soft drink.
“The first time I had it, it was pretty good,” Alex Macartney, a freshman studying hearing, speech and language sciences, said. “I usually go there on Mondays because I get the hot honey (chicken) and then I go and hang out with my friends.”
Macartney is a commuter and said he has the block 30 meal plan, making Earl’s the perfect grab-and-go meal in between classes.
Earl’s is a popular destination among students and this month is extra special for NCAA fanatics. Between Thursday and April 4, new food items will “go head to head” with the “staples” competing for the number one spot. As a student goes through the line for their meal, two items will be competing.
After picking, students will receive a colored basketball and place it into a basket labeled with the corresponding food they chose. The basketballs will be tallied at the end of the week and the winning food item is placed on the bracket.
Dale Lindsey, general manager of Shively Food Court and Earl’s Coop, started the competition last year and said it has been a hit with students so far.
“People come in, they see what is going on (and) kind of get the idea of it and they go tell their friends,” Lindsey said. “The hope would be we see more people come through Earl’s just to have fun, come through the line and make their votes.”
As students venture through their last weeks of the school year, classes may seem long and assignments too hefty to complete. Joe Mihaly, a junior studying communication studies, is not only a March Madness enthusiast but a fan of Earl’s and said the competition brings vibrance to campus during the stressful season.
“When there is something as exciting as March Madness, people love a promotional event or campaign that goes along with that,” Mihaly said. “They are incorporating the exciting moments of March Madness with diversifying different options into the dining hall.”
With 21,874 students enrolled on campus and 18 on-campus dining locations, a plethora of Bobcats, faculty and staff are bound to have a meal plan. Residential meal plans range from the Traditional 10, 14 or 20 or the Flex 14 or 20, and both commuters and staff can choose a plan if interested. Earl’s Coop also accepts debit, credit and Bobcat cash and costs around $15 for a meal.
Due to this high number of hungry Bobcats and meal plan options, Earl’s Coop encourages customers to provide honest feedback. Lindsey said seeing the competition winners will not only be entertaining, but benefit Earl’s student engagement.
“Whatever the winners are, we take into consideration those items for future menus for Earl’s,” Lindsey said. “Obviously, we want to give people what they want to eat … so it is kind of a way for us to give the students back what they are actually looking for when they come in.”
Lindsey said some of the weekly battles will include the famous West Zest sauce versus chipotle mayo, tater tots versus waffle fries and cheesy hashbrowns versus mac and cheese.
As Menu Madness embarks on East Green and Earl’s “Let the Flavor Battles Begin,” students will hopefully be left satisfied and heard.
“I think it helps us all come together more as a Bobcat family by having fun,” Lindsey said. “While students are enjoying the new food, they also get to interact with each other … that is what makes our campus special and we achieve more together when we communicate with each other.”
