BU Food Favorites

by Eliza Sullivan

Photography courtesy of bu.edu

For the class of 2018, Boston has been home these last four years, raising students from naive freshmen to jaded seniors. Those years have been full of late nights in Mugar, later nights on the StuVi 26th floor and the occasional Commonwealth Avenue cry. But they’ve also been full of cups of coffee, slices of pizza and trays of chicken fingers.

Among the things that will be missed, the diverse food scene of BU’s campus and beyond won't be the least among them. Food has a habit of bringing people together, and some of the best memories from college may be of late night Domino’s on a dorm room floor or of Pad Thai in an older friend’s apartment on a Sunday night.

The caffeine addiction is real and the frequency of coffee shops along BU’s campus means an opportunity for indulgence at every stop of the T. Because truly, there’s a Starbucks at every campus T stop, from Blandford Street to BU West and now even at the Babcock Street station for those students who have moved off campus into Allston. Add on the fact that a few of these establishments will accept Dining Points, and you have one of the first tastes of college that seniors will find themselves missing.

But Starbucks has steep competition across campus, particularly from the Buick Street Dunkin Donuts. Those lucky enough to find themselves living in StuVi have ready access to this branch of the bonafide Boston establishment, and by senior year plenty have taken on the Massachusetts trait of only drinking iced coffee, even in the brunt of the snowy season.

The addition of Caffe Nero at 1047 Commonwealth Avenue, and the more seasoned Pavement Coffeehouse and Blue State Coffee keep a captive audience with their large study spaces. Pavement bagels and finals cramming go together like, well, bagels and cream cheese (and a triple shot latte).

Food along Comm. Ave includes everything from Insomnia Cookies to Cane’s Chicken, home of the time honored Cane’s Challenge.

“I will miss going to Cane’s because the combo of chicken, toast, fries and that delectable sauce cannot be beat,” said Molly McQuade (COM ’18). “The food is simple and it makes it shine, and I love condiments so it’s perfect.”

For other seniors, it’s the tradition of late night T. Anthony’s that will be fondly remembered.

“A nice, hot mozzarella stick pizza with ranch after a night out helps to forget about my worries from the week,” said Shreya Pai (CAS ’18).

All a part of a well-balanced Boston University diet, right?

The wider Boston food scene is what others find themselves thinking of, like Alex Creed (COM’17) said, “If I could only taste the sweet decadence of Coppersmith’s buffalo cauliflower one more time.”

The South Boston converted warehouse may be a bit far from campus, but apparently it’s worth the trip. Many students have favorite spots across the city, from Newbury Street brunch favorites like Cafeteria, Trident and Stephanie’s to South End spots tucked in among the gorgeous brownstones and all way from Cambridge back to South Boston.

Though for each person a BU experience is different, common culinary experiences across the four years we spend here bring us together for moments of bonding, and as graduation approaches, nostalgia.