A coworker recently found a frog in the salad she got from the salad bar. I haven’t been back since…
We have six or so cafeterias in the building, but the one right next to me has a Wendy’s, a Subway, some random Chinese place, and a juice/ice cream bar. There’s also a Starbucks down the hall. Yes, I am overweight and poor.
I have no idea what the workplace cafeteria serves as it’s only open on dayshift.
Apparently we off-tour drones don’t need to eat or anything.
I work at Whole Foods Market, so take it from there.
In french (I’m afraid I cannot translate all that stuff) :
*Prix pour le plat garni
Prix pour le légume seul
Lundi oeuf brouillés 1.05 € carottes 0.21 €
calamars à l’américaine 1.26 € courgettes 0.42 €
boeuf gros sel 1.68 € riz 0.21 €
pommes frites 0.42 €
Mardi friand à la viande 1.05 € cotes de blettes 0.21 €
darne de lieu 1.26 € épinards 0.42 €
cuisse de poulet à l’indienne 1.47 € pommes mousseline 0.21 €
pommes frites 0.42 €
Mercredi paupiette de volaille chasseur 1.05 € fenouil 0.21 €
filet de merlu 1.26 € choux fleurs 0.42 €
cotes de porc à l’ananas 1.47 € purée 0.21 €
pommes frites 0.42 €
Jeudi hamburger de boeuf 1.05 € navets 0.21 €
omelette au soja et 4 épices 1.26 € haricots verts 0.42 €
escalope de veau hachée 1.68 € pommes rissolées 0.21 €
pommes frites 0.42 €
Vendredi médaillon de l’océan pané sce curry 1.05 € poireaux 0.21 €
brochette de dinde 1.26 € ratatouille 0.42 €
boulette d’agneau basquaise 1.47 € semoule 0.21 €
pommes frites 0.42 €
Samedi épaule de porc 1.26 € jardinière 0.21 €
filet de poisson 1.47 € pates 0.21 €
pomme frites 0.42 €
Dimanche courgette farcie 1.26 € poele de légumes 0.42 €
gratin de merlu 1.47 € pommes persillées 0.21 €
pomme frit *
To sum it up, we have changed some months ago the society doing our food, and it’s a disaster… :mad: Well, it was really better before, and now, all we have is things that are breaded (fish, meat, everything they can bread) or chopped (so we can’t see what we are eating). It’s less expensive than before, but I would prefer to pay a little more and have better stuff !!
We used to have damn good desserts, and now, as everything else, it’s just not good… Hopefully we have a choice of yoghurtsor fruits, but the tarts and pies are not so good as they used to be… 
I am so jealous. We have a cafeteria in the basement of the building across the street. I lovingly refer to it as “The Questionable Cafe”. They have some daily specials, but rarely anything I would eat. Liver and Onions, soggy spagetti, dried up salisbury steak, over-fried fish and greasy burgers are the usual offerings. They have pre made tuna or chicken salad wraps; uniformly soggy and day old. They have a small sandwich bar which seems to be the safest bet, but don’t order anything other than white or wheat bread. They won’t have it.
Sadly, for a tourist town there just aren’t any reasonably priced alternatives besides the Questionable Cafe or the Subway a few blocks away.
I work at a community college. Our cafeteria has a large salad bar, a Subway franchise, a smoothie bar, a pizza station and usually one hot entree, like BBQ chicken with mashed potatoes. There’s also a wide selection of drinks and snacks (chips, candy, cookies). It’s pretty lousy, actually.
I forgot to say :
Apart from the usual dishes, every day we can buy some different pizzas (2 different each day) or pastas with sauce (3 different each day) or sandwiches.
But anyway, it’s not satisfying…
More and more, I only take vegetables and some cheese to get my proteins from it, but I would prefer meat or fish (GOOD meat or fish)
I no longer work there but the worst staff cafeteria was leftovers from the Dining Hall from the day before. There was a conference centre in the building and the Dining Hall was for the clients. So for breakfast we would have stale hash browns and scary eggs, and for lunch there was a salad bar that was mostly edible but the dressing was ify, they used to mix whatever was left from the day before all together into sludge like dressing, I stuck with the oil and vinegar. The main dish had its good days and bad. But it was always dry reheated leftovers. The only saving grace was that it had the BEST desserts, oh and it was only $3.21 for all you can eat.
Every day they have sandwiches which you can have them make up for you - they aren’t prepackaged - they have a seledction of pizzas, there is always regular and vegetarian chilis, there are two soups to choose from - each day there is one special soup - there are always hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken breasts and veggie burgers, a huge salad bar, and there are always deserts - cookies, puddings, ice cream, etc. They also have a weekly stir fry “theme” - this week it is the noodle bar.
Then every day, there are specials. I do not have the time nor inclination to type out our entire weekly menu, but today’s looks like:
Grilled salmon with mango corn salsa and linguine
Stir fry noodle bar
Cobb Salad
BBQ Chicken with two sides
Ranch dijon chicken breast on parmesan sourdoug
Meat lover’s calzone with anti pasta salad
Garbanzo bean salad in a pita with salad
Chicken noodle soup is the soup special.
I’ll probably get a pepsi, and the chicken sandwich thingy. I’ve had that before and it’s pretty good. Unless the noodle bar has teriyaki or sweet and sour sauces. Then I’ll do stir fry. Cause I loves me some teriyaki. And sweet and sour. Then again, I have a craving for ranch flavored doritos so maybe pepsi and chips and french silk pie if they have that today. Nothing like hitting a few of the major food groups - bubbles, chocolate and salt - But I like their tuna salad too so maybe a tuna salad sandwich - and I do so like those Sun Chips in harvest cheddar flavor. I wonder if they’ll have corn as one of the sides with the bbq chicken? In that case I’ll go with an order of fries with BBQ sauce and an ear of corn. And pepsi. That’s always a good lunch because I LOVE french fries dipped in BBQ sauce. And it goes well with pepsi. And I like their BBQ sauce - they get it from GFS so I know what brand it is cause I get the same stuff just in the smaller bottle since GFS only sells really really BIG bottles. But I should be good - I had kind of a big breakfast - two eggs (sunny side up), hash browns and 3 sausage links. But I had it with iced tea so no calorie iced tea cancels out high calorie breakfasts, which I didn’t eat all of it either so that counts - and besides I’m hungry so I might as well go for it. And they open in five minutes. And I’m leaving early too so I might as well eat lunch early, right?
Now - aren’t you glad you asked?
And yes, I’ll be back after I get my lunch to let you know what I decided. 
That was my first crack. One of my coworkers actually got the dish, and a chicken tot turned out to be nothing more than a shrunken chicken nugget. With Cajun goodness in the breading.
I’ve a bunch of silly questions here because I’ve never even talked to anybody who had a cafeteria at work, never mind been in one. Sorry if this turns into a hijack - I’m just suddenly really curious about all this. So:
How does it work? Is it buffet style? Are there waiters or busboys? Do you pay per item or per meal? What is the seating like? Do you usually sit with the same people every day? Can (or do) you take food back to your office? Is there an ‘executive’ cafeteria?
Two bags of Sun Chips (Harvest Cheddar - 30% less fat that regular potato chips!!)
One 20 oz. pepsi
One big ass cup full of ice
One king size heath bar.
$4.53
They were out of doritos. And didn’t have my pie. And they only had steak fries. And I didn’t feel like waiting around to find out what the sauces were for the stir fry since the little signs weren’t up yet.
Not silly questions!!
How does it work? Pretty well, actually.
Is it buffet style? No, not really - there are “stations”. A pizza station, a sandwich station - a grill station - each is manned by one or two people. You tell them what you want (since there are options at the stations such as sides) and whether you want it for there or to go. If it’s for there, you get a plate. If it’s to go, sytrofoam.
Are there waiters or busboys? Nope. Just the guys who dish up the food. And work the registers. You have to put your plate on a moving rack to send the dirty stuff back to the kitchen to be washed.
Do you pay per item or per meal? Depends. The menu I had in my above post - those items are priced per “meal”. Everything (drinks, etc.) else is ala carte. Except for salads. Those you weigh.
What is the seating like? Big ass room across from the cafeteria with many many tables.
Do you sit with the same people every day? Nope. I don’t. I eat at my desk or off the grounds. Some people do - they usually work together and go at the same time every day.
Can (or do) you take food back to your office? Yep.
Is there an ‘executive’ cafeteria? Nope. In fact, the previous owner ceo president type guy used to be known to come down to the cafeteria and eat with and talk to the peons. Me, I try to stay under the radar so I eat at my desk. Unless I have the car that day and some money in which case I go to the bar.
The best place to eat on campus has freshly made vegetarian soup.
Today there was gazpacho or pureed carrot soup made with coconut milk and peanut butter. Both made with fresh ingredients, both transcendently good.
Get a large bowl or you’ll be kicking yourself, and add a fresh-baked multigrain roll. Total charge, less than $3.
The quality is head-and-shoulders above anywhere else on campus, and the price is just frickin’ insane. And yet some people won’t eat there because it’s vegetarian. :rolleyes: They spend $4 on a packet of saltines and a cup of some crap from a can because it has a few tiny specks of meat in it. FOOLS!
My username is my profession, actually, and I work in a cafe located in our city’s public library.
When the library was rebuilt about five years ago a place to eat was included on site. The business of it is leased out, so I work for my boss, not the library.
We have croissant sandwiches, a pita sandwich, three soups a day, quiche, a daily hot entree, and a variety of fresh salads. I make cookies, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, scone, muffins, dinner rolls, pies, cakes, oh, lots’ of stuff. We don’t have burgers and fries, the former library director didn’t want a greasy aroma to set in.
We also cater to events held in the library. So when we had the grand reopening in 2001, and the First Lady, Laura Bush, attended, we worked our fingers to the bone for a 500+person reception. Lot’s of fancy stuff, but man, do I hate mini-quiches ever since. I also decorate cakes for events held here.
It’s actually pretty good food. A lot is from scratch. And my boss lets me try new things, and doesn’t look over my shoulder or micro-manage. A good guy.
Our workplace cafeteria consists of an “honor box” where you can choose from a limited selection of candy bars, cookies and potato chips for the price of 70 cents per item.
I work in a nursing home. We get whatever the residents are getting that day. Today it was Stuffed Manicotti, salad and cheescake for desert. You also always get bread, and your choice or milk or tea.
Some of it is actually good (they have the BEST mac & cheese evar!) but for the most part it’s usually about one step up from a TV dinner.
If they serve something I absolutely can’t stomach (their chicken noodles are really icky) I order from a local place that delivers.
I don’t complain much. The meals I described above only cost two bucks for employees.
Ah, the old Chicken Toe.
(a term a friend & I came up with in college when the dining hall was serving chicken fingers, but the two of us always seemed to end up being served the little shrinky dink leftfovers at the bottom of the pan. Too small to be fingers, they must be toes)
I think where I’m supposed to work (that’s another story) we’ve the greatest cafeteria in the known universe.
I’m not going to detail the menus, but there’s always a choice between at least a dozen starters , ranging from basic to quite fine (say, from radish to smoked salmon), even more desserts, and unfortunately only 3-5 main dishes of highly variable quality (sometimes poor, sometimes pretty good). Plus a choice of waters, wines, sodas, fruit juices… And cheeses, of course.
That’s for the main cafeteria. However you can alternately pick the grilled meats and salads stand or the pizzeria (OK pizzas, nor outstanding nor poor) . If you’re in a hurry, you’ll just pick something at the sandwichs stand. If you’ve something to celebrate and are willing to spend more (though way less than such a meal would cost you elsewhere), you might rather choose the actual restaurant (with linen, waiters, etc…) that serves a really excellent food and elaborate dishes.
From time to time (once a month or so) the cafeteria organize a “country X” day, where dishes supposedly typical from said country are served. Unfortunately these dishes are often not that good, and they feel compelled to play some “typical music” too.
I should add that the company pays more than half the cost of the meals (prices are variable depending on the dishes you choose and on your paycheck. It’s a “point system”. Each dish costs some number of point and the less you’re paid, the less a “point” costs) and covers completely a number of associated costs.
And you know what…people are fucking complaining…( for instance because all dishes used to be prepared by cooks employed by the company while now part of them are bought frozen from some provider, or because the price is raised, despite it being less for a complete meal than it would cost them buying a sandwich and a coke at the nearest bakery, etc…). Actually, I’m sure you’re not surprised.