Only students at Wake Forest would understand the love hate relationship we all have with “hot food spots” like the Pit and Benson dining halls. Dining Hall hacks are necessary to making this relationship as strong as it can be.
The Pit Sit
Sometimes, even with the “all you can eat” dining options at the Pit, the food choices can feel monotonous. However, only Wake Forest students would understand the joyous experience of a “Pit Sit”. For those unfamiliar, this is when you dine at the pit, Wake’s main dining hall, for at least an hour, unwaveringly getting up and down for seconds, thirds, and fourths, satisfying all your craving at that exact moment. Only true pit sitters understand the nerve wracking balancing act of carrying three plates, two bowls, and a cup to the dish drop.
PIT HACKS
Only students at Wake Forest understand the excitement of discovering new “pit hack”. These dining hall hacks are essential to better eating at school and is when you make a dish that isn’t part of your usual dining routine. Some of my dining hall hacks include, but are not limited to:
1. Avocado Toast; when the pit has avocado at the Grill, toast some bread, salt and pepper that bad boy, and maybe add some hot sauce and a fried egg. It’s almost like brunch at Village Juice.
2. Quesadillas: At the sandwich station, the employees may give you a funny look when you ask for a wrap and some cheese, but do it any way. You can even get shredded cheese from the salad bar if you prefer. Then use the panini press to make the quesadilla. While you wait for the cheese to melt, you could get chicken from the grill and make a chicken quesadilla, then get some guac and some salsa from the egg station.
3. Rice Bowl: Get yourself some rice at almost any of the stations. For protein, mix in a fried or scrambled egg, then add broccoli or cauliflower and anything else that you like to have in a bowl with rice. You can personalize this dish and mix it up day to day so it won’t get boring. For me, adding soy sauce is a must.
4. Tomato Pesto Toast: Another pit hack, similar to the avocado toast, is making some toast with pesto and tomato. First, toast a piece of your favorite kind of bread, then go to the sandwich station where you can add some pesto and tomatoes, then include some salt and pepper. I’ve even done it where I’ve added some bacon. Yum.
With these dining hall hacks, you’ll be feeling a lot more excited to go to the pit.
PITSGIVING
Only students at Wake understand that the best day of the year is Pitsgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and going to a school that caters to feeding my Thanksgiving food addiction is a big win for me.
^ Me when I walk into the pit on Pitsgiving.
It’s truly an all out affair. Pit sitters will spend even longer on this dining occasion, going back for seconds and thirds of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.
Be sure to thank all the Pit workers for this amazing meal! They have been cooking since the early morning hours, if not all night!
*Spoon Tip: make an excel sheet with all of your friends to schedule who will hold down the table while others are in class. This is by far the busiest, most crowded day at the pit. IF you don’t get a table at 11AM when Thanksgiving is served, you wont be getting a table at all.
BENSON OLD & GOLD
Only Wake students understand the blessedness of the old gold experience of Benson dining hall. A Benson hack I’ve adopted this year is going to the pod to get some soup (chicken noodle, campbell’s tomato soup, or gumbo) and then using an old gold sandwich option at forest greens to get myself a yummy roll for dipping into the soup. This time I did a roll with mozzarella melted on it, yum. This is the best especially as the weather gets colder and all you want is nice warm soup.
Although Wake isn’t the most food savvy place in town, there are ways to make your dining experience a little more enjoyable. So whether its pit sitting, or having a nice slow meal at Shorty’s, or grabbing food on the go from Benson, we can all make the best of it.