Russo’s Review: Give Us Back C-Shop Ranch

The replacement ranch in C-Shop just doesn’t do it for SAC’s favorite food critic. (Photo courtesy of Meg Russo ’19)

Hey, y’all! I’m back, but I’m a little unwell because one of my favorite go-to condiments at the Coffee Shop disappeared right in front of our eyes with no explanation why. Here’s what happened: I get back to campus on August 12^th to start preparing for one of St A’s greatest programs, Road for Hope. As I walk around campus, I realize the Coffee Shop is under construction and not open. This made me feel uneasy because there was no email about the C-Shop being renovated, or when it was going to re-open during my early arrival on campus. Something was definitely up!

After Road for Hope, I went to the newly-renovated C-Shop and realized the ranch dressing and other famous C-Shop condiments such as the honey mustard and the zinfandel salad dressing have totally vanished from the C-Shop premises.

Betrayal, disappointment, and confusion all hit me at once as I was eating my side order of fries but had nothing to dip them in except for ketchup. There is nothing more satisfying than having C-Shop fries being dipped in the homemade C-Shop ranch.

C-Shop ranch is more than a condiment to some people. This homemade ranch is why people come to St. A’s, and it is also one of the things that bring alumni back to St. A’s. I can honestly say people look forward to having C-Shop ranch during their meals, and now that it is gone, people’s meals are not the same.

Anna Juliano ’19, a C-Shop ranch lover, is rattled and very upset because now her staple C-Shop meals are forever changed unless they bring back the homemade ranch.

If you’re a freshman reading this you might be thinking, Why is this girl going off about a condiment? Let me tell you something: Don’t knock it till you try it. The ranch in the C-Shop currently in the blue container is honestly disgusting. I tried it once thinking, Oh, maybe this will taste okay. Nope! I was so wrong. It tastes awful and does not mesh well with any of the meals I have had at school. So, then I tried it again, because I thought it might deserve a second chance, but no it was still not satisfying my expectations.

I think the thing that bothers my peers and me the most is how C-Shop ranch was taken from us and they still haven’t told the student body why it was taken or if it is coming back.

Don’t get me wrong; I still eat C-Shop especially in the pub because everyone who works there is very kind and helpful but it’s just not the same without the white condiment container that used to reside across the counter.

However, the other day I was at C-Shop when one of my friends, Laura Kane ‘19, ordered a specialty salad and the workers offered her the choice of their homemade ranch. Laura obviously said yes to this choice and then the workers also told her that C-Shop ranch is now back “on the line.” For those of you who don’t know what “on the line” is, it means that if you order a chicken ranch wrap, your wrap will contain the homemade OG ranch as the condiment because it is prepared on the wrap line.

My recommendation to anyone who wants the condiment back where it belongs would be to continue to write napkin notes saying how you want C-Shop ranch or another one of your favorite condiments to come back into your life.

C-Shop ranch now, C-Shop ranch always,
Meg

Russo’s Review: Meg’s Secret Salad Recipe

Meg Russo ’19 with her own salad recipe. Photo courtesy of Meg.

Today at lunch I decided to get an easy to-go meal: A salad! As a vegetarian, one of my main meals is a salad. I recently decided to take eggs out of my diet as I am trying to transition to becoming a vegan. Normally, I would add a hard boil egg to my salads but not anymore.

I absolutely prefer the salad bar in Davison rather than the salad plate from the Coffee Shop. The coffee shop salads really only contain iceberg lettuce, instead of romaine, kale, or spinach. The salad bar in Davison has the option to add whatever you want. The ability to create your own salad is especially helpful if you are allergic to or do not like certain vegetables. When I get a salad from Davison, I like to start by getting two big black colored bowls so I can easily shake everything together.

During lunch today, I started the base of my salad with romaine and a handful of spinach. I almost always get the question “how do you get enough protein in your diet” and the answer is actually you get more protein than you are required to consume on a meat diet. Therefore, I am getting enough protein eating my whole vegetables, chickpeas, lentils, and quinoa meals.

After the lettuce, I then proceeded to add a big scoop of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and corn. Corn was the outside factor and special guest in my salad because I have not seen corn in a long time at the salad bar! For my dressing, I used oil olive and salt and pepper to add an extra flavor. The only thing about my salad that I did not like was the avocado. The avocados were not good at Davison today as they were too squishy and appeared brown. Usually, I do love a good avocado in my salad, as it is a good source of vitamin C, potassium, and it helps lower bad cholesterol.

Overall, I would have to give this salad a 9.25/10 because the bad avocado did not mix well with the rest of the vegetables.

Russo’s Review: C-Shop Veggie Burger

Meg Russo of Russo’s Review with today’s review item: the Veggie Burger from C-Shop.

Hi Y’all! Welcome to Russo’s first Review, where I will be talking about all the meals I consume at Saint A’s.  To share a little about myself, I am a vegetarian who is trying to go dairy free, and I love to snack. I texted my friend Meg on Thursday and we got ourselves over to the Coffee Shop/Pub to enjoy a Meg meal.

Being a vegetarian is very hard on this campus, and eating at the Coffee Shop is even harder to pull off.  I decided to try the veggie burger with a side of fries. I also got a side of hot sauce with it. To top it all off, I decided to drink an Angry Orchard.

This veggie burger was an 8/10 as it tasted delicious by itself with no bun or extra items. The veggie burger had many peas, corn, and beans in it and tasted wicked good dipped into the hot sauce/ ranch dip mix.

The angry orchard was also yummy and would recommend to a friend but I would suggest that the C-Shop replace the Angry Orchard draft with Harpoon Cider. My reasoning is strictly about the health of campus! Harpoon cider only has 7 grams of sugar whereas the Angry Orchard has 24 grams of sugar.

Stay tuned for next week’s meal. It’s my go-to Davison-to-go order!

Russo’s Review is a new weekly column written by junior class president Meg Russo ’19.