[one_half]Overrated – Daniil Ivanov

Food on NJIT’s campus gets a bad rap. Don’t get me wrong, I endulge in an occasional late-night Uber Eats or DoorDash order and like going out on a dinner date every now and then. But, the idea that getting Blaze Pizza for lunch is some sort of great escape is flat out false.

The largest, and most complained about, food source on campus is our dining hall. To put the dining hall into context, I implore you to find an all-you-can-eat buffet off campus for only $10. Once you realize that we are offered a buffet at half the price of a comparable alternative, the service they provide seems more than fair. The problem, I hypothesize, is that they’re selling food and not air—you’ll get tired of having the same thing every day.

Apart from the dining hall, the campus offers food through the Village Market, Forte Pizzeria, Smashburger and on-campus versions of Taco Bell and Starbucks for all kinds of variety.

Still on campus, we have our adored food trucks on Warren Street. I personally treat myself to a New England fat sandwich from A La Carte every now and then, but the lines outside all three trucks on a daily basis attest to the popularity of the trucks on campus.

Granted, the only real Asian food options on campus are ramen heated in a beat-up microwave and dining hall sushi, so places like Ramen Gami and Teriyaki Madness fill in that missing culinary piece.

Newark has undoubtedly great food options, but to say that NJIT has nothing to eat is a complete mischaracterization of the options we have available without leaving campus. Eating ice cream and drinking a coffee from Village Market and looking forward to grabbing a New England for lunch tomorrow, I can say that the heroic portayal of off-campus food is totally overrated. 

[one_half]Underrated – Zane Nogueras

NJIT is a university with a diverse student body and an even more diverse range of culinary preferences. On campus, students have access to a campus center that provides a wide variety of places to eat, along with a dining hall that provides all-you-can-eat food throughout the school day. While most people are satiated by NJIT’s options, there are many restaurants and other food choices to choose from around the campus, many of which go underappreciated by students.

There are many food choices within walking distance from the campus. For students not wanting to leave the confines of University Heights, Central Avenue provides plenty of restaurants to choose from. On one end you have Ramen Gami, a popular restaurant where you can build your own ramen bowl; and when you’ve finished your meal, you can cleanse your palate with a bubble tea from the adjacent Intrinsic Cafe. Off of Central on Lock Street is Resa Grill, possibly the most underrated restaurant around NJIT. A restaurant that specializes in comfort food, there is not an option on the menu that will disappoint.

For the more adventurous, there are an innumerable amount of choices around Military Park. Located along Broad Street, Military Park is across from popular chains such as Blaze Pizza and Dunkin’. Moving down to Halsey street, you can find many ethnic food choices, such as Halal Guys, Qdoba and Burger Walla. The surrounding area is littered with a plethora of small restaurants to try as well, such as incredible breakfast sandwiches at Annabella’s Kitchen on Linden Street and superb Latin food at La Cocina on New Street.

 There is a diverse range of food options available in Newark. Central Avenue provides quality alternatives to campus food. Broad and Halsey street provide variety in the form of chains and local restaurants alike. Overall, there is quality food to be found in Newark.