All You Can Eat: Does Union Square work for you?

In “All You Can Eat,” Emerson Prentice ’29 educates readers about campus dining, in hopes of leading Stanford students to appreciate the food and team that feeds them around the clock. 

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.

It’s a Sunday, and your stomach is rumbling. You want poke — fresh fish atop a bed of brown rice with seaweed salad, green onions and sesame seeds — from the campus spot, Kikka Sushi. 

Or maybe it’s 10 a.m. on a Monday. You need an energy drink to fuel you for the long day of classes ahead. 

Unfortunately, you would be out of luck if you wanted these quick snacks at these times. Union Square at Tressider Memorial Union may house Decadence, Decadence Mini Market, Round Table Pizza, Wetzel’s Pretzels, Zaida’s Kitchen, Kikka Sushi, Starbucks, Panda Express and Subway — but many of these food spots would be of no help. 

Kikka Sushi is closed on the weekends, and shuts its figurative doors at 7 p.m. on weekdays. Decadence Mini Market, with its stock of Monster and Red Bull, doesn’t open until 11 a.m. and is also closed on weekends. And these suboptimal hours aren’t anomalies either at the neighboring food spots. Only Zaida’s Kitchen, Starbucks, Subway and Panda Express open on weekends. For students, the hours can be a point of aggravation. 

“I love the açaí bowls from Decadence and it’s nice that they take Dining Dollars, but it’s frustrating that they only open at 11 and are closed on weekends. I can’t go for breakfast before class or brunch on weekends,” Evelyn Belle ’29 wrote to The Daily. 

That’s not to mention the problems students might encounter due to financial constraints. Of all the options at Tressider, only Decadence, Decadence Mini Market and Kikka Sushi accept Dining Dollars from student meal plans.

“I wish we had a little bit more variety and that we could use Dining Dollars at more of the places,” Aria Shah ’29 wrote to The Daily.

These options and opening times are oddly limiting for a marketplace that, at times, could be a student’s only option. Dining halls aren’t and can’t be open 24/7 — they need the closed windows to prepare for service. Union Square serves to fill a gap for students, saving them the alternate 10-minute bike ride to Town and Country to find sustenance at Oren’s Hummus Express or Sushi House.

And Union Square is a welcome supplement to campus dining, great for offering culinary diversity that dining halls may sometimes lack. Kikka Sushi, for example, offers a variety of made-to-order poke bowls with toppings like salmon and shrimp. The restaurant also provides pre-made sushi, sold at Decadence Mini Market. Meanwhile, Zaida’s Kitchen serves up Oaxacan food on freshly made tortillas, supplying bowls, burritos and salads with various salsas and fillings. Tresidder lets students explore new culinary options without incurring a hefty DoorDash fee. 

But in terms of truly filling the gastronomical gap on campus, Union Square falls short. Is the list of options really diverse (and time-accommodating) enough to fit students’ varying needs and wants, as an on-campus market should? Ultimately, the most time-accessible spots are common fast-food chains. 

“There isn’t a ton of variety in terms of large chains,” Avery Nemo ’29 wrote to The Daily. “I would wish for a Chipotle or a Chick-Fil-A or something else.” 

But let’s look beyond the brand names: What if Union Square could offer salads or ramen or dumplings from small businesses instead? Sometimes when I’m starving at 4 p.m. on a Sunday, I want something more novel than yet another container of Panda Express. 

So, as a spot made for students, is Union Square effective? Does it fill the need of hardworking and often-hungry students? Or does it fall short, with unrealistic opening hours and unremarkable fast-food options, forcing students to hop on a bike when hungry and in need? 

Maybe Union Square is a breath of fresh air — or maybe it’s just another sign of how the infamous “Stanford bubble” can even get in the way of finding food to eat.

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