The reviews are in — students are more than satisfied with the new rec center dining locations and prefer them over other on-campus options.
On Nov. 5, three new on-campus dining locations — Recharge Café, Edamame and Squeezed — commenced operations in the new Recreation and Wellness Center. Recharge serves classic healthy foods such as protein pancakes, avocado toast, omelets and breakfast burritos. Squeezed specializes in fresh-pressed juices, and Edamame serves build-your-own poke bowls.
Lindsay Wilson, the Pitt Eats campus dietician, said the new dining locations were created based on the premise that every student has their own health goals and definitions of healthy food, which calls for a variety of options.
“With the rec center being as large as it is, you have students coming in who might be looking to train for a marathon and build endurance, or students who are more of a bodybuilder and looking for more of that muscle growth,” Wilson said. “Everybody’s individual health goals and nutrition intake will look different.”
Wilson said each location focuses on different forms of replenishment — Squeezed focuses on hydration and Recharge focuses on protein and carbohydrates.
“When you think about exercise, with the sweat, you’re obviously losing water, so you want to replenish from a hydration standpoint,” Wilson said. “[With Recharge], it is more so that replenishment post-exercise, when you are looking to replenish your protein and carbohydrate stores.”
Erica Hill, a junior mechanical engineering major, has ordered a build-your-own omelet from Recharge three times. Hill said two out of the three omelets were “the most delicious thing ever in the world,” and the other omelet was burnt.
As an engineering student, Hill spends most of her day in Benedum Hall and said the new dining locations are more convenient for her than others on campus.
“Having a food option that’s closer than going up the hill to Chick-fil-A or going down to the Union or the Eatery — that’s fire,” Hill said. “Everybody is hype about that in the engineering building.”
Iyad Al Hamad, a first-year neuroscience major, said the new dining location is his favorite meal swap option because they serve “food that actually tastes like food.”
“In the Eatery, it just feels so processed,” Al Hamad said. “Every time I go to the Eatery, when I come out, I just feel bloated and like I want to lay down and sleep.”
Owen Woodworth, a first-year dietary nutrition major, said the new options serve a good variety of fruits and vegetables, which also taste fresher than at other locations.
“I think this is probably the healthiest food on campus at Edamame because you know exactly what’s going into your bowl. You don’t exactly know everything that’s in your food when you go to the dining hall,” Woodworth said. “Having the option to select your ingredients is very good.”
Woodworth said micronutrients are important to him, and the new options cater to people who care more about nutrition.
“[At Edamame], it’s also possible to get a good variety as far as micronutrients go,” Woodworth said. “When you’re at the Eatery and you get a burger, you’re not having a very diverse diet, which is not optimal for your gut microbiome.”
Woodworth also believes Edamame serves food with consistent quality.
“I’ve been here four times so far, and every single time it has been comparable in quality, whereas in the Eatery or the Perch, it’s very hit-or-miss day to day,” Woodworth said. “You can count on getting the same thing here every day, and it’s going to be of similar quality.”
Pranamya Rangaraju, a first-year biology major, enjoys the avocado toast from Recharge because “it tastes more fresh.”
“When I get a salad at the Eatery, it doesn’t taste as fresh as the vegetables they have [at Recharge],” Rangaraju said. “I don’t know if it’s a placebo effect — maybe it’s the same vegetables — but I definitely like it better.”
Grace Patti, a first-year marketing major, likes to order kani rice bowls from Edamame and said it tastes healthier and feels lighter.
“I like how it’s something actually healthy instead of a bunch of fried food,” Patti said. “[The food from the Union] is usually burgers and tacos, which feels very heavy. This feels lighter, and I don’t feel gross after.”
Allison Chao, a senior biology major, said wait times for food can be a problem. In her experience, her orders usually take 20 more minutes than expected. Chao said she orders before she works out at the rec center to avoid a 40-minute wait in the morning or a two-hour wait at night.
“At night, when everybody goes to the gym, the wait could be up to two hours long,” Chao said. “Though you have to budget your time with the long wait, I think it’s worth it.”
Morgan Gurdak, a first-year public health major, usually orders a breakfast burrito from Recharge and prefers it to similar foods at Ethel’s.
“The burrito felt like a meal I’d cook at home and it was super packed,” Gurdak said. “[Compared to Ethel’s], I think it’s more homestyle and heartier.”
Chloe Wright, a first-year nursing major, orders Mediterranean wraps from Recharge because the quality and portion size is better than Pom and Honey, the other Mediterranean on-campus dining option.
“They give you way more food than Pom and Honey does — their bowls are really big,” Wright said. “Pom and Honey is okay, but this is better in my opinion.”
Rowen Kearney, a first-year nursing major, eats at the rec center after she works out because it feels more healthy and less oily than the Eatery food. She also likes how the menu allows her to control the amount of food she wants to eat.
“When I come here, I can pick out my own food and know what I want,” Kearney said. “At the Eatery, most of the places serve you, so you really can’t portion control. Here, you have an option of what you want to eat and how much.”