Contra Costa College Restaurant

[David Kaye]

Contra Costa College in San Pablo has a restaurant, Three Seasons, which
serves excellent meals cheaply. Wednesday I was there with friends and had
their buffet, all you can eat for $10, prepared by their culinary students.
I had an excellent ground chorizo over rice from what I was told was a Cuban
recipe. There were dishes with chicken, rabbit, tofu, and others, an array
of casseroles, some really excellently prepared braised beef. Go back as
often as you wish. Only 1 dessert per person, though, and coffee is extra.
They also have a regular menu which changes from time to time.

Menu:
http://www.contracosta.edu/programs-departments/culinary-arts/three-seasons-restaurant/

Parking is free with a permit which you can print from the website.

My friend Kevin goes there about once a week and raves about the food.

A cute touch: At the 1:15pm closing time, the rolling door between the
kitchen and the dining area was slowly brought down. We applauded and the
kitchen staff waved enthusiastically at us. It was the "final curtain" for
the day.

I'll definitely go back.




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[sms]

Post by David Kaye
Contra Costa College in San Pablo has a restaurant, Three Seasons, which
serves excellent meals cheaply. Wednesday I was there with friends and had
their buffet, all you can eat for $10, prepared by their culinary students.
I had an excellent ground chorizo over rice from what I was told was a Cuban
recipe. There were dishes with chicken, rabbit, tofu, and others, an array
of casseroles, some really excellently prepared braised beef. Go back as
often as you wish. Only 1 dessert per person, though, and coffee is extra.
They also have a regular menu which changes from time to time.

The colleges and universities with culinary and hospitality programs
have the best food. Generally pretty cheap for visitors.

Cornell and Northern Arizona (Flagstaff) are two others. University of
San Diego also has good food though no culinary program.

When we were looking at universities for my kids we did a lot of visits
and checked out the food. Alas, they both ended up at universities with
mediocre food.

My university had dismal food. It was so bad that even students in the
dorms protested so much that meal plans were not required, and the dorms
put in kitchens for students to cook. One of VPs of the university was
getting kickbacks from the company that had the food service contract.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by sms
Cornell and Northern Arizona (Flagstaff) are two others. University of
San Diego also has good food though no culinary program.

UC Davis has a good food program too. It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there.

Post by sms
My university had dismal food.

Likewise. It used to be pretty universal, as far as I have heard,
but thankfully, more places are starting to care about serving
decent food. (Ironically, as fewer Americans cook, meaning fewer
kids are accustomed to good food.)

[sms]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by sms
Cornell and Northern Arizona (Flagstaff) are two others. University of
San Diego also has good food though no culinary program.

UC Davis has a good food program too. It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there.

Post by sms
My university had dismal food.

Likewise. It used to be pretty universal, as far as I have heard,
but thankfully, more places are starting to care about serving
decent food. (Ironically, as fewer Americans cook, meaning fewer
kids are accustomed to good food.)

My son and his friends have major Asian food withdrawal from going to
colleges in primarily white areas. I never saw so many blondes as when
we visited him at his dorm in San Diego.

Santa Cruz is pretty dismal in terms of Asian food as well. My old
girlfriend's uncle used to have a good place on Seabright but it was
sold years ago. It's still a Chinese restaurant but I haven't tried it
and the reviews are not great.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by sms
My son and his friends have major Asian food withdrawal from going
to colleges in primarily white areas.

Heh. You should hear what my daughter has to say about Chinese
food in Russia.

[sms]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by sms
My son and his friends have major Asian food withdrawal from going
to colleges in primarily white areas.

Heh. You should hear what my daughter has to say about Chinese
food in Russia.

I went to a Chinese restaurant in St. Petersburg Russia though that was
in 1993. Mediocre. We took our tour guide/bicycle mechanic out for
lunch. Very bland but our tour guide proclaimed that the food was too
spicy for him. I was on a bike tour from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The
food on the trip was not only mediocre, there was not enough of it
considering we were cycling about 80 miles per day. We would go to a
restaurant and literally eat all the food they had.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by sms
I went to a Chinese restaurant in St. Petersburg Russia though
that was in 1993. Mediocre.

That seems generous, considering what I hear now. Fried cucumbers
mixed with french fries? (That was the special.)

Post by sms
Very bland but our tour guide proclaimed that the food was too
spicy for him.

When my daughter was living in Almaty, she cooked a Turkish dish
for people there, one that we make often enough at home, and used
only some sweet paprika (whereas we mix in some cayenne). They
thought it was too spicy. But the family memory is staying at a
cabin that provided meals, and where the seasonal staff was from
Slovakia: They had carrot soup that was pretty good, but it had
some white pepper in it, and the staff couldn't handle it. It
wasn't detectably spicy, as far as we were concerned.

I suppose one could argue that we've numbed our palates....

[Mike D.]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by sms
I went to a Chinese restaurant in St. Petersburg Russia though
that was in 1993. Mediocre.

That seems generous, considering what I hear now. Fried cucumbers
mixed with french fries? (That was the special.)

Post by sms
Very bland but our tour guide proclaimed that the food was too
spicy for him.

When my daughter was living in Almaty, she cooked a Turkish dish
for people there, one that we make often enough at home, and used
only some sweet paprika (whereas we mix in some cayenne). They
thought it was too spicy.

After WW II, my grandmother's little brother was in a slave labor
camp for POWs near Alma-Ata. (A GUPVI) Luckily he got out before he was
worked to death.

Good times.

[Julian Macassey]

On Sat, 28 Nov 2015 22:46:19 +0000 (UTC), Todd Michel McComb

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by sms
My son and his friends have major Asian food withdrawal from going
to colleges in primarily white areas.

Heh. You should hear what my daughter has to say about Chinese
food in Russia.

Wherever you go in the world, you will find a drunken
Englishman and a Chinese restaurant.

Whether you recognise the food as Chinese is another
matter. Around the world ethnic restauarants tend to modify
recipes to suit local tastes. Sometime they create whole new faux
dishes like chop suey.

[Mike D.]

Post by sms

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by sms
Cornell and Northern Arizona (Flagstaff) are two others. University of
San Diego also has good food though no culinary program.

UC Davis has a good food program too. It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there.

Post by sms
My university had dismal food.

Likewise. It used to be pretty universal, as far as I have heard,
but thankfully, more places are starting to care about serving
decent food. (Ironically, as fewer Americans cook, meaning fewer
kids are accustomed to good food.)

As a commuter, I was used to pretty decent cafeteria food on campus.
But then I attended an event where we ate dorm food -- OMG it was
wretched. Whether to save money or because the audience was captive,
or both.

Post by sms
My son and his friends have major Asian food withdrawal from going to
colleges in primarily white areas. I never saw so many blondes as when
we visited him at his dorm in San Diego.

San Diego County is like an island packed with military and ex-military.
But considering that yelp.com/san-diego features 67 pages of Thai
restaurants alone, I think your son and his friends lack initiative.

As far as blondes go, the one next door started at UofAz, then
transferred to UCSD. Surprisingly enough, many blondes go away to
college.

ASU is the home of the stunning white women, in my experience. Closer
to home, I would give consideration to Santa Clara.

Post by sms
Santa Cruz is pretty dismal in terms of Asian food as well. My old
girlfriend's uncle used to have a good place on Seabright but it was
sold years ago. It's still a Chinese restaurant but I haven't tried it
and the reviews are not great.

Charlie Hong Kong?
It's not actually on Seabright, but I don't think any Asian restaurant
is.
But SF is the home of mediocre Greek food, mediocre Middle Eastern food,
and most likely mediocre German food if they only had a German restaurant
in town. We haven't tried Italian or Mexican, but we're not optimistic.
In our brew pub adventures, we decided their American eats aren't bad.

[Tim May]

Post by Mike D.

Post by sms
Santa Cruz is pretty dismal in terms of Asian food as well. My old
girlfriend's uncle used to have a good place on Seabright but it was
sold years ago. It's still a Chinese restaurant but I haven't tried it
and the reviews are not great.

Charlie Hong Kong?
It's not actually on Seabright, but I don't think any Asian restaurant
is.

I would guess it's Real Thai, 1632 Seabright Ave. I first went there in
1986, and was there as recently as about a year ago. It's OK Thai food.
I don't know of another Asian restaurant on Seabright. A few good pizza
places, though.

Charlie Hong Kong was a hot dog place until being revamped as Asian
fusion street food, and this was done only in this millennium, so the
timing does not seem to fit.

[Tim May]

Post by Tim May

Post by Mike D.

Post by sms
Santa Cruz is pretty dismal in terms of Asian food as well. My old
girlfriend's uncle used to have a good place on Seabright but it was
sold years ago. It's still a Chinese restaurant but I haven't tried it
and the reviews are not great.

Charlie Hong Kong?
It's not actually on Seabright, but I don't think any Asian restaurant
is.

I would guess it's Real Thai, 1632 Seabright Ave. I first went there in
1986, and was there as recently as about a year ago. It's OK Thai food.
I don't know of another Asian restaurant on Seabright. A few good pizza
places, though.

I just rememberd another place, Fortune Garden, 1733 Seabright Ave
(Yelp tells me). It's on the extension of Seabright, from near the Rio
Theater over to Water Street. I was there once, several years ago. I
don't recall anything about it.

[Al Eisner]

Post by sms
My son and his friends have major Asian food withdrawal from going to
colleges in primarily white areas. I never saw so many blondes as when we
visited him at his dorm in San Diego.

I spent a lot of time in San Diego back in the 90's, and have only made
brief visits since. The Chinese food situation in the 90's was pretty
poor by Bay Area standards. (I ate at a PF Chang a couple of times,
and other, non-chain, places seemed similar.) But even then there
was a quite good Cantonese seafood place on Convoy St., and some time
late one genuinely good Northern place opened in the north suburbs
(maybe Rancho Bernardo?). So it did seem to be trending upward.
Also, Convoy St. has had a very good Korean restaurant. I won't
bother with names, since it's probably all out-of-date (even if
I can remember), but in general the Convoy restaurant strips are
worth checking out if your son can get around. (There also used
to be a great Afghan place there, but it later moved. Afghan does
qualify as Asian, even if not what you had in mind.)

Perhaps getting a bit OT here....

[sms]

Post by Al Eisner

Post by sms
My son and his friends have major Asian food withdrawal from going to
colleges in primarily white areas. I never saw so many blondes as when
we visited him at his dorm in San Diego.

I spent a lot of time in San Diego back in the 90's, and have only made
brief visits since. The Chinese food situation in the 90's was pretty
poor by Bay Area standards. (I ate at a PF Chang a couple of times,
and other, non-chain, places seemed similar.) But even then there was a
quite good Cantonese seafood place on Convoy St., and some time
late one genuinely good Northern place opened in the north suburbs
(maybe Rancho Bernardo?). So it did seem to be trending upward.
Also, Convoy St. has had a very good Korean restaurant. I won't
bother with names, since it's probably all out-of-date (even if
I can remember), but in general the Convoy restaurant strips are
worth checking out if your son can get around. (There also used
to be a great Afghan place there, but it later moved. Afghan does
qualify as Asian, even if not what you had in mind.)
Perhaps getting a bit OT here....

We found a good Himalayan restaurant not far from campus, and an
acceptable, though not outstanding, sushi place near Qualcomm stadium.

I think that the good Chinese food is in the outer suburbs, as you
stated. With HP out in Rancho Bernardo there were probably a lot of
Asian employees.

There are a lot of excellent independent coffee houses in the small
beach towns north of San Diego.

[Aahz Maruch]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
UC Davis has a good food program too. It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there.

That's not my recollection from living in the dorms, but my experience is
more than a quarter-century out-of-date.

[Peter Lawrence]

Post by Aahz Maruch

Post by Todd Michel McComb
UC Davis has a good food program too. It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there.

That's not my recollection from living in the dorms, but my experience is
more than a quarter-century out-of-date.

When I was choosing a college to attend over 30 years ago, the quality of
their food service was of no importance at all to myself or my parents.

I wonder what values our society is instilling in our future adults when the
quality of food service is of "seal the deal" importance in selecting a
college to attend.


- Peter

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Peter Lawrence

Post by Aahz Maruch
That's not my recollection from living in the dorms, but my
experience is more than a quarter-century out-of-date.

I don't know the history of food at Davis, but like some of the
places Sms mentioned, at this point, their food-related majors
contribute to the food service.

Post by Peter Lawrence
I wonder what values our society is instilling in our future adults
when the quality of food service is of "seal the deal" importance
in selecting a college to attend.

An easy summary would be "quality of life matters." Why go somewhere
and suffer with miserable food, if there's another option? I'm
sure the terrible food at my school had a real impact on my health.
You can blow that off if you want....

I would rather wonder what sort of values we were instilling when
telling people their only choice was to eat crap.

[Mike D.]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by Peter Lawrence

Post by Aahz Maruch
That's not my recollection from living in the dorms, but my
experience is more than a quarter-century out-of-date.

I don't know the history of food at Davis, but like some of the
places Sms mentioned, at this point, their food-related majors
contribute to the food service.

Post by Peter Lawrence
I wonder what values our society is instilling in our future adults
when the quality of food service is of "seal the deal" importance
in selecting a college to attend.

An easy summary would be "quality of life matters." Why go somewhere
and suffer with miserable food, if there's another option? I'm
sure the terrible food at my school had a real impact on my health.
You can blow that off if you want....
I would rather wonder what sort of values we were instilling when
telling people their only choice was to eat crap.

My friend who went to one of the older Catholic high schools joked
that the cafeteria had a sign in Latin over the entrance that
translated to "The faith knows," or Fidem Scit.

[Peter Lawrence]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by Peter Lawrence

Post by Aahz Maruch
That's not my recollection from living in the dorms, but my
experience is more than a quarter-century out-of-date.

I don't know the history of food at Davis, but like some of the
places Sms mentioned, at this point, their food-related majors
contribute to the food service.

Post by Peter Lawrence
I wonder what values our society is instilling in our future adults
when the quality of food service is of "seal the deal" importance
in selecting a college to attend.

An easy summary would be "quality of life matters." Why go somewhere
and suffer with miserable food, if there's another option? I'm
sure the terrible food at my school had a real impact on my health.
You can blow that off if you want....
I would rather wonder what sort of values we were instilling when
telling people their only choice was to eat crap.

Where I went the food served at the dorm's cafeteria was okay and edible,
far better than some of my friends experienced at UC schools, especially
Berkeley where the dorm food was horrid.

That said, it was mostly freshman that stayed in the dorms at my university
with sophomores and above moving to the university-owned off-campus
apartments. The main reason: the cost of the mandatory food-plan that dorm
residents were required to purchase.

And at the university-owned apartments, we bought and cooked our own food.
What's a concept: young adults cooking for themselves.


- Peter

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Peter Lawrence
The main reason: the cost of the mandatory food-plan that dorm
residents were required to purchase.

Yes, exactly. Not only is/was the food bad at so many places, but
the value is/was very poor. If you're going to advocate "suffering
on principle," as you did decline to do, it seems, why suffer for
the profit of some greedy concessionaire?

Post by Peter Lawrence
What's a concept: young adults cooking for themselves.

Well, I guess I'll just assume that you've totally forgotten who
you were talking to on this subject. Of course, my children cooked
for themselves at the first opportunity. But who wants to suffer
on bad food for the required year, if there are other options?

[Peter Lawrence]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
But who wants to suffer
on bad food for the required year, if there are other options?

Because for me (and others) there were other criteria that we deemed more
important when selecting a college to attend. The bad dorm food served at
Berkeley didn't seem to make a big dent on the number of students that
applied and wanted to attend that university.


- Peter

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Peter Lawrence
Because for me (and others) there were other criteria that we
deemed more important when selecting a college to attend.

I don't see how I suggested that it was otherwise for my son.

[Peter Lawrence]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by Peter Lawrence
Because for me (and others) there were other criteria that we
deemed more important when selecting a college to attend.

I don't see how I suggested that it was otherwise for my son.

When you stated in an earlier post, “It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there”, you made it sound like it was major
criteria in your son's eyes.


- Peter

[Todd Michel McComb]

When you stated in an earlier post, "It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there", you made it sound like it
was major criteria in your son's eyes.

I had intended to suggest that it was a significant secondary factor
(as in sealing the deal, not creating an interest in the first
place). It's not as though I actually know what made his decision
for him. However, he didn't try the food until already taking a
visit, etc.

Personally, I think any institution serving bad food should be
viewed with a jaundiced eye, even if you're never going to eat
there. If e.g. Berkeley is still serving bad food, I think they're
doing everyone a disservice, by acculturating people to bad food.
(I'm sure the purveyors of bad food love it, and not only those who
get to make their money directly there.)

I also think that college decisions are greatly overhyped. Unless
one is intending some highly specialized major, it matters little.

[sms]

Post by Peter Lawrence

Post by Todd Michel McComb
But who wants to suffer
on bad food for the required year, if there are other options?

Because for me (and others) there were other criteria that we deemed
more important when selecting a college to attend. The bad dorm food
served at Berkeley didn't seem to make a big dent on the number of
students that applied and wanted to attend that university.

So you're saying that as long as a university has enough demand for
slots that they should be able to minimize their costs by serving bad
food to students. Got it.

[Peter Lawrence]

Post by Peter Lawrence

Post by Todd Michel McComb
But who wants to suffer
on bad food for the required year, if there are other options?

Because for me (and others) there were other criteria that we deemed
more important when selecting a college to attend. The bad dorm food
served at Berkeley didn't seem to make a big dent on the number of
students that applied and wanted to attend that university.

So you're saying that as long as a university has enough demand for slots
that they should be able to minimize their costs by serving bad food to
students. Got it.

Yes. At Berkeley that appears to be the case (at least back then).


- Peter

[David Kaye]

HAS NOBODY EATEN AT CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE? Jesus Christ on a Stick! I start
a thread pointing out the excellent food and low prices served by the
culinary students at CCC and not a one of you cares to comment on THAT.
Instead you comment on your foul food experiences back when you were in
college during the Roosevelt era.

C'mon now, why don't you folks at least TRY the food the culinary kids put
out at CCC.




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[Al Eisner]

Post by David Kaye
HAS NOBODY EATEN AT CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE? Jesus Christ on a Stick!

"On a stick"? I thought it was two sticks, but what do I know.

Post by David Kaye
I start
a thread pointing out the excellent food and low prices served by the
culinary students at CCC and not a one of you cares to comment on THAT.
Instead you comment on your foul food experiences back when you were in
college during the Roosevelt era.
C'mon now, why don't you folks at least TRY the food the culinary kids put
out at CCC.

I would be happy to try it - once they've opened a branch in Menlo Park
or RWC or somewhere near there. Keep us informed.

[Mike D.]

Post by David Kaye
HAS NOBODY EATEN AT CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE? Jesus Christ on a Stick! I start
a thread pointing out the excellent food and low prices served by the
culinary students at CCC and not a one of you cares to comment on THAT.
Instead you comment on your foul food experiences back when you were in
college during the Roosevelt era.
C'mon now, why don't you folks at least TRY the food the culinary kids put
out at CCC.

Because it's only open from 11:00am to 1:15 pm, Tuesdays thru Thursdays., and because I am never near San Pablo at that time.

It may be possible when the A's come back to Oakland.

[Peter Lawrence]

Post by Mike D.

Post by David Kaye
HAS NOBODY EATEN AT CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE? Jesus Christ on a Stick! I start
a thread pointing out the excellent food and low prices served by the
culinary students at CCC and not a one of you cares to comment on THAT.
Instead you comment on your foul food experiences back when you were in
college during the Roosevelt era.
C'mon now, why don't you folks at least TRY the food the culinary kids put
out at CCC.

Because it's only open from 11:00am to 1:15 pm, Tuesdays thru Thursdays., and because I am never near San Pablo at that time.

Details, details, details...

(Sometimes I just think David K. is just trolling this group when he writes
posts like he did above. How could a reasonable person think a eatery with
such limited hours, off the beaten path of most Bay Area diners, be
someplace that any of the active participants of this newsgroup would seek
out within a week of his initial post?)


- Peter

[David Kaye]

Post by Peter Lawrence
(Sometimes I just think David K. is just trolling this group when he
writes posts like he did above. How could a reasonable person think a
eatery with such limited hours, off the beaten path of most Bay Area
diners, be someplace that any of the active participants of this newsgroup
would seek out within a week of his initial post?)

Uh, Yountville is way way way off the beaten path and yet people flock there
to visit the French Laundry.

I've also mentioned places in SF and San Bruno and nothing came back about
those places, either. Well, okay, after lots of trashing, someone did
confirm my statement that Uncle Vito's Pizza Deli on Bush and Powell had
good food. But that's been the only response from anyone who has bothered
to dine at any place I've mentioned.

As for people with "limited hours", if people here are food sluts they're
going to make time in their day to visit places they've never been. I get
the impression that few people in this group actually go out and dine. They
probably sit at home and watch Bobby Flay. Sheesh.




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[evergene]

Post by David Kaye

...How could a reasonable person think a
eatery with such limited hours, off the beaten path of most Bay Area
diners, be someplace that any of the active participants of this newsgroup
would seek out within a week of his initial post?

Uh, Yountville is way way way off the beaten path and yet people flock there
to visit the French Laundry.

Did people start flocking to the French Laundry as a result of
something you posted on ba.food?

Post by David Kaye
I've also mentioned places in SF and San Bruno and nothing came back about
those places, either.

When I comment here on a restaurant in SF, I expect no replies, or
rather, I know who's likely to reply, because the majority of the
three or four people who still participate in ba.food rarely go to
restaurants in SF.

Post by David Kaye
Well, okay, after lots of trashing, someone did
confirm my statement that Uncle Vito's Pizza Deli on Bush and Powell had
good food. But that's been the only response from anyone who has bothered
to dine at any place I've mentioned.
As for people with "limited hours", if people here are food sluts they're
going to make time in their day to visit places they've never been. I get
the impression that few people in this group actually go out and dine. They
probably sit at home and watch Bobby Flay. Sheesh.

I've never seen Bobby Flay, but I have "dined" at the Lucky Penny.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by evergene
I've never seen Bobby Flay, but I have "dined" at the Lucky Penny.

Sadly, I've "dined" at Applebee's.

There was a period when a bar I'm at a lot regularly had cooking
shows on the TVs. That was the first I'd seen many of these cooking
show people, albeit without sound (which I'm sure was for the best).

[Al Eisner]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by evergene
I've never seen Bobby Flay, but I have "dined" at the Lucky Penny.

Sadly, I've "dined" at Applebee's.
There was a period when a bar I'm at a lot regularly had cooking
shows on the TVs. That was the first I'd seen many of these cooking
show people, albeit without sound (which I'm sure was for the best).

The Food Channel was once (many years ago) worth watching, but I've
long since given up. I no longer even sample it. Last week several
posters here referred to (and recommended) some shows on local
public television, but I've never encountered these in the
on-screen program guide, so maybe they are under the radar.
At any rate, I've never seen any of them.

[sms]

Post by evergene

Post by David Kaye

...How could a reasonable person think a
eatery with such limited hours, off the beaten path of most Bay Area
diners, be someplace that any of the active participants of this newsgroup
would seek out within a week of his initial post?

Uh, Yountville is way way way off the beaten path and yet people flock there
to visit the French Laundry.

Did people start flocking to the French Laundry as a result of
something you posted on ba.food?

Post by David Kaye
I've also mentioned places in SF and San Bruno and nothing came back about
those places, either.

When I comment here on a restaurant in SF, I expect no replies, or
rather, I know who's likely to reply, because the majority of the
three or four people who still participate in ba.food rarely go to
restaurants in SF.

Post by David Kaye
Well, okay, after lots of trashing, someone did
confirm my statement that Uncle Vito's Pizza Deli on Bush and Powell had
good food. But that's been the only response from anyone who has bothered
to dine at any place I've mentioned.
As for people with "limited hours", if people here are food sluts they're
going to make time in their day to visit places they've never been. I get
the impression that few people in this group actually go out and dine. They
probably sit at home and watch Bobby Flay. Sheesh.

I've never seen Bobby Flay, but I have "dined" at the Lucky Penny.

I recall when "Copper Penny" was a nationwide chain. Interesting that
they kept "Penny" in the name in San Francisco considering the
reputation for food quality that Copper Penny had.

[Julian Macassey]

Post by sms
I recall when "Copper Penny" was a nationwide chain. Interesting that
they kept "Penny" in the name in San Francisco considering the
reputation for food quality that Copper Penny had.

There is a former Copper Penny in San Mateo that now goes
under the name "Ramen Parlor".

901 S B St
San Mateo, CA 94401

They are very busy, and I love their ramen.

There used to be a web site with pictures of "re-purposed" chain and
fast food restaurants. Former Taco Bell restaurants easily get
that Middle Eastern look with a little work.

[sms]

Post by Julian Macassey

Post by sms
I recall when "Copper Penny" was a nationwide chain. Interesting that
they kept "Penny" in the name in San Francisco considering the
reputation for food quality that Copper Penny had.

There is a former Copper Penny in San Mateo that now goes
under the name "Ramen Parlor".
901 S B St
San Mateo, CA 94401
They are very busy, and I love their ramen.

That building was a Chicken Unlimited. See:
<http://www.yelp.com/biz/chicken-unlimited-san-mateo>. I remember it
because it was the only Chicken Unlimited I had seen in California.

My fondest memory of Chicken Unlimited was when, as a teenager, I went
to one with my father in Florida. One of the cashiers, over the P.A.
system, shouted "Julie, how many breasts do you have." The entire
restaurant erupted in uproarious laughter.

[Julian Macassey]

Post by sms

Post by Julian Macassey

Post by sms
I recall when "Copper Penny" was a nationwide chain. Interesting that
they kept "Penny" in the name in San Francisco considering the
reputation for food quality that Copper Penny had.

There is a former Copper Penny in San Mateo that now goes
under the name "Ramen Parlor".
901 S B St
San Mateo, CA 94401

<http://www.yelp.com/biz/chicken-unlimited-san-mateo>. I remember it
because it was the only Chicken Unlimited I had seen in California.

From that Yelp page, it seems it has been many
restaurants in the past few years, chicken, Mexican, Kebab, pick
one. I base my guess as to it's former incarnation from the
circular sign in the parking lot.

See:

Loading Image...

Loading Image...

Post by sms
My fondest memory of Chicken Unlimited was when, as a teenager, I went
to one with my father in Florida. One of the cashiers, over the P.A.
system, shouted "Julie, how many breasts do you have." The entire
restaurant erupted in uproarious laughter.

She had five breasts which is why her parents named her
Sanctity. un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq titty

[Julian Macassey]

Post by David Kaye
Uh, Yountville is way way way off the beaten path and yet people flock there
to visit the French Laundry.

They are wankers, people who go to be seen and say
they've been more than going out for a good dinner at the spur of
the moment.

Still no arrests after the French Laundry wine theft.
They have a good idea who did it, yet no one is in prison.

[Aahz Maruch]

Post by David Kaye
HAS NOBODY EATEN AT CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE? Jesus Christ on a Stick! I start
a thread pointing out the excellent food and low prices served by the
culinary students at CCC and not a one of you cares to comment on THAT.
Instead you comment on your foul food experiences back when you were in
college during the Roosevelt era.

You're new to Usenet, ain't'cha?

[sms]

Post by Peter Lawrence
I wonder what values our society is instilling in our future adults when
the quality of food service is of "seal the deal" importance in
selecting a college to attend.

It may not be "seal the deal" but it certainly is one valid
consideration. Crappy food affects student health and could have
implications on their academic performance as well.

I know that when I was in college the fact that the food service was so
terrible meant that even in the dorms most people were cooking,
sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on forbidden appliances in the dorm
room (and this was way before microwave ovens were a mass market
consumer product). This took up a lot of time, not only the cooking, but
also the shopping. And we were not preparing very healthy food, as I
recall it was often Kraft Macaroni and Cheese which, at the time, was
often on sale at 4 for $1.

As an aside, on Saturday, my daughter left some food at home that I had
gotten for her to take back to school and explained (in a text) that it
would be too hard to prepare because her apartment lacked a microwave. I
texted her that we had a small, unused microwave that she could take
back but she said that her roommates did not want a microwave in the
apartment. Very Santa Cruz!

[sms]

On 11/30/2015 9:36 AM, Peter Lawrence wrote:

<snip>

Post by Peter Lawrence
When I was choosing a college to attend over 30 years ago, the quality
of their food service was of no importance at all to myself or my parents.
I wonder what values our society is instilling in our future adults when
the quality of food service is of "seal the deal" importance in
selecting a college to attend.

When my son was choosing a college, earlier this year, we visited the
ones that had the major he was looking for and developed a set of
criteria for evaluating each school.

It was such a useful exercise that a created a presentation of the
procedure and presented it at my Toastmasters club.

This is it:
<https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b-VR9f0_QLgXgxfbXWjsWFjvlS-ceHZhnu_54KZD3ZQ/edit?usp=sharing>

I won the humorous speech contest with this, but only at the club level.

[Don Martinich]

Post by Aahz Maruch

Post by Todd Michel McComb
UC Davis has a good food program too. It was a major "seal the deal"
factor for my son deciding to go there.

That's not my recollection from living in the dorms, but my experience is
more than a quarter-century out-of-date.

I was attending UC Davis in the early 70's. The cafeteria and dorm food
was typical catering service crap. I think the catering outfit was Saga
Food Services. There was also the student-run Coffee House which was
somewhat better. I used to order their hamburgers which were actually
cooked to order. A lot of kids liked their chili, but I think it was
what you might find on a commune back then. I see that now there are a
number of snack bars run by some of the big fast food chains. If you
want to see what the dorms serve, here's a sample menu:
http://dining.ucdavis.edu/res-segundo-menu.html

D.M.