School cafeteria’s burger and curly fries (left), and sun butter sandwich (right) (Avi Jacobs)

It’s not exactly new information that the school lunches of Hall High School are vulnerable to criticism. But while we can acknowledge that the food would likely not be given 5 stars, the Hall High School cafeteria still manages to create a diverse menu of food every day for hundreds of students. 

Whether it is a plate of the nachos grande, a grilled cheese sandwich paired with tater tots, or a simple bowl of popcorn chicken, the cafeteria has a broad menu for each day of school. Additionally, numerous pre-wrapped lunches are available for students to buy instead of the cooked meals. 

But what are students’ opinions of these meals? What are their favorite cafeteria dishes? Or, more importantly, what are students’ least favorite school meals?

Before the results are shared, it is important to note that the information presented does not represent the opinions of Hall Highlights staff, but rather represents the results of a survey taken within the school.

A survey was conducted of 60 randomly selected Hall students of all grade levels to determine the best lunch meal, and the answers are very intriguing. This poll was a mixture of a Google Form sent to random individuals at Hall, as well as oral responses within the cafeteria. 

Over 30 percent of students answered that their favorite cafeteria lunch is the burger and curly fries plate, described as the “Burger Bar” on the official Hall High School Lunch Menu. Notably, many students specifically pointed out the curly fries as a favorite, despite their often burnt state. 

“The fries can be good,” says one 10th grade student. “Sometimes they’re spicy, sometimes too crunchy, but they’re one of the best ranking foods.” 

The burger bar is an easy-to-create yet tasty meal that is enjoyed by many students who were polled.  And while the burger takes the crown for Hall High School’s best cafeteria meal, the second-best lunch according to pollees is the popcorn chicken, voted for by over 20.8 percent of the students polled. Some days this meal is accompanied by mashed potatoes, and other days curly fries are included. No matter the side dish, students definitely enjoy this meal whenever it is served. 

Additionally, 13.3 percent of students polled answered that the nachos grande was the best meal, not just because of the seasoned meat and crunchy chips, but also because of the wide variety of toppings for students. 

In addition, 10 percent of pollees voted for French Toast Sticks as the best cafeteria meal, and despite this menu choice only being available on Wednesdays, these Wednesdays excite hungry students. 

Other answers to this survey question included a variety of meals, including mozzarella sticks, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, chicken tenders, pizza, and more.

While the highest-ranking foods question included few outliers, the survey question asking which school lunch is your least favorite yielded a wider array of answers. Over one-third of the 60 students polled answered that their least favorite lunch was the sun butter sandwich, a meal only distributed on Wednesday, October 27 due to an unforeseen power outage. 

Some of you may recall that on this day, a transformer malfunction caused brief power outages in some areas of the school. But while flickering lights were annoying to students, the outage also greatly impacted the cafeteria staff. Tasked with quickly creating an easy-to-make lunch while having limited access to ovens, the lunch staff created a sun butter sandwich, composed of sun butter and bread. This meal was not the scheduled lunch for the day, but they had to divert from the district menu to create a safe dish under the circumstances. 

Many pollees had very strong opinions about this meal. “There was no flavor at all,” says a junior. “They needed to at least try.”

The second least favorite school lunch according to the results is the nachos grande, with 13.3 percent of the students choosing it as their least favorite lunch. Even with all of the toppings provided for students to choose from, which landed nachos as the third best cafeteria meal, many Hall High School students dislike this meal for a number of reasons. Students noted that the “fake cheese” ruins the chips, and therefore ask for no cheese or don’t get the meal at all. 

This is an interesting case, as this meal yielded 8 votes for the best lunch, as well as 8 votes for the least favorite lunch. However, the third worst cafeteria lunch according to the poll yielded the most confusing results, as 11.7 percent of pollees voted their least favorite meal as an indescribable food bowl. Out of the 7 students who voted this meal to be the worst, all 7 had a different description of this dish. 

One pollee said the bowl contained “potatoes, gravy, and peas.”

Another said that the food “was green, had potatoes, and just didn’t taste good.” 

Some pollees were unable to describe the meal at all and could only remember the details after hearing others talk about it. But, after piecing together the details, the food was likely either a shepherd’s pie bowl or chicken pot pie– you decide. 

Students who ordered this dish noted that the ingredients seemed to blend together and tasted bland. Many pollees who described this dish also mentioned the gravy, which layered the potatoes, peas, and chickens within the bowl.

Other responses to the question of least favorite meals were varied, and some answers included grilled cheese, the filet of fish sandwich, pasta, chicken parmesan, and the broad category of breakfast lunches. In total, over 12 different lunches were identified as their most disliked lunches.

Interestingly, while every person polled identified a least favorite meal, they also had a most favorite meal. So, while it is easy to judge the school lunches, students still do have their preferences and favorites. 

It is important to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the lunch staff, especially during this tough school year. Without them, hundreds of students attending Hall High School would have no access to hot lunches. 

So, what is your opinion on Hall High school lunches? Which meal is your favorite? Which one do you believe could use some improvement?