In Defense of The Hub

Maybe everybody else already knows this but it was a pretty big surprise to me when I got back from a semester abroad: The Hub is actually open when you’d want to go now. In my nearly three years at CMC I have never heard a good word about that strange little restaurant floating on the edge of Scripps. If nobody else wants to stand up for our beleaguered student union, I will. The Hub serves consistently tasty, plausibly healthy dishes three meals a day, with a rotating schedule offering some variety. Servings are larger than those at the Mudd Hole or Coop without reaching the disgusting proportions of what I dollop out for myself at our all you can eat dining halls and the sandwiches, wraps, and the like are typically more interesting: Mediterranean salad in a pita is a change of pace if nothing else.

Up until this year, exasperation with The Hub was understandable— regardless of how good the food was, it was essentially only open for lunch or a late breakfast. This is no more! Now open late-night on Thursday and Friday, the Hub has also expanded its meal replacement offering to include dinners, starting conveniently at 7:00 right after dining halls begin to close. Food aside, The Hub’s facilities are as nice as any of its competitors’ and, because nobody seems to go there, there’s none of the interminable wait for your chicken fingers that the Coop so often inflicts on me. On the other hand, there are no chicken fingers.

There’re still plenty of things to gripe about when it comes to The Hub: the sometimes surly staff, the still somewhat limited hours, and the striking similarity between much of the food there and at Collins. Nevertheless, I say embrace The Hub. Eating at the Coop is tantamount to cheering on Pomona, the Mudd Hole makes me fear for my life and, to be honest I’m tired of my friends making me walk so damn far to satisfy their munchies. Eat local!