Duke’s campus has been eagerly anticipating the opening of the West Union, but are its eateries really that different from other campus options? To compare the West Union with another popular campus eatery The Loop, The Chronicle held a taste test in its office. Participants were assistant news editor Samantha Neal and two non-staff members—junior Bonnie St. Charles and sophomore Analese Bridges. All participants were blindfolded and then given a sample of three classic college dishes—pizza, pasta and cheeseburgers—one from a West Union eatery, Il Forno Italian Kitchen for the pizza and pasta and The Farmstead for the burgers, and one from The Loop. The three had to guess which location each food item came from and then share their thoughts on it. Here’s what they had to say:
Pizza
Round 1 - The Loop
Samantha: It has a lot of toppings. There are a lot of veggies on it. I’m probably going to guess this is from The Loop.
Analese: I’m going to go with The Loop. It’s good, it’s decent pizza. It’s not the best pizza I’ve ever had. There’s a lot of veggies. If I was hungry and wanted to grab lunch, I would probably get it.
Bonnie: There are a lot of veggies on it. It’s pretty mediocre pizza. I’m going to go with also The Loop.
Round 2 - West Union
Samantha: This is a lot warmer and it feels like a bigger piece. This seems like a little fresher, and it definitely has more sauce to it. This definitely feels more like a heartier pizza, like something I would have for dinner. I’m going to guess this is from the West Union.
Analese: Oh yeah, this is a bigger slice. I’m not sure if there are more toppings or just chunkier toppings. There’s definitely more sauce on it, and the sauce itself has more flavor, with like oregano. I can actually taste it.
Bonnie: That’s better. The sauce definitely does have more flavor. The vegetables are a little crunchier it feels like. I’m going to say this is from the West Union.
Samantha: Also the crust is pretty good too. It’s a little powdery, but it’s definitely crisp.
Bonnie: I like this one. I’m going to eat this whole piece.
Pasta
Round 1 - West Union
Samantha: It’s pretty warm. I wouldn’t say it’s a great pasta. The sauce is okay. It’s not too heavy, it’s not too light. It definitely has some flavor to it, but I don’t know if I would order this.
Analese: The first thing that strikes me is how incredibly bland it is. I don’t get any flavor. If you didn’t tell me this was alfredo, I would struggle to find out what I was eating. And the sauce is on the thinner side which isn’t what I would expect for alfredo.
Bonnie: It is like pretty creamy but not very thick. It also takes like store-bought alfredo, like something I would buy in a package at Harris Teeter. The noodles are fine, but they just taste like noodles and grocery store alfredo sauce.
Samantha: The chicken isn’t very good either, it’s just like chicken cubes. It doesn’t really taste like fresh chicken. I probably wouldn’t get this chicken alfredo.
Round 2 - The Loop
Samantha: This is definitely not really an alfredo, it’s more tomato-y. I definitely like this one more, it’s more flavorful. I think it has more spice to it.
Analese: There’s definitely more bite to the sauce itself. I’m getting more of an herb flavor. If I had to choose between these two options, I would pick this one over the former. I’m not quite sure where it’s from though.
Bonnie: It has more flavor for sure, like they put some kind of red pepper in it. And it’s definitely from The Loop.
Cheeseburger
Round 1 - The Loop
Samantha: Wow, that’s a lot of mayo. I probably wouldn’t get this burger just because I prefer mustard on my burgers.
Analese: There’s definitely a lot of something on here, I think it’s mayo. It sort of masks the fact that the meat has no flavor. It’s not awful, but I wouldn’t necessarily order it again.
Bonnie: There are a lot of condiments on this. Yeah the meat has like no flavor. The bun is okay. It’s a little squished. And the mayo doesn’t take like normal mayo, it seems like they tried to do something fancy with it, but like in reality, it’s just mayo. It would have been better if they had made the burger normal. I think it’s from The Loop.
Samantha: I feel like the lettuce was kind of underwhelming.
Analese: This tastes like a burger from McDonald’s to be completely honest. The initial bite wasn’t super impressive.
Round 2 - West Union
Samantha: The bun feels a little fluffier. But it’s a little soggy. There are a lot of condiments. It’s just very meaty. I don’t necessarily like this one more. I don’t think I’m a huge fan of either one of these burgers. The burger itself definitely seems thicker, but it’s really dry. I probably wouldn’t get this.
Analese: The first thing that strikes me is that the bread feels very different. It feels like a white bread, that you would just get in a bag at the grocery store. And it’s thin, so it makes it seem like there’s a lot more burger. So it’s a meatier bite, but there’s not a lot of condiments on it. I don’t really prefer either one of them.
Bonnie: It tastes like a very juicy burger on some Texas toast. It’s not really better than the last one. Frankly it needs mayo. I think this is a better burger, but the bun is a little weird. It’s a bit of a try-hard burger. But I think overall, the actual meat in this burger is better. I think it’s from West Union.
Analese: Because it’s thicker, it makes me think that it was hand patted out instead of frozen, because frozen burgers tend to be thinner.
Final observations
Bonnie: Honestly none of the food was that great. But it all was something I would eat if I was hungry.
Analese: I second that opinion. There wasn’t anything that really stood out for me. There were standard changes. But it’s pretty typical dining hall food.
Bonnie: [Choosing between The Loop and West Union] would be a matter of convenience for me. The West Union may be trying to be a little too fancy with these burger buns, but we all have to define ourselves somehow.
Adam Beyer contributed reporting.
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