The College Critic

It’s currently located at www.thecollegecritics.com

Nathan S., Macalester College

With the departure of my parents looming, my family and I needed one more “family dinner” together before we parted ways. We were in Mac Groveland, a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays host to Macalester College. Situated three blocks away from Macalester lies the restaurant that claims to have the “tallest taste in the Twin Cities.” Everest on Grand, which serves up traditional Himalayan cuisine, seemed like the perfect choice for my last family dinner for more than two months. Keep reading →

Zach B., Yale University

In 1900, Louis Lassen, owner of Louis’ Lunch (est. 1895), invented the hamburger. Asked to make something to eat on the go, Lassen slapped some ground meat between two pieces of toast and inadvertently created an American icon. Although this piece of oral history could potentially be contested, the quality of Louis’ Lunch cannot.

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Caleb P., New England Conservatory

Nestled in a crowded strip of restaurants on Boylston Street right off of Massachusetts Avenue lies a gem of Asian cuisine for college students, both in quality of food and speedy delivery. Keep reading →

Just over a week old, Mel’s Burger Bar (2850 Broadway), is already a neighborhood institution, or so the energetic waitstaff enthusiastically professes. “We’re known for The Original,” one waitresses says, describing the first “Burgerlicious” burger on the menu. Served on white toast with lettuce, tomato, and pickles, The Original pays homage to Louis’ Lunch in Connecticut, the self-proclaimed “birthplace of the hamburger sandwich.” Unfortunately, there is nothing particularly original about Mel’s, a restaurant that serves up engineered atmosphere and unnecessarily cute diner food to starry-eyed Columbians. Keep reading →

When Frank Bruni filed a report on Dovetail in 2008, he awarded the restaurant three stars, applauding chef John Fraser’s simultaneously sophisticated and homespun cuisine. Then only a few months old, Dovetail seemed a strong addition to the Upper West Side’s thin fine dining scene; two years later, Dovetail maintains a consistent level of performance, struggling to outshine its own star-studded beginning. Keep reading →

Making a pecan pie can be a trying experience. Keep reading →

Restaurant criticism leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  Keep reading →

Overambitious plans make for half-baked dinners. As a kid in the kitchen, I plotted baroque feasts that required hours of labor. Nearly 20 now, I finally understand economy of effort. Last Thursday, I avoided culinary disaster by accepting simplicity as the solution to an unapproachable recipe.

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As another school year rapidly approaches, big changes are coming to The College Critic. For example, I’ll have substantially less time to cook, but I’ll also be back on the New York restaurant beat. With new spots sprouting up all over Morningside Heights and Harlem, the next few months will prove. . .interesting, if not exhilarating and downright combative. But besides the annual evolutions of my personal culinary life, The College Critic will be adopting a new format for a new year. We’re going big. We’re going national.

Employing around a dozen correspondents at campuses across the country, The College Critic will be providing information on the restaurants, stores, dishes, and drinks that make your college campus tick. Every week, we’ll offer new restaurant reviews, interviews, and testimonials from college students. From Duke to Princeton, Washington University to Wellesley, The College Critic is coming to a college near you. Never dine without info again.

Maybe you’re the expert on your college dining scene. You’re the go-to-guy (or gal) on cafeteria deals, cheap eats, and  parent appropriate dinner choices. Or maybe you happen to have something to say about food on your campus, in your college town, or in your big city. Contributing to The College Critic is easy: simply email us at thecollegecritic@gmail.com. Required time and effort: minimal. Contribution to your college community: questionable, but probably significant. Best of all, we already reach a national and international audience, so this is a chance to get your voice heard. Love the Burger King up the block because they always give you an extra patty? Think the best fine dining restaurant in American is up the street from UC Berkeley?  Let us, your friends, and thousands of other college students know.

The College Critic is about to make a major mark on campus dining; no longer must we stand by and accept mediocre food, waste money on overpriced cafés, or suffer another poorly prepared coffee. Join us and the other college critics. Because there’s not just dorm food anymore.

-The College Critic(s)

thecollegecritic@gmail.com