I like Okenshields. Cue the gasps of horror if you would like, but I never said I loved it. I like its convenience, its stale yet wide selection of options and even its predictability. Their rotation of soups, for instance, are rather comforting for a soup lover like myself. To save a little time and money, I come back to Okenshields on an empty stomach like a moth to a flame. I’m well aware that I’m in the minority here (and may have made a few enemies from the very first words of this article), but not to fear, I would also like to present the ominously distasteful aspects of Oken to paint a fair, full picture.
Now, I should further preface this with a confession: I am the complete opposite of a picky eater. I would eat cheese on a stick if I was hungry enough and still call it the best meal of my life — so do with that what you will. My personal recommendations and rejections will also be restricted to weekday lunch items because dinner on West Campus is where it’s at — and where I’m at.
Starting with soups, the Wok Daikon never fails to be a light and tasty option for days when you are in desperate need of warmth beside your main dish, whether it’s grill, pizza or wok. Though Wok Daikon is probably my favorite soup, I also enjoy Hot and Sour, Tom Yum and the occasional chicken noodle soup. The only soup that scarred me was the chowder. “Which kind?” you might ask. All of them.
I’ve never really enjoyed Okenshield’s main dishes, and the lines tend to dissuade me even further. Sometimes, I’ll wait on the Grill line for curly fries, but never for the burgers, pasta or pizza — those just make me sluggish. That being said, I’m usually stationed at the Wok station for their curry or chicken and vegetable stir fry. More often than not, the white rice is filling and far from unbearable.
Lastly, the melons are decently reliable for a quick snack. Sadly, at times, I’ll bite into the jumpscare that is overripe slices when I have already retrieved an entire plate’s worth of them. I truly warn against testing your luck if you notice even the slightest bit of mush. Thankfully, I can always grab a banana for later on the way out and shove a cookie in my mouth at the same time.
My greatest appreciation for Oken lies in its unfaltering ability to keep me full when I have a big appetite, and I almost always do as Oken remains my sole meal until dinner. The best part is, my Big Red Bucks balance remains the same after. Audrey Fu ’28 said, “The food there is genuinely a lot better and more consistent than a lot of the dining halls across campus.”
In addition to the dining, no matter if it’s rain or snow, the employees welcome you in like it’s a five-star establishment. What’s more wholesome than a friendly environment? Fu continued, “The workers there are so sweet. They always say bye to you when you leave.”
However, I can recall one particularly unpleasant Monday at Okenshields. As I sat listening to a loop of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” after an awful 11 a.m. lecture, I wondered if choosing not to put a ring on it would summon her from the loudspeaker. And just as I surrendered, the first slicing chord of Phoebe Bridgers’s “Motion Sickness” reverberated like a poignant thief in the night — which is when I really had to leave. The universe had decided happiness was none of the choices above.
Aside from the consistently comical aux, there are certainly additional downsides. Jessi Zheng ’29 voiced her concern, “I had to work up the mental will to eat because it looks so unappetizing.” Without fail, the lines for unseasoned, uncomfortably soft green beans and burnt strips of pork span the whole room around noon every day, and hungry students weave around one another with the spatial awareness of a Trader Joe’s shopper. It’s overstimulating, to say the least.
The darkest part of Okenshields may be the layout: It is simultaneously so claustrophobic and open that you feel exposed to the masses simply taking a lunch break. This leaves me wondering if I’m repenting for a sin in a past life as I attempt to navigate through spaces as narrow as the Brandy Melville entrance, all the while invading some poor individual’s mealtime. In a similar sense, students — myself included — have commonly complained about the cleanliness of the utensils. Personally, I’ve found that grabbing a clean fork is comparable to discovering gold on a sidewalk.
Despite certain qualms, I still like Okenshields. As long as you are willing to wade through the occasional traffic jam, or mysterious spillage beneath your feet, you will be just fine. While you may stand your ground (literally), I stand mine against all of the Oken pitchforkers. Keeping in mind all available dining options, and our daily time constraints, food is food — even in a medieval-style cafeteria setting. It’s a beautiful disaster.
I’ve likely made acquaintances with all of the workers at the card swipe at this point, so I think I was pretty qualified to give this evaluation. Maybe someday my fondness for the one and only Central Campus dining hall will diminish, but today is not that day — although I still hope to grab a clean fork on my first try.
Selina Chen is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at sc3543@cornell.edu.
