Bad DART times often go hand in hand with one thing for a quite large contingent of students across campus — no time for lunch. Often only 15, 20 or 30 minutes is allotted to this cursed bunch. It’s far less than enough time to walk to the dining hall, select your food and get to your next class. These students often don’t get out of class until 2 or 3 p.m., which is too late for lunch, yet too early for dinner — a state of limbo that is often hard to deal with.
There are multiple ways that students reconcile this problem. Some choose to eat a sandwich from the dining hall’s Grab and Go program — serving as a cold lunch of sorts; some choose to eat only a granola bar or apple and hope that it will tide them over until dinner; and some, do as I do, and indulge in the happy medium between a meal and a snack — a breakfast sandwich.
Eating a breakfast sandwich should be a straightforward task at Notre Dame, but it isn’t.
Notre Dame, although it likes to homogenize most things, have yet to establish a monopoly within the campus’ breakfast sandwich market. There are a plethora of options, each with its own unique style and shortcomings.
I have tried, as far as I know, almost all of them on campus, and now I am going to rank them. My opinion doesn’t matter too much. I don’t like cheese and often struggle to find anything I like on restaurant menus. But, I’m going to list my top five or so anyway. Here you go.
- Modern Market
Contrary to the farm to table reputation that Modern Market likes to give off, their breakfast sandwiches are pre-made and heated up. Due to their being premade, I have never eaten one because I cannot remove the cheese.
- Starbucks
Starbucks’ tries to make up for its subpar sandwich with fancy ingredients. Instead of the normal choice of cheddar cheese it uses gouda; and instead of a normal bagel or croissant it uses ciabatta buns that are much too small. Also, its sandwiches are pre-made and heated up, so I haven’t eaten one of them either.
- Waddick’s
I refuse to learn the new name. The Arts and Letters refuge, formerly known as Waddick’s, has arguably the best pre-made eggs on campus. Its yolks are runny and it seems as if they were cooked right there. The problem with Waddick’s breakfast sandwiches, however, is that it heats them up in a microwave, not a toaster. This certainly gets the eggs runny, but it compromises the integrity of the bagel or croissant. But it’s convenient for history majors like myself and I eat it more than any other one on this list.
5. Einstein’s
A bit of a trek unless you live in Ryan Hall or frequent the bookstore, but one of the better options on campus. It undoubtedly has the best bagel quality and selection on campus (which isn’t saying much) and it has arguably some of the best bacon and sausage on campus. Its eggs, however, are pre-made and when the sandwich comes together, it always tastes a bit off, almost rubbery. I don’t know why, it just does.
- Au Bon Pain
Au Bon Bain, or ABP, comes in at No. 2 for its consistency and quality. The sandwiches at ABP always taste the same and always taste relatively good. Its eggs are premade, its bagels are doable and its toaster always gets the sandwich hot and crisp. It’s no sandwich you would seek out if you didn’t go to school here, but it’s better than almost any other option on campus.
- Cafe Poche
The cream of the crop. The best on campus undoubtedly. Also, the most unknown and remote on campus. Cafe Poche, nestled in the lakeside corner of Bond Hall, not only is the only option that fries your egg in front of you, but also has the best bacon on campus along with a nice selection of either a croissant or a bagel. The workers are always nice and there is almost never a line. When Bond Hall closes as the architecture building this coming year, hopefully Cafe Poche doesn’t go with it.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
