UIC Student Center West Food Court

This place is quite awful but is usually crowded.  Why the conundrum?  The economics of supply and demand.  Lots of workers (4 large hospitals!) and students around this area and very few options to eat.  Only eat here if you have to.  I do twice a week at least.  And it's gross- both the all-you-can-eat section and the "food court" section.  Not many healthy or fresh options either.  The only fresh fruit I ever saw here was a standard, waxy, small red apple.  Oh, and a bruised, under-sized banana.  Each for like $1.50.  Even the new Papa John's here is tainted and tastes bad.

Where to begin... My coworkers and I go here because we are too lazy to go anywhere else for lunch.

Cons:

Credit card machine often broken or not in use on more than on checkout line.

Checkout lines are long because they do not have enough people working there.

The servers have no idea what they are servings, and the place charges extra for condiments, such as raita (or as they call it: "that yogurt thing".)

The food is severely overpriced--$1.85 for a bottle of soda? Huh? I can go to the vending machine down the hall for cheaper.

The salad bar pricing....gold is cheaper than lettuce. They should do "Cash for Lettuce" or something like that.

Fruit is super pricey.

Breakfast: sucks.  Go to Subway or the hospital cafeteria. It is so much cheaper.
They tried to institute a no free plastic ware policy, which failed miserably.

Portion size for the taco place and the grill line are terrible for the price. You are better off walking to De Pasada for fresher and cheaper food, or Sbarro for hamburgers (but see above, we are often too lazy).

The only bright spot is the Chinese food station (Tatami). The chef that runs it is very polite, the portions are hearty, and the food is adequate.

Best bet: Pack your own lunch. Every day. Or starve. It's cheaper either way, and tastes better.

Just cause its in the epicenter of the health care students, they should know that we know when the quality of food is not improving our lives.. However, this facility does serve a basic need. Food consumption.

This facility has your typical eclectic selection of food items. Asian, Indian, pizza, comfort foods, salad bar, subway, burritos, and ready to eat items.

The quality of the food depends on what time of day you go. Go when its slow, and the quality of your food is low.

They also have an All-You-Care-to-Eat dining option downstairs. I haven't tried that out, but if I were to judge from the offerings upstairs, it would be mediocre as well.

The offerings available on Taylor Street are so much more plentiful for a better quality only 5-10 minute walk away. But when you're in a time crunch, its either here or the Hospital. It tends to be a coin toss.

Avoid lunch time..... Too busy with too few seats..