Leo’s: Put your money where your mouth is?

This is not your ordinary “I wish I could give Leo’s 0 stars” article (as a review reads on yelp): this is just to show where and how you can use the money in a rather smarter way.

My calculations tell me that if you are on a 14-weekly meal plan – the smallest plan – you spend approximately $12 on a meal.

But let’s say the cost varies on a range of $8 to $16, depending on the time of the day you are eating at Leo’s.

Before I get into this further, let’s consider what other options are around campus if you are not on a meal plan.

The Leavey Center food court: Subway, Salad Creations, and Elevation Burger. Down the hall: Così and Starbucks, Epicurean and Company. Healey Family Student Center: Hilltoss and Bulldog Tavern… Are there any more?

Can I also mention that many of the signature menus that these places offer are well under $12? Subway Foot-long BLT $5.50, Big Philly Cheesesteak: $8.95, Oven Roasted Chicken: $6.75, Così Club $7.79, Pork Belly Bahn Mi: $8.49, Tomato Basil Soup $3.99, and not to mention Hilltoss and Epicurean and Company – even not only the happy hour deals.

Of course Leo’s has a variety of food as it reads on its own website, “You will find soups, deli bars, wok station, grill, pizza, salads, pasta, ice cream, fruits, grains, and anything else you can think of in Leo’s.”

A counter-response might be, “but somehow lacking in quality… somehow, TOO much variety. The pizza tastes alright, but you soon realize that something’s not right…this cannot be real mozzarella.”

But I would like the $12 worth of quality – rather than quantity. I am guessing I am not alone in this, because if you decide to eat out, or get delivery for better food maybe two times a week, your meal swipe goes to waste (and your money) at the end of the week.

A junior in the College mentions, “It feels as if the school is deliberately doing this so that they can put together all the meal money that students end up throwing away and build a separate endowment.”

I hate to agree with the statement because I do not want to believe so. However, the meal plan options correspond. There is little to none off-campus (who am I kidding? even on-campus) vendors that we can use the plan at.

George Washington University, our neighbor, has a plan that utilizes what they call “Colonial Cash”: If you are a freshman, your meal plan would consist of $700 Dining Dollars which are accepted at on-campus dining locations plus $1,150 Colonial Cash which can be used at 150 vendors on and off campus dining and retail services, including Whole Foods, CVS, Sweetgreen, Wingo’s, and Safeway.

After your first year, you only get Colonial Cash, no Dining Dollars.

So…it’s something to think about at the moment because the contract with Leo’s is ending soon. Thoughts below.