Across campus are many dining options. The all-you-care-to-eat Marketplace serves all three meals. The E. Cafe, a kosher-style restaurant, offers breakfast and lunch. And Café 77, the late night hotspot, dishes out delicious fried foods and grab-and-go items that are perfect on the run to class. But nothing is as diverse as third-year’s Foodside.
Upper Division Housing hosts two Fieldside restaurants. Fireside is a great space to enjoy Peet’s Coffee beverages, premium milkshakes made with local ice cream, or deli favorites while overlooking the constant activity on Wilson Field. Next door, Foodside, a common dinner dining option for Washington and Lee students, offers rotating concept menus throughout the year. From Mexican dishes to Masala bowls, Foodside has something different for everyone to try and enjoy.
At the start of the winter semester, Masala replaced the Mexican dishes that were served at the end of the fall term. Those dishes included rice and bean bowls mixed with steak or chicken and tomatoes and cheese, or fully stuffed burritos. A bowl with brown rice, mixed greens, steak, pico de gallo, pepperjack cheese and corn salsa was my go-to and an absolute favorite. It almost beat Chipotle.
Now Masala is in. The Masala bowls allow for two bases, one main protein, one sauce and unlimited toppings and dressings. You can also purchase a sundried tomato wrap, which holds the same combination of bases, protein and unlimited toppings. Each main course option costs $11.50 – or one university dining swipe.
Options for the bases include spring greens or different types of rice, while the main proteins include the masala spiced grilled chicken, braised lamb, charred cauliflower or chana masala. Sauces like tikka sauce and saag sauce are served warm, and toppings range from chickpeas and pickled onions to diced roasted beets.
The cherry on top is the delicious dressings offered. You can’t go wrong with anything, though the cherry pepper aioli is my favorite. I put a touch of it on top of my brown rice bowl with masala spiced grilled chicken, chickpeas and fresh cheese. It’s pretty basic, but it has just the right touch of flavor.
Payton Haley, ’27, said that the Masala food is a great option because there is a lot of variety with what you can craft, and all of the choices hit all of the main food groups. There is unlimited creativity to put something delicious together.
Haley said she loves a bowl with rice, greens, the grilled chicken and whatever toppings she’s in the mood for. She said she loves the cilantro-mint chutney and pineapple vinaigrette dressing, but her bowl is only complete with a touch of hot sauce. The crunchy and warm sweet potato fries are the perfect side to her bowl.
Most importantly, Haley said she appreciates how often things switch up at Foodside, so no one gets tired of eating the same thing over and over.
“The timing of each rotation feels right, and there are plenty of different combinations to put together each time I go,” she said.
