The University has always done a pretty good job with dining options on campus. Whether it be the BBQ of Spike's or the ease of SubCo, Gonzaga has been able to create dining alternatives that students want to use. This year we welcome the awesome additions of Panda Express and the in-house pizza joint Iggy's. We also, however, should take a moment and mourn the unique dining experience that was Pandini's.
Pandini's never really seemed to fit on the campus. The life of a college kid demands either the casual social environment of the COG or the quickness of SubCo, Pita Pit and Ultimate Bagel. If you are going to sit down at a restaurant that is not McDonald's, it's probably a big event. Pandini's attempted to bring a more settled down, upscale atmosphere to our dining experience. It wasn't a bad concept to bring students together over a fireplace while the snowflakes fall outside. However, there was a lot that students didn't like. While people complained about the quality of food like every other college-oriented dining option, its biggest problem was that it was slow. People who maybe wanted that chef salad or the chicken pasta often had to wait anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes before they got their food. Average time for any sit-down restaurant in Spokane, but an absolutely glacial pace for students who were trying to get some decent food before their 1 p.m. class. As a result most of the time during the day Pandini's was not very full.
That was exactly the reason why I was sad to see it go. Don't get me wrong, I love cheap Chinese food like the rest of us. But Pandini's gave Gonzaga some variety from the usual cheap, greasy, totally unhealthy college food. The atmosphere was nice enough to just sit and collect your thoughts, intimate enough for the poor college kid to take a date, and academic enough where you can have lunch with a professor without breaking the bank in the process. Now I will admit that I have romantized it a little bit. The food was par for the course for Gonzaga which means right away it wasn't very good, definitely not good enough to warrant the wait.
Unfortunately Pandini's failure was another of the many symptoms of the quickening pace in which we have to live our lives. If someone had asked me "Are you going to Pandini's at all this year?" I would say "No" thanks to my work at the Center for Justice, class, The Bulletin, and mock trial, all of which have ensured I will not see the light of day let alone allow me to wait for my food. The fact that I can go into Cataldo Hall now and get Chinese food in five minutes and eat in five minutes is greatly appreciated. I know that Panda Express will be very popular on campus and the decision to bring it here was a very smart move on the school's part. Even if it means sacrificing the flex deals with other vendors like Domino's or Papa John's, I fully expect Panda to pay the dividends the school envisions it will.
That being said, I know I will miss the atmosphere and the ambience of Pandini's. It may have not been the best food on campus, but it was different and unique. As we all know at Gonzaga, diversity shouldn't be a bad thing.
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