Williams Village Center Dining (Courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder)
It’s a tale as old as time. Which dining hall is better: the C4 or the C5? The C4C, or the Center for Community, is the University of Colorado Boulder’s biggest dining hall. Located on the main campus, it has many options for students, such as Asian, Italian Cibo, Kosher, Latin Comdia, Persia, Smoke ‘n’ Grill, Wholesome Field and desserts. The C5, or the Village Dining Center in Williams Village, also has plentiful options for students like Toast, Curry Road, Middleterranean, Evergreens, Colorado Hearth, Peaks and the Grange.
Yes, the C4 is bigger; it’s on the main campus, and you can get a personalized burrito, but that means nothing compared to the love that goes into the food at the C5. You heard me, the C5 is better than the C4 because the food is made with love. It’s smaller and more intimate. The chefs say “hi” and are able to put more care into your food. You can taste the difference. In the C4, when you bite into your mac and cheese from the Smoke ‘n’ Grill, you taste despair. However, when you bite into your C5 chicken quesadilla, you feel the heart of the chef who made it for you. It inspires you to continue your day, whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. You’re ready for whatever the rest of your day may throw at you. It’s a feeling that no amount of ice cream flavors can surpass.
Yes, it’s further from classes, but the C5 makes it worth the trip each and every time. The trip to the C5 is part of why it’s better. The C4 is a dark desperation. Going to the C4 says, “I don’t enjoy the small things,” “Ugh, I’m so hungry I need food immediately” and “I already skipped class. I might as well just sit here and feel disappointed in myself.” The average C5-er portrays whimsy, gusto and a joyful spirit. The C5 go-er most likely either walked or took the Buff Bus to get there; either way, it means they went on a beautiful journey. They took their time, they sat back and observed and they felt the joy of making an event out of something as small as a dining hall meal. And once you get there, you have endless options. Not only that, but you can see all the options clearly because there’s fewer people there than in the C4.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: the C4’s Italian Cibo. Personally, as an Italian, this place offends me. What they serve in the Cibo is not Italian food. That is slop. The food at the Italian Cibo has never once been warm. Honestly, on a good day, it’s room temperature. I’ve never once felt satisfied after a meal from the Italian Cibo, and, despite all that, I’ve never once been able to walk up to the Cibo, get my food and walk away. It doesn’t matter what time of the day I go; there is always an awkwardly placed line in the middle of the C4 for the Cibo. It just goes to show you that the food at the other stations isn’t much better than the mediocre slop that we force down our throats at the Cibo. However, if you head over to William’s Village, you are welcomed with open arms to the Middleterranean. Yes, it is unfortunate that we Italians have to share with Greece and the Middle East, but admitting that Greek food can be good too is a worthwhile sacrifice. (I mean, not as good as Italian food, but there are some good options, you know, if I HAD to.) The Middleterranean has everything, from Mediterranean beef and pasta to pizza that actually tastes like pizza to endless different pasta options. It really doesn’t get better than that.
The only benefit of the C4 is the make-your-own burrito line. This really is a plus. But is it worth it? Never in my life has a C4 burrito left me satisfied. There’s always an emptiness, always something left to be desired. The C4 burrito is like the girl you meet right before you meet the woman of your life. The C4 burrito is a sweet girl; she’s nice, she’s funny and she understands you, but there’s just something that leaves you awake at night wondering if there’s more out there. Well, there is more out there, and it’s the C5. Maybe it doesn’t have a make-your-own burrito line, but there are Chipotles for that.
When you come to college, part of the attraction is eating in a glorified cafeteria with people you’ve known for five days in total. The least you can do is have some good food to go along with that experience. That is why a good dining hall is so important. It’s the epicenter of ideas, the meeting of the minds. A thing like that must be held away from school. It must be a place where you can be who you want and say what you want. All that can be done in the C5. There isn’t even room to do that in the C4. The C4 suffocates you and reminds you that you are just another peg on the university’s tuition board. The C5 welcomes your tired, poor and huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Those are the ideas that our country was founded on, and it’s those ideas that live on in the C5.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Grace Moore at Grace.Moore@colorado.edu.
