• the217
• Food + Drink
• Where to Go When You Need a Late Night Snack Break

As I enter Penn Station, the closest Late Night (a place where students use café credits to buy junk food) to my dorm, I head straight for the warm and tasty cheeseburgers. Adding the extra lettuce and tomatoes to the pre-wrapped sandwich takes too much time, so I stuff the toppings into a nearby soup container to take back to my room. Once I reach the checkout counter, the student cashier asks me what type of soup is in the container and I respond by telling him that there is no soup in it at all, but a slice of tomato and lettuce for the cheeseburger. He turns away from me, looks at his computer screen and shouts, in a loud and rather pretentious voice, “Well that’s the weirdest fucking shit I’ve ever seen!”

That comment pretty much sets the tone for describing Penn Station and its service, which are, perhaps, the worst of the three Late Night locations on campus. The rude student workers and lack of space make me wonder why the place is still running. On a good day, one may arrive to Penn Station and not have to wait in a line that stretches halfway down the hall. Little by little, customers are admitted into the cramped room that seems to be more so a large storage closet or pantry than an actual place of business. Granted, this current location is temporary until the real Penn Station re-opens after reconstruction, nonetheless, that is no excuse for bad business.

When asked exactly how many students are allowed inside the room at one time, one Penn Station worker, who guards the door from time to time, stared at me and sharply replied “As many as I feel like.”

Aside from its smart-alecky staff and small space, Penn Station also lacks in cleanliness and food options. When one steps into the room, they are greeted with scuffed and dirty floors and a table covered with the filthy backpacks that students aren’t allowed to carry all the way in with them. Toward the back of the room, where the sandwiches and burgers are located, is a row of lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onions that sit in the open, which when you think about it, is quite disgusting; I’m talking no covers, no sneeze guards and a family of flies. Though the lines move fast and the Late Night is well stocked with chips, Little Debbie snacks and drinks, if you really want to satisfy your hunger and sit down to enjoy decent fresh cooked food, forget about Penn Station and head over to Illinois Street Residence where its Late Night, called Chomps, offers a larger variety of packaged and hot meals and suitable atmosphere.

Whether it’s hanging out and listening to music around a large table with friends or lying back on soft leather couches in front of the big screen TV, chilling at Chomps is very relaxing and is quite rewarding. Here, cashiers smile and actually remind you, without being asked, of how many café credits you’ve wasted on personal pizzas, fries, drinks and onion rings.

Though Chomps could be cleaner with fewer tables blocking pathways, it is quiet, friendly and is ideal for small groups or individuals looking to grab a satisfactory midnight snack. Of course, if you don’t mind large crowds, lots of noise and being cut in front of while waiting in line, head west of ISR toward Gregory Avenue’s 6-Pack where the lively Late Night E-Chomps awaits. With the usual burgers, pizza and soup, E-Chomps offers a number of other interesting treats and chow including burritos, chicken wings and its infamous freshly made fruit smoothies. It offers a fitting environment for huge groups of tummy-grumbling buddies who aren’t quite ready for bed. Though the E-Chomps lounging area is quite big in size and is equipped with dozens of tables, leather sofas and even two TVs, on weekends, finding a good place to sit may prove to be difficult and making your way through the very small and cramped shopping area may take a clever mixture of squeezing, shoving and line-butting to pull off. All the same, the large array of food, attractive crowd and social surroundings are worth it all.

So whether it’s during dining hall hours or late at night, if you live on this campus, you will never go hungry. Just be sure to be smart about where you go to satisfy those late night cravings. Try not to max out that I-card like it’s a Platinum Plus and remember that though café credits roll over, you have the rest of the week to account for.