Kareem Gordon-Graham
Kareem Gordon-Graham is a sophomore Computer Science major from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gordon-Graham is involved with the Black Action Society, the African Student Organization, and serves as a mentor to local high school students. In his spare time, Gordon-Graham likes to watch football, listen to music, and partake in anything that sounds fun. Gordon-Graham wouldn’t describe himself as a foodie, and that is one of the reasons that makes him unique as an interviewee. It is interesting to see what role food has played into his college experience as a non-foodie.
What brought you to the University of Pittsburgh?
What first brought me to the University of Pittsburgh was financial gain. This is were I had the prospect of having the least amount of debt when I graduate. So, at first, it was a financial decision, but after my visit, I found that I actually liked Pitt’s campus and the opportunities that were presented to me.
What was one of the biggest things that you had trouble adjusting to when you moved to Pittsburgh?
One of the things I had the most trouble adjusting to when I came here was the difference in environment. I’m from the inner-city of Philadelphia, so I never spent time living in the suburbs which is more comparable to where I’m living now. There’s a lot of different people and albeit Philly is diverse, but I haven’t had to live amongst people of such drastically different cultures than mine. So, just adjusting to the culture shock was a bit difficult for me.
What are your opinions on the food that is offered by the University?
I’m constantly disappointed by Market Central, and specifically the Perch is very bad to me because there are not a lot of options. If you go in there and you don’t want what they have, then you can’teat or you have to go somewhere else which is usually pretty far if you live upon upper campus. So, one of the things that I don’t like about the Perch are the slim options you have. Market Central has a lot of options, but the quality of the food is not up to par. I still find myself feeling like I don’t have a lot of options. They don’t rotate what they make at the stations enough for me,so basically every time I go in there, I have to eat a hamburger with fries. You get tired of that.
What is your favorite food place on Pitt’s campus, and how did you find out about it?
I would definitely say Chipotle. I like to get the bowl with the chicken, brown rice, pinto, lettuce, hot salsa, sour cream, and two tortillas on the side. I found out about Chipotle as I was just walking down the strip. I saw it, and I was like “Oh I need that”.
If you can think back to before the first time you heard about Chipotle, do you remember hearing any opinions on Chipotle?
Oh yeah, I heard that it was pretty good. A lot of people rave about Chipotle; a lot of people go there consistently that I know, so when I went it was like I see why you guys are going there.
How often would you say you try to go to a new restaurant?
I don’t really do that often because with the college schedule, you kinda do what you know unless you specifically allot time to discover new places to eat. So typically, I don’t spend time looking for new places to eat.
So would you say that time is holding you back?
Time is slim and also it’s getting kinda cold. It also takes real money. I’m a frugal kind of guy, so I don’t like to spend a lot of money on food.
So how much would you say you let other people’s opinions affect the new restaurants that you try when you go out to eat?
If I’m looking for a new place solely off of someone’s recommendation, if they say it’s bad, then I won’t go. If I’m basing it off of recommendation then if I hear that it’s bad, then that’s all I’m going from. But if I find something that I’m interested in and then someone says it’s bad, I’m still likely to go and try it. That’s just the type of person that I am.
If money and time wasn’t a problem as a college student, would you try all the restaurants that you want to try?
Oh, hell yeah! I’d be out this bitch eating Piada, eating Hello Bistro. I would’ve been to the Golden whatever the fuck Buffet jawn. I would be getting insomnia. I would be a fat muthafucka.
What are your ideas on a blog that posted reviews on new restaurants on campus and outside of campus. How much would that influence where you choose to eat?
I’m not really blog-operated, so I don’t really weigh their opinions strongly. But if I did care, and I saw that there was good reviews then I would be more likely to go.
So what if instead of a blog, it was a Twitter or Instagram account?
I think this definitely would influence me to try newrestaurants if it was an Instagram. Because of the pictures, it will allow meto see the food and become more connected to the experience because someoneelse is sharing their experience. Instagram is so easily accessible. I’musually already on it whereas I’m not usually on safari or Yelp. So if I’m inclass scrolling, and I come across a post that is talking about this newrestaurant, I might be like “Oh I am hungry maybe I’ll try to do that” whereasI wouldn’t have that interaction if I was on Yelp.
Yemisi Odunlami
Yemisi Odunlami is a sophomore Mechanical Engineering student from Prince George’s County, Maryland. She is active in the National Society of Black Engineers and Pitt Excel. In her free time, she enjoys binge-watching TV shows, playing basketball, and going out to eat. As someone who considers themselves a foodie, Odunlami decided to talk about her college experience thus far and the role that food has played in it.
What brought you to the University of Pittsburgh?
The University gave me money, I liked the city, and it was slightly more diverse than my other option.
What was one of the biggest things that you had trouble adjusting to?
Academically, I would say not comparing myself to other people and learning that one test grade does not define me. I would also say the cold because it’s pretty cold up here.
How was it like in terms of food moving from home to college?
Well, my parents cooked every night, and I miss that. After coming here, I’ll be honest with you, there were many nights that I went hungry because I was tired of eating food here. I didn’t want to leave my room. I would eat on Forbes if my wallet was looking nice one day and starve if it wasn’t.
What are your opinions on the food that our University offers?
Market has always been hit-or-miss. At least at the Perch, you know what you’re getting. I mean it is still hit-or-miss. At Market, everything can be bland. The Perch is a step up. I don’t like the cereal selection though. They just don’t like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I don’t think I’ve ever been to eat in The Union. I mainly go to Chick-Fil-A.
How often would you say you are buying your own food?
Probably multiple times a week. Whether that’s somewhere on Forbes or going off of campus. My favorite place to get food is Oishii, Tenders, or Chipotle. I also like Noodlehead. It’s pretty good; I’ve been there once.
How do you find the restaurants that you go to?
Probably word-of-mouth. People say “Hey you got to try this,” and you know you see somebody has it, so you got to go an try it.
How much of an impact do your friends and fellow college students have on where you decide to eat?
A huge impact, if they say it’s good, I’ll try it. If they say it’s bad and they got food poising, I probably won’t try it. So I’d say word-of-mouth is important, especially since I’m not from the area.
What are your thoughts on a blog run by college students that has reviews on restaurants in Oakland and Outside of Oakland? It would include a price range,tips and tricks of the menu and things like that.
I would definitely appreciate it. It would have to be from a reliable source, someone’s opinions that I can trust. I’m all for it,but I have to be able to trust you.
How often would you say that you use blogs?
Within the past 6 months, I don’t think I’ve been on a blog. I scroll on Tumblr periodically, but other than that, I don’t frequent blogs.
Amber Turner
Amber Turner is a sophomore Computer Engineering student from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is involved with the National Society of Black Engineers and serves as an engineering ambassador that provides tours to prospective engineering students. In her free time, Turner likes to hang around with friends, watch football games, and eat with her friends. Turner is a foodie that will only go to restaurants that are personally recommended to her and she rarely goes out of her way to find a new restaurant. Turner has been chosen to share how her college experience has been thus far and to see the role that food has played in it.
What brought you to the University of Pittsburgh?
I wanted to go to a big school, and it’s not too faraway from my home. I’m from Philadelphia, and my parents said I couldn’t get too far away. It’s also in-state, so I pay in-state tuition rather than outrageous out-of-state tuition.
What was one of the biggest things that you had to adjust to when you moved from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh?
I guess the biggest thing was just living away from my parents. I had to figure things out for myself.
When you were living at home, where did most of your meals come from?
My parents cooked most of the time.
How did you adjust when you moved away from them and had to find food for yourself?
I have a meal plan since I’m living on campus. The campus food sucks compared to eating back at home. I don’t want to spend my own money in order to eat out, but I do it anyway.
You mentioned that campus food isn’t your favorite, what don’t you like about it?
It’s just so redundant. You get sick and tired of eating the same thing over and over again. At the Perch, every weekend you got French toast, biscuits, eggs, sausage, potatoes, and it never changes or fails.I don’t want to eat that anymore.
Do you have a preference of Market Central over the Perch?
I would say Market over the Perch. Last year, I lived on lower campus, so I was at Market more often than the Perch, so I thought the Perch was better. Now that I’m up here living on upper campus and I go to the Perch more often, I prefer Market because it has more options. I really like Magellan’s. It’s good sometimes.
It sounds like Magellan’s is your favorite part of the options at Market Central.What made you first try that food?
I was referred to it by a friend. I tried it, and I’ve liked it a lot so far.
Going outside of your meal plan, what is your favorite food to eat on Pitt’s campus?
Oishii Bento or Chipotle. It used to be Qdoba but that’s gone.
What made you first try Oishii?
Some of my friends. They went there and were like “it’s really good”. So I thought why not give it a shot and go with them. I went and got the chicken teriyaki bowl, and it was very very good.
How much of an impact would you say your friends’ opinions on food have on your opinions on food?
I would say a pretty big impact. If they say something is good, and I haven’t tried it yet, I don’t have a reason not to believe them so why not give it a try.
What would you say are the biggest limitations that are holding you back from trying all the restaurants that you want to try?
Time and money. Because I am low on time, I just go to places that are on campus. Since I am also spending my own money, I’m not going to waste my money on something that I don’t know will be good.
What are your opinions on a blog site that posts reviews on restaurants in and around Oakland? The blog would include tips, how to get there, a price range of the restaurant and things like that.
I definitely think it could be useful. Like if I lookup a place and it comes up, then obviously, I’ll click on it and read it. Also,tips and tricks, maybe there is like a secret menu type of situation, some type of combination that I didn’t think of putting together, I would try it if it were on the blog.
