cafeteria stuff--stop and shop!

Hospital cafeterias are either very GOOD or very BAD depending on the emphasis placed on them by the administration.

The first hospital cafeteria that I managed was literally the best food in town. On Sundays, we would have several hundred people (most of whom did NOT have family members in the hospital) who would come join us. We had to train the visitors to let the doctors and nurses cut in line to get through quickly. The administrator's philosophy was that if people came to the cafeteria for lunch, they would come there rather than running the 30 miles to Richmond, VA.

The second hospital had a limited cafeteria. There, the administrator saw the place as an employee benefit. His goal was to take care of the employees. Once a month, we'd serve a NY Strip steak dinner for $2.50. We lost our shirts on that one but he told me that steak was cheaper than recruiting nurses and medical staff to rural Virginia.

The third was a large hospital which will remain nameless. The food contracts were always decided on the lowest cost. The food that came in the back was of consistently poor quality stuff that you had to really work to make edible. At least 20% came from the state prison farm. I lasted 6 months before leaving.

Locally, some of the best cafeteria food that I have seen has come from Northwestern University student dining. Good quality and great variety. Sodexho does a nice job there. They have to as the expectations are high.

What I miss are the southern cafeteria chains - Furrs, Bishops, Morrisons, etc. where you have the choice of 8-10 different vegetables and dozens of salads.

I have seen very little like those in the midwest.