Who should replace O'Briens?

Red Alert

Any thoughts on who should replace the O'Briens in Health Sciences if the company gets wound up?

RandolphEsq

I'm not fussy about who replaces them I just want cheap food!

But a Subway wouldn't be too bad

Jev/N

RandolphEsq wrote: »

I'm not fussy about who replaces them I just want cheap food!

But a Subway wouldn't be too bad

Fairly unhealthy AFAIK, you might as well have a McDonalds

Red Alert

Wouldn't mind (another) Kylemore-operated place myself. Especially if they did a mix of fresh sandwiches and other food.

Dr Strange

I like "unhealthy". MacDondalds maybe, KFC or Eddie Rockets etc. I could do with that.

IxM

Bagle Bar, Complete Lack Of Them In Dublin Like :rolleyes:

RandolphEsq

Preusse wrote: »

I like "unhealthy". MacDondalds maybe, KFC or Eddie Rockets etc. I could do with that.

Awww Eddie Rockets. Worth the extra cost. They would undoubtedly have student deals though

GobBass

As most of my friends cite as their religion on Facebook:


'Anything with good tea'.

I wanna see a place that sells a bigger portion than the Starbucks Venti.:D

Dr Strange

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Awww Eddie Rockets. Worth the extra cost. They would undoubtedly have student deals though

Yes, give me a pot of chili any day. And you probably get more options for a hot savoury breakfast.

Shazbot

I hope O'Briens isn't closed in the upcoming cuts. Don't see how it could, plenty of money made there. Although if the company goes bust then I would like to see BB's take over. Nice coffee, fresh muffins and decent rolls/paninis. Too bad they're not made in front of you like O'Briens.

Dave!

McDonalds!

rainbow kirby

Something healthy and inexpensive. There's enough junk food and ripoff prices on campus already. I also think it would be good to have somewhere with some good veg*n options, trying to eat healthily in UCD as a veggie is rather tough! (I'm not veggie any more, but still enjoy good veggie food)

Depp

Stringfellows, nuff sed

karlog

supermacs

GobBass

It's simple.

Tesco Express..open 24 hours..never heard of an university with it's own supermarket.

Jev/N

GobBass wrote: »

.never heard of an university with it's own supermarket.

Seriously?

kev_s88

Subway without a doubt!!!

rainbow kirby

karlog wrote: »

supermacs

Supermacs is for culchies

bnt

My ideal would be a Sushi place. A full restaurant wouldn't make enough money, so just somewhere to get fresh Sushi, soups, maybe even a Bentō box?

seraphimvc

dont take away obrien!!!med students need the ridiculous long queue to get an expensive sandwich during lunch break to show us their intelligence!!:D

seriously tho,why would an obrien doing in there is still a mystery to me.

anything is cheap and make my tummy full is good enough:)

KeyLimePie

bnt wrote: »

My ideal would be a Sushi place. A full restaurant wouldn't make enough money, so just somewhere to get fresh Sushi, soups, maybe even a Bentō box?

.............no that'd be a terrible idea, god knows how much freakin' bento boxes would cost,

subway all the way. i'm actually in love with the place.

RIP-sanity

Londis, weekly madness rolls = awesome

El Siglo

Supermacs is great if you want to have dysentery, awful food I don't know why it's still in business. Personally, a place with decent breakfast rolls and tea would be great, not even a franchise just a place you can get moderately priced rolls, sandwiches and tea after that I don't care. If O'Briens does go, it will be a sad day for lovers of the tripple decker.*

*wipes a tearful eye.

up them Schteps

El Siglo wrote: »

Supermacs is great if you want to have dysentery, awful food I don't know why it's still in business. Personally, a place with decent breakfast rolls and tea would be great, not even a franchise just a place you can get moderately priced rolls, sandwiches and tea after that I don't care. If O'Briens does go, it will be a sad day for lovers of the tripple decker.*

*wipes away a tear from an eye.

That triple decker is something else...... so nice!

elgriff

El Siglo wrote: »

Supermacs is great if you want to have dysentery, awful food I don't know why it's still in business. Personally, a place with decent breakfast rolls and tea would be great, not even a franchise just a place you can get moderately priced rolls, sandwiches and tea after that I don't care. If O'Briens does go, it will be a sad day for lovers of the tripple decker.*

*wipes a tearful eye.

café infusion aka "rollies" - underneath the main restaurant

El Siglo

elgriff wrote: »

café infusion aka "rollies" - underneath the main restaurant

It's okay I suppose, does the job at lunch time along with the student bar rolls, but I hate the paper the said items are wrapped up in, I just don't like it! Truth be told, I'm happier with the slightly surly Eastern European love and attention put into my rolls, seriously they're so efficient it's like watching a robot! Whatever replaces O'Briens, it had better not be subsidised by the SU, because it'll no doubt be awful, think about it; a cold €3 'I can't believe it's not chicken' roll from the SU shop versus a chicken roll from centra/spar/londis etc...

bnt

KeyLimePie wrote: »

.............no that'd be a terrible idea, god knows how much freakin' bento boxes would cost,

Yeah, but only because Sushi is considered posh here. It doesn't have to be expensive.

I was thinking "lunchbox bentō", not the big trays they serve in restaurants. It doesn't even have to be contain fish - could be a Donburi (rice + whatever is going that day). Still, this is Ireland after all, I'm not seriously expecting anyone to make an effort or take a risk.

Tayto2000

Are they definitely leaving? According to the news it's the head office franchise operators that are in trouble, not the individual shops.

What would happen if O'Briens does go bust, would it revert to being just another sandwich bar?

I'd vote 911 purely for their superior queue management skills

Jev/N

Tayto2000 wrote: »

Are they definitely leaving? According to the news it's the head office franchise operators that are in trouble, not the individual shops.

What would happen if O'Briens does go bust, would it revert to being just another sandwich bar?

I'd vote 911 purely for their superior queue management skills

They're not gonna go bust, they're just closing down the lost making stores (about 22 I think) which I doubt UCD is one of

dyl10

A Chipper?

marcos172

Epicurean Food Hall! Those northsiders have had one up on us for too long :mad:

Tom65

marcos172 wrote: »

Epicurean Food Hall! Those northsiders have had one up on us for too long :mad:

+1


There's enough terrible food on campus without Subway, Supermacs et al being there too.

ProjectColossus

+1 for Subway. Unhealthy? First of all, I don't care, but secondly, it's only as unhealthy as you make it. Don't get the calorific sauce, do get lots of (no added cost) salads on your meat sub. They have lo-cal stuff I think.

I hate O'Briens so much, even if we are just left with a steaming crater, it will be a massive improvement.

Knowing my luck, whatever clowns are operating in the main Arts Restaraunt will probably just expand to the other side of campus. That would suck.

timo87

An O'Briens off licence, much prefer their cans than their sandwiches:D

Breezer

ANYTHING where the queue actually moves!

Oh I'm back by the way. Did anyone miss me or notice that I was gone?

GobBass

On second thought,Leo Burdocks.

Accept no subsitutes.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Campus badly needs an offo or a bar that'll compete on drink prices.

Kat Slater

I think catering in UCD is generally rubbish. The main restaurant is total dung, although I like Cafe Infusion which does good big filled sandwiches. O Briens is nice but pricey.

If they do replace O'Briens, a Subway might be a good option. I don't think a Supermacs or another takeaway is needed on campus.

The god-awful 911 beside the library needs to go anyway, it's a disgrace or at least it was a couple of years ago when I stopped going to it.

Tayto2000

Does nobody do packed lunches anymore then?

KeyLimePie

bnt wrote: »

Yeah, but only because Sushi is considered posh here. It doesn't have to be expensive.

I was thinking "lunchbox bentō", not the big trays they serve in restaurants. It doesn't even have to be contain fish - could be a Donburi (rice + whatever is going that day). Still, this is Ireland after all, I'm not seriously expecting anyone to make an effort or take a risk.

subwaaaaaaaaaaaay..........................!! I'm vegetarian anyway so like =p

Red Alert

When you think about the food on campus, the only nice places left are:

Centra (great value, fresh ingredients)
Elements (pricey but generally good)
Cafe Spoirt

The rest are between hit-and-miss and downright appalling. O'Brien's, for example, shouldn't be reheating anything with Coleslaw on it. But they do this day in day out. (I only discovered this when I asked in Centra why they wouldn't do it) Then moving on don't get me going on the food quality in the main restaurant: for the price they charge you'd expect better. The selection is poor, the food is tasteless and the chips are chronically undercooked. About the only edibles are the sweet desserts.

I wonder is it worth people suggesting removal of certain outlets to the Commercial office? Or would they even listen?

Dr Strange

Red Alert wrote: »

...Then moving on don't get me going on the food quality in the main restaurant: for the price they charge you'd expect better. The selection is poor, the food is tasteless and the chips are chronically undercooked. About the only edibles are the sweet desserts...

One thing I say for them through: their breakfast is good. I like the fried eggs, hash browns, black and whites, and the sausages. And a tea/coffee for 1 Euro. Won't go near the rashers unless they are burned to a crisp but that's a preference of mine you hardly get in any place.

Tayto2000

Main restaurant is OK especially compared to how it used to be, but still wayyy too expensive. Dead right about the chips - they're always crunchy, but not in a good way

Centra is the best on campus at the moment imo, but I like the new arts cafe stuff too now since they changed suppliers.

Can't hurt to give feedback to the commercial office, worst that could happen is it'll be ignored.

RandolphEsq

Red Alert wrote: »

The rest are between hit-and-miss and downright appalling. O'Brien's, for example, shouldn't be reheating anything with Coleslaw on it. But they do this day in day out. (I only discovered this when I asked in Centra why they wouldn't do it)

lol I discovered that in Centra too when I wanted coleslaw on my €4 cooked pizza!

Red Alert

Centra really are showing the others up, they've got their food safety practices nailed IMHO. Pity they're not in a more central location.

Time Magazine

RandolphEsq wrote: »

lol I discovered that in Centra too when I wanted coleslaw on my €4 cooked pizza!

Crime against humanity. Don't go spoiling a good pizza.

slackerdude

I work in UCD and really dislike the sandwiches on offer at O'Brien's. Also the variety is sadly lacking in terms of what's available. Why not offer quiche or lasagne slices with a side salad? Also, a few nice dessert slices would go down well. Muffins and doughy snacks can get very boring.

RandolphEsq

The Economist wrote: »

Crime against humanity. Don't go spoiling a good pizza.

Well since there was only ham left as a secondary topping to cheese I didn't want to be hungry after it. Coleslaw is an excellent compliment to meat, heated or not. Don't actually no the reason why coleslaw shouldn't be heated

Breezer

slackerdude wrote: »

I work in UCD and really dislike the sandwiches on offer at O'Brien's. Also the variety is sadly lacking in terms of what's available. Why not offer quiche or lasagne slices with a side salad? Also, a few nice dessert slices would go down well. Muffins and doughy snacks can get very boring.

Elements does all that kind of stuff, but you pay for it.

slackerdude

Elements may offer more choice at peak times but in the late afternoon the menu is limited to sandwiches. It's ridiculous to have a cafe in a building the size of the Health Sciences Centre that only offers soup and sandwiches. This can get very boring for staff and students. If a small range of hot food options (quiche, lasagne, cottage pie, etc) were available then it would justify the large amount of building space given over to it. Tables and chairs in abundance cry out for solid meals not just pathetic sandwiches. Perhaps the solution would be to introduce a mini elements restaurant here.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Because the 200m walk to the elements in science is too far?