Taste of the John was only fun for the first several students
Following a time honored tradition for residents of John Mabee Hall and the wider campus community, Taste of the John is a fan favorite for many who get the chance to stop by. With food orders from seven different restaurants across the greater Tulsa area, the cuisine was as diverse as the locations it came from.
The spread was expansive, guests in the lobby were able to pick from a multitude of different flavors and diets. For the main course, Taste of the John offered three different types of pizzas from Andolini’s with options for vegan guests, meatloaf pizza and good ol’ cheese.
The selection from Masa was equally large, with four different empanada options, two with meat and cheese, one with cheese and lastly one with black beans.
The crowd favorite based on how quickly the serving trays were emptied was Mack’s Wings, with both bone-in and boneless options, there was something for everyone.
Another favorite was the chicken sandwiches from Chicken and the Wolf, while one guest at the event, Jack Grewe, commented “I wish the chicken sandwiches had been more numerous and spicier but they were still good.”
As far as dessert was concerned, there were two options: ice cream sandwiches from Big Dipper and cakes from Merritt’s Bakery.
Many of the dining establishments advertised on the campus wide email blast from Campus Services were not present at the event. Students who attended the event missed out on Mondo’s Italian Restaurant, Howdy Burger, Bodhi’s Bowl and Phat Philly’s.
One defining characteristic of this event compared to previous years was the utter lack of food. Taste of the John is typically able to feed 300 people comfortably; however, this year the event started to run out of food after just 110 students had come through the line. This left more than 100 people still waiting to be served.
Junior Ben Galles, who raced to the John after class only to find that there was just one dietary option available, said, “I only got half a slice of eggplant pizza.”
Shelby Hiens, who was lucky enough to be one of the first guests, stated “I arrived early, so I could get as much food as I wanted but people at the end of the line did not get the same treatment. I tried to be considerate but some people had heaping plates.”
The reason for the lack of food can be blamed on the event’s budget being slashed. Last year, over $4,000 worth of food was purchased with three-quarters of that coming from the Student Activities Board and the other quarter coming from the John Mabee Hall government. However, this year only $2,000 was spent on food. Half of this money came from the John Mabee Hall government and the other half came from the Resident Hall Association.
Adam Porterie, the Senior Resident Assistant of John Mabee was in charge of Taste of the John. When asked why there was a decrease in money this year, he said, “Eric Flores and the Student Activities Board stood on new bureaucratic rules and determined that Taste of the John, a staple TU event, was not worth the time or money of the Student Activities Board.”
Overall, Taste of the John was an exciting and fun event for those lucky enough to arrive early, but it still left much to be desired due to monetary issues.
