Cambridge may not have Taco Bell yet, and a craving for Wendy's still means a T-ride to Boston. But that doesn't really matter now that dining halls on campus provide fine facsimiles of fast food fare.

Skincredibles and crispitos are not just wacky new dining hall goodies. They're also silly, nutty, madcap kinds of new dining hall delectables, and they represent Harvard Dining Service's response to the newest trend in institutionalized food services--the move toward fast food.

While such dining hall offerings may not find their way into the ranks of such classic culinary delights as cod scallops and broccoli cheese pasta, food service managers across campus say these foods are enjoying considerable popularity among students.

Crispitos, which are tortillas filled with either apple chunks and cinnamon, a chicken and cheese mixture or chili, are offered with sour cream at the salad bar. The skincredibles, which are sold commercially as potato skins, are topped with either beef, cheese or cheese and broccoli sauce. Both crispitos and skincredibles can be fried or baked depending on the oven space and labor allotments of the different kitchens.

"Wendy's is offering a whole baked potato with those types of toppings, and they're going like crazy," says Dale M. Hennessey, the dining service's top dietician and menu planner. "If you're at all tuned in to what's going on in the food world, you go with the trend."

A major force in guiding menu changes is student input, she says. If students want quick, tasty and nutritional foods, then Dining Services says it must respond with fast food menus. Hennessy says that the only constraints in implementing new ideas are limited space, time and labor to prepare foods in the various kitchens.

Over the years, the dining hall system has modernized its operation and offerings, growing closer to the McDonald's and Burger King fast food style service in the process. The arrival of salad bars and soda machines in the 1971-72 academic year were perhaps more important developments in this trend, even though students today generally take these staples of food service for granted.

Healthy Yum-Yums?

Admittedly, some students are less than enthusiastic about the dining halls' foray into the wonderful world of fast food. Citing the high sodium and fat content which accompanies many fried foods, student consumers fear the nutritional quality of institutionalized cooking.

Or others, like Perry S. Hewitt '87 of Cabot House, simply prefer their chow to be prepared differently. Hewitt says she resents the resemblance of skincredibles to a sort of main-course french fry. "I think the potatoes should be baked, and I want them to be filled with steamed vegetables," she says. "I lust after steamed vegetables."

No matter how food tastes, they argue, the nutrition question keeps popping up. Despite the high amount of sodium found in cheese sauces used at Harvard, the university's top dietician points to the liquified cheese as a source of protein. "You're getting a protein alternative to put on top of a starch. It's like meat and potatoes," Hennessy says.

Although precise nutritional data for crispitos and skincredibles--like caloric and sodium content--are not yet available. Harvard Dining Services offers some revealing information about the sauces served with potato skins.

A one ounce serving of the cheese sauce, for instance, contains 42 calories, 179 milligrams of sodium and 2.7 grams of fat. An ounce of the stroganoff dip contains 27 calories, about 11 milligrams of sodium and weighs in with 1.3 grams of fat. "We serve [sauces] with a one ounce ladle," Hennessey says, "but most people probably want two ounces."

Tables of the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances list 1100 to 3300 milligrams of sodium per day as "safe and adequate" amounts for adults. This means that a two-ounce serving of the cheese sauce approaches 32 percent of the lower safety level. The stroganoff sauce--apparently much lower in sodium, fat and calories--appears to pose no real threat on these counts.

"The potato is also a good source of potassium," Hennessey adds.