Surprisingly, the much-vaunted Chickwich, a main feature of the recent HDS survey, did not come up much in The Crimson's informal survey, overshadowed by its less processed cousin.

Students say they use the grilled chicken breasts to do a little cooking of their own--they slice it over salad, smother it in melted cheese, douse it in barbeque sauce.

"You can do a lot with grilled chicken--it's nice to have basic things like that," says Courtney Kress '97 of Mather House.

"You're really looking to create your meal, and it's important that there's room for creativity," says Mather resident Emma C. Cheuse '98.

Tattenbaum also says the dining hall should be more flexible in allowing students to make their own food, referring to the salad bar.

"The current trend of listening to students, of-adding grilled chicken twice a week should continue," says Michael H. Walfish '98.

Grilled chicken is also a favorite of the health-conscious crowd.

"There's not enough for health-conscious people. There's no way for you to eat healthful and well. They should do grilled chicken sandwiches every day," says Claudio A. Sauer '00.

Of course, no opinions about food are ever unanimous, and some just can't stomach more chicken.

"For the past three months, we've been getting plain grilled chicken. It's tasteless. It pisses me off," says Young Byun '97.

Service With a Smile

The dining service's administration and staff is the spoonful of sugar that makes all the food go down better, students say.

"I think that the most important thing is that there are such nice people [on the staff]. They add a lot to the Harvard community. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not," says Sarah N. Glass '97, who says the HDS are the best administrative group at Harvard. "The food is important but they make a good faith effort and it's as good as you can expect."

Cabot House residents, for example, are almost unanimously positive about their food service workers, pointing to dining hall staff/student events as promoting a good relationship.

"There's an event every year when the students wait on dining hall staff, and even make dinner for them. We use the masters' kitchen, and the masters help," says Mary S. Hatcher '98.