“I’m too intimidated by the Faculty Club. I haven’t tied a tie since Bar Mitzvah,” he said, referring to the formal atmosphere of the Faculty Club.

Likewise, Saghatelian said he goes to the Faculty Club only when there is a guest or a speaker, and prefers to dine out in the Harvard Square if he is meeting someone.

Saghatelian said his favorite restaurants in the Square are Harvest, Border Café, and Cambridge 1. Saghatelian said he visits Harvest every other week with his colleague, David R. Liu, also a professor in the chemistry department.

“We have been to a lot of different places, but Harvest has one of the best food,” he said. “We can also get a quick lunch if we sit at the bar.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Saghatelian said he and his colleagues do not talk about work when eating out, but about TV shows, personal lives, and sports.

“It’s a good mix of just being friends and colleagues,” he said.

For History Professor Emma Rothschild, going home for lunch is an option she can enjoy because she lives close to campus. She said she usually picks up to-go food from eateries in the square because she does not cook much except on weekends, especially since all her children are grown up.

“I go to Felipe’s, Chipotle, or Qdoba about once a week to get the rice and beans,” Rothschild said.

When she stays on campus, Rothschild often meets with visitors from outside of Harvard or has lunch with the teaching fellows. For example, her Thursday lunches are reserved for the postdoctoral fellows. She said the Center for History and Economics gets food catered from Thai or Chinese restaurants. When she has visitors, Rothschild said she goes to Harvest or Casablanca.

According to Martin, students can invite professors, faculty, or staff to eat with them in the dining hall at any meal, any day of the week through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Student/Faculty Dining Program. This is in addition to the biannual Faculty Dinner that each House and Annenberg hosts.

“Nourishment is important, but lunch time is also an opportunity to sit down with someone face to face and interact with either friends, colleagues, or students,” Levitsky said.

—Staff writer Jane Seo can be reached at janeseo@college.harvard.edu.