Hailey Brune – Opinion Columnist

Don’t get me wrong. I am in no way an expert on the STEAMery, or sandwiches, or food for that matter. I haven’t tried everything on the menu either. For that to be possible I’d have to stop getting the same three things, and I am a creature of habit. I’ve never had their vegetarian or breakfast sandwich options. There’s even a few of their more popular sandwiches that I’ve never had. For the few things I’ve had though, my opinion is strong. So, I plan to take up this part of the Weekly to convince you what the best items are in the STEAMery. Based on my taste buds of course.
Let’s start with the best sandwiches and go down. My number one choice is the chicken salad sandwich. I avoided this sandwich my first year because it has grapes in it, and I thought that sounded weird. Then I accidentally ate a roast beef sandwich with marmalade in it, and I never judged sweet things with meat again. The chicken salad sandwich is on a croissant bread with the chicken salad mixture, greens (lettuce), and grape halves. It’s a simple sandwich but the grapes give a sweetness to the chicken and it’s very good. The next best sandwich is the Tuscan Chicken. I obviously have a favorite type of meat. The Tuscan Chicken has grilled chicken chunks, with greens, and barbeque sauce in a flatbread. Flatbread is one of the best types of bread in my humble opinion. So, I’ll try most sandwiches just for having the right type of bread. It’s not a complicated sandwich and the flavors are not overwhelming, so it’s a good second choice.
The next best sandwich is the Cuban sandwich. It’s not my favorite and I only get it when I don’t want anything else, or I want pickles. Personally, I find it to be a bit of an overwhelming sandwich, but it’s still quite good. It contains onions, pickles, a mayo mustard mixture, swiss cheese, pulled pork and ham on a flatbread. The pickles and flatbread really pull a fast one on me, causing me to get it more often than I want it. If you like a meat heavy sandwich this is a good one. We’ll go on to my two least favorites now. The best of the two is the Smoked Turkey. It has smoked turkey, swiss cheese, and a jam on flatbread. I’m really not a huge fan of turkey, but the jam made me try it. Without the jam the sandwich would be a big flop, honestly. Not even the flatbread could save it. Even with the jam it’s still a pretty plain sandwich. I don’t suggest it to someone unless the only other thing is my least favorite sandwich. The egg salad sandwich is egg salad and greens on croissant bread. Now, let’s be 100 here: I don’t hate the egg salad sandwich. I actually really like egg salad, but the blandness is astronomical. It has so little taste I can’t say it’s good. If it had a little bit of flavor maybe it’d be above the turkey, but it doesn’t.
The STEAMery has more than sandwiches. They have amazing pastries every morning. The muffins are huge and soft, the turnovers are amazing, and so are the danishes. If by some miracle you’ve never tried the pastries you need to do so during J-term or the spring. If you’re looking for more of a small lunch then they have some decent salads. I personally really like their strawberry salad. It comes with the option of chicken or no chicken. Lettuce, strawberries, sunflower seeds, cheese, and a vinaigrette dressing. I get it anytime I don’t like the sandwich options. The STEAMery also has my favorite soup on campus. Their chicken wild rice soup is so much better than what the Caf gives out. It’s an actual creamy soup instead of a wild rice hotdish situation. I highly suggest trying it if you like chicken and wild rice.
Of course the SteaMery is also known for their drinks. I mean, they are a cafe. The hot chocolate is very good. I like it better than the courtyard and the Caf’s hot chocolate. A little bit more than River Rock too. Their strawberry lemonade refreshers are also pretty good. Quite refreshing in fact…anyway. This is the ranking of the sandwiches I’ve had from the STEAMery. Should you base your thoughts off my analysis alone? Yes, that seems like an appropriate idea. If you’re looking for a light lunch and you’re not sure what to get. Try out the STEAMery. They’re nice and their selection gives a little variation away from the Caf food. You can take my suggestions and go off that, or try whatever looks good to you. It’s a very handy thing to have for STEM and dance/music students. So, take a lunch break and get a sandwich.