I’ve worked in a number of different places in my life. Malls in high school, on campus in college, and in several different organizations as a professional, and I have to tell you, I had never worked anywhere I thought my lunchtime options were great, or even adequate. Until, that is, I came to Loyola.
The folks who know me from my previous job would say, what?!? not eating lunch at your desk? Well, yes, I often do still eat at my desk, but the variety on our campus and in our neighborhood does occasionally compel me across the campus, to call a lunch meeting at any number of local restaurants, or, my favorite, meet up with my wife and baby for a quick sandwich and some gelato.
Our Danna Center, newly refurbished with bold colors, a new coffee shop, new artwork, and teeming with the bustle of and energy of our amazing students, is a GREAT place to have lunch. The variety is astounding–smoothies, sushi, burgers, an all-you-can-eat dining hall with more selections than you’ll ever be able to sample in one seating, vegetarian options, and a mini-grocery store. I had lunch today in the Orleans Room (that’s the all-you-can-eat option). Catfish, mac-and-cheese, french fries, a big bowl of honey dew, soda, and coffee for $7. Unreal.
Our neighborhood calls you to explore options, too. There are countless great stops for lunch or a snack within a mile or two of the campus. Some of my favorites are on Maple Street, PJ’s Coffee and the Maple Street Cafe. On Oak Street, just down St. Charles toward the River Bend, is Pazzo Gelato for great pannini’s and, of course, gelato. Cannon’s is a nice choice just down St. Charles going the other way (Cannon’s incidentally, is VERY close to where the purple, green, and gold van is parked). Walk it off with a nice stroll in the extension of our campus known as Audubon Park (hmmm, maybe I’ll start taking “walking meetings,” too). Once there, you might bump into the scores of prominent business people, athletes, politicians (and their political strategists) who live around here–in Uptown New Orleans, where you do not have to do too much to make the ordinary extraordinary.
