Otowi Cafeteria

I can't give a negative rating. the cafeteria at ta53 is absolute garbage. the servers are not happy and the potions are ridiculously small. $7+ for 2 small meatless ribs and a small scoop of potatoes.. absolutely garbage.

I am not giving this post a one start because the food is bad. I actually think the food is rather good for cafeteria food. However, the customer service is severely poor. I usually don't write bad reviews but yesterday I experienced the worst customer service of my life. Specifically at the pasta bar. I take my co-workers weekly to get pasta but I will no longer go because how badly I was treated.

The only reason this gets three stars and not two (or one) is because of 'pasta day', an amazing day that is supposed to be every Tuesday and Thursday but occasionally doesn't happen. Their selection of pasta toppings is pretty awesome, just make sure you get there early or the line will be unbearably long. The salad bar is pretty decent thanks to the existence of hard boiled eggs, tuna, and almonds. If you want your salad dressing to evenly coat your salad, close it in a takeout box and shake it around. It works perfectly. 'Breakfast' sucks. Yogurt and granola can be used as a backup. Sometimes there will be nice fruit (yay strawberries and pineapple) but most of the time it's nasty junk, like cantaloupe or honeydew. Who wants that? Whoever is responsible for stocking the milk does a terrible job of it, whether it's them or the vendors; you might be lucky enough to find some 2% but it's usually just chocolate milk. Also, would it kill them to put out more than two bagels? There's an online 'menu' but it's worthless because it's accurate about 30% of the time. The staff is cool. My favorites are the lady with dark hair and glasses and the pasta guy.

Located on LANL property, it's open to the public. It being a cafeteria, the entrees are not made to order. The guys at the grill do make a pretty good burger, and a decent salad bar is available.

Some people have bad days, and I am willing to give them a pass for the occasional off day. The woman who works the sandwich/wrap counter is *always* having a bad day. During the usual lunch rush, I waited in a considerable line for a Chicken Caesar wrap. When I got to the front of the line, I was pleasantly surprised that they had not run out of chicken or wraps (which occurs often, unfortunately). The woman went about making the wrap, adding lettuce and croutons. While she was sprinkling croutons on, I said, "And no parmesan, please." She gave me an evil glare and said, "You should have told me that." I tried to apologize (thinking that maybe the croutons and parmesan were mixed together), but she turned away and threw away the entire wrap. She hastily started over, making a sloppy Caesar wrap *with* parmesan and no croutons. In my apologetic/stunned state, I did not have the heart to say that this new wrap was all wrong. At least the Otowi parmesan is tasteless at best.