Ethnography of the Cox Hall Food Court

I. Background

       Strategically located at the center of the Emory campus, Cox Hall Food Court is a popular dining place for Emory students. It opens at 6:30 am and closes at 7:00 pm every day, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. According to its official website, the Cox Hall Food Court is positioned as a place “which offers quick-service dining options”. It consisted of ten food vendors, which are ITP Deli, Freshens, Maru, C3, Green Bean, Twisted Taco, Pasta John’s, Beltline Pizza, Dooley’s Farm, and Char’d House. They together offer diverse dining options for students, staff, and visitors at Emory.

II. Observation

       The first time I went to the Cox Hall Food Court was during a busy lunch time on a weekday. As I entered the food court, I was overwhelmed by its crowdedness. The tables were basically fully occupied, and long lines formed in front of both food counters and check-out counters. In order to avoid the waiting, I chose a box of pre-made sushi roll and a bowl of cold pasta from the refrigerator and checked out.

As I looked around to find an available table, I noticed that most tables at the Cox Hall Food Court had four or six seats. About one-third of the tables were located by the glass. The remaining two-third of the tables were situated near the check-out counters and food vendors. My friend and I sit down at a table by the glass which was lighted by natural sunlight.

I tasted the pasta first. It was very cold, and the pasta was a little too hard. The sauce of the pasta was kind of weird to me, and I did not finish it. The sushi roll was not bad. Again, the rice was very cold and hard, but acceptable. The sashimi inside was fresh and the portion was not too small. Overall, I did not really enjoy my first meal at the Cox Hall and I was still a little hungry after spending ten dollars on my food.

My comprehensive impression of the Cox Hall Food Court was crowded and the food was so-so. It deserved a score of six point five out of ten in my opinion.

III. Interview

       In order to make a better evaluation of the Cox Hall Food Court, I also interviewed two of my friends, Steven and Elaine, regarding their experience of eating at Cox. Elaine eats at Cox Hall approximately once a week. Steven is a less frequent eater at Cox, eating there about twice a month. Their first impressions of the Cox Hall Food Court were both crowded during lunch, but Elaine added that “during dinner time, the line was much shorter”. Steven did not like the food at Cox Hall except the sushi, and he concluded that “the food was not great but a good change of taste”. Steven gave an overall score of six out of ten for the Cox Hall Food Court. Elaine, on the other side, liked the food at Cox Hall, especially the tacos. “It is better than the DUC.” Said Elaine. She was happy with the wide range of choices that Cox Hall offered. After all, she gave a score of seven out of ten for Cox Hall.

IV. Conclusion

       In conclusion, the Cox Hall Food Court offers diverse options of food for everyone on campus. It can get really crowded during the lunch time and the waiting line can be very long. Thus, it is not a good choice if you are in a rush. The quality of the food is not superb, but it is a good choice if you are tired of the DUC.

Sources Cited:

Housing & Dining, http://www.emory.edu/home/life/housing-dining.html

Cox, http://emoryatlanta.cafebonappetit.com/cafe/cox/