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
I
made a visit to the Cox Hall Food Court on September 21st, at around
one o’clock. It was a busy period at Cox as it was flooded with waves of
students. I was overwhelmed by its crowdedness as I entered this food court.
Basically all tables were occupied, and long lines formed in front of both food
vendors 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 seat, 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. I sit down at a table by the glass
which was lighted by natural sunlight and ate my food.
III.
Interview
In
order to evaluate the overall quality of the Cox Hall Food Court, I 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. However,
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 from DUC”. 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 Cox’s wide range of choices. After all, she
gave a score of seven out of ten for Cox Hall.
IV.
Conclusion
The
Cox Hall Food Court can get really crowded during the lunch time and the waiting
line can be very long. As Elaine mentioned, “it is not a good choice if you are
in a rush”. The taste of the food it offers is arguable as our two interviewees
gave diverged reviews, but it is certainly a “good choice if you are tired of
the DUC”, concluded Elaine.
Reference:
Housing & Dining, http://www.emory.edu/home/life/housing-dining.html
Cox, http://emoryatlanta.cafebonappetit.com/cafe/cox/
Original Version: http://eng101benhe.blogspot.com/2016/09/ethnography-of-coxhall-food-court-i.html
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