When the buffet is serving something you just can’t trust, what is there to do? I don’t expect the average student to believe that Redifer dining crew is turning out mass amounts of well-prepared salmon or juicy pork loin. I’d react happily to the aforementioned meals if it was my mom making them; however, it is understandably difficult to mass-produce any food at a high level. And in no way do I mean to hate on the people working at the buffet. If I had to guess, the food that they are preparing is frozen anyway, so no hard feelings.
Anyway, as untrustworthy as the buffet’s entrees can be, it’s not like most of the a la carte options are very reliable either. While I believe that the ceiling of the a la carte places is much higher than that of the buffet, I also believe that the floor is much lower. In the past I’ve thrown out several dishes, walked back to my dorm to make easy-mac, and gotten food poisoning from the a la cartes. It’s understandable that I’d move forward with caution. That is except for one spot: In A Pickle.
Located smack in the middle of Redifer’s dining commons, the In A Pickle deli is serving up customizable paninis and hoagies all day long (except for the many frustrating hours that all of the food places are closed, why can’t we eat before 10:30 on the weekends?!?!). While many of the other a la carte eateries cannot be trusted regularly, I cannot overstate the consistency and quality of the paninis here.
Sadly, In A Pickle doesn’t offer menu items, so it’s up to you to create your perfect sandwich. At first, I was a sub-par panini craftsman. I kept everything basic. No sauces, limited toppings, weak.
Although I understood that I needed to branch out from my terrible panini combos, I wasn’t willing to risk making an awful creation. I did the thing any wise panini-craftsman would do: I turned to the interwebs. I found some great combos, and I’ll list my favorites below with their names and ingredients…
- Turkey and Cheese
- Whole Wheat
- Mayo
- Pesto
- Provolone
- Turkey
- Tomato
- Italian
- White Bread
- Honey Mustard
- Provolone
- Ham
- Salami
- Bruschetta
- White Bread
- Mozzarella
- Turkey
- Olive Oil
- Tomato
- Club
- Whole Wheat
- Mustard
- Swiss
- Turkey
- Bacon
While I could give you the low down of each sandwich, I’d rather give you the overview of the place as a whole. In A Pickle is coming at you with the freshest ingredients in Redifer. The bread is always amazing, and I seriously would eat it dry if asked. There are plenty of options for bread, too. There is a great selection of meat, including bacon (but you do have to pay a bit extra). Any lunch meat you could imagine is there, and the person behind the counter always makes sure to load up your sandwich. While the sauces and toppings are admittedly a little lacking, they do give you enough to work with to make a decent number of different and tasty sandwiches.
Overall, I cannot recommend this place enough. It is the most consistent, highest quality a la carte place on this campus, and I will defend that claim against literally anything else. Whenever you don’t know what to get, go to In A Pickle. When I roll up, I just whip out my phone and read off some ingredients from lists in my notes depending on what I’m feeling, and I suggest that you do the same. Please look up some good recipes online and head down to In A Pickle and try it!