The most anticipated part of the school day for all students is lunchtime. Lunch is when you spend time with friends, enjoy some of your favorite snacks, and avoid worrying about any of your schoolwork for those 30 minutes. It’s a good source of energy and gives you a break from everything. We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it’s just as important to eat lunch. Eating a good lunch keeps your body and brain working efficiently through the afternoon. Schools in the U.S. serve lunch every day to students, and sadly school food has a low budget and is known for not tasting the best or having good ingredients.  Most of the food is highly processed and frozen for weeks. Packing lunch from home is a good alternative, but it isn’t always ideal and can be hard for some students, so sometimes school food is the only good option. 

Luckily, for Dover students, the lunch ladies do an amazing job at always serving good quality food for us to eat. The school makes sure there are salads and fruit available to go with the meals and other fun snacks. There is always the everyday food the school offers like pizza, chicken tenders, and french fries, but each day of the week there is a different meal to eat, however, some taste better than others. Each student has their favorite meal to eat and also their least. Since the majority of high school students get the school food, I was curious about what the best main course meal was at our school and got other students’ thoughts as well. So, I tried almost every meal, and in my opinion, I’ve made a list of the top 5 lunch options a student should get, ranked by both flavor and how well-liked it is by other students. 

5: Beef Brisket

The beef brisket was something new I hadn’t seen on the menu before, and I wanted to try it out. It didn’t appear to be very appetizing, but you know what they say: you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, so my friend Brooklyn and I gave it a try. When we took our first bite, it wasn’t as bad as we thought. Brooklyn said it was a little chewy but still good. I also thought it tasted pretty good, but I also noticed not many students were eating it. I must put this one at the bottom of the list for its lack of popularity, but it wasn’t too bad.

4: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

I love the garlic bread they serve at the school. I’ll sometimes even ask for a second one because it’s that good. The pasta part isn’t that bad either. It’s a fun idea to have an Italian-style meal, but the spaghetti isn’t exactly my favorite. “The noodles are my favorite part,” my friend Hailey, who I sit with at lunch, said. Even though I’m not a big fan of pasta, I would still get this meal again… especially for the garlic bread.  It keeps me full for the rest of the school day. It’s pretty good, so I put this meal in fourth place.

3:The Wing Bar

Almost Buffalo Wild Wings quality, these chicken wings with some BBQ sauce are so good. These wings always make the cafeteria smell good. It is a great way to get some protein in your body. People have mixed feelings about this one; some say it’s not crispy enough others say it’s amazing, and fills them up. Ultimately it’s up to you and how you like your chicken to be. This meal gets third place!

2: Popcorn Chicken Bowl

Coming in second place is the popcorn chicken bowl. It sounds interesting but tastes delicious. It’s mashed potatoes, corn, cheese, and chicken nuggets all in a bowl. This meal has always been good and has kept me full for the rest of the school day. If you’re not a big fan of mashed potatoes, then I wouldn’t recommend it, but if you are, give it a try! More than half of the kids at my lunch table get the chicken bowl when it’s there. 

1: Asian Bar

And finally, the best school food to get is the Asian bar! Chicken and rice with tangy Asian sauce, in my opinion, is the best school meal. I love the sauce because it reminds me of Panda Express. It is one of the most popular things to buy at lunch; there’s always a long line to get it. I recommend getting the Asian bar. It tastes good and has good portions of chicken and rice.

If you are planning on buying the school lunch sometime, I advise getting one of these options and giving it a try! Or, be adventurous and try the other meals to discover your favorite. It’s always good to eat lunch whether you pack your own or get it from the school. Whatever meal you choose, make sure you’re enjoying your lunch and giving your body the energy and nutrients it needs.