Students share favorite places to grab food late at night
With everything the college lifestyle may hurl at students, sometimes a midnight snack is necessary. Whether at the Dining Commons or through a delivery service, there are many ways to satisfy late-night food cravings in Davis.
This year’s best late night snack, according to The California Aggie’s Best of Davis survey, was In-N-Out. The fast food joint is a favorite of many, due to the affordability and consistency it provides.
For students who live or have lived in the dorms, the words “late night” may bring to mind the DC’s offerings of chicken wings, rice bowls and warm cookies. In past years, the Segundo, Cuarto and Tercero DC’s have provided “late night” from 8:30 p.m. until midnight. To the dismay of some students, however, only the Segundo DC will serve late night in the 2019-20 school year. This makes it all the more necessary for students to be aware of their after-dark dining options.
“I think it’s pretty unfortunate that late night is closing everywhere except Segundo next year because I really like late night and it’s pretty convenient,” said Tanya Saxena, a first-year biological sciences major. “I go pretty often, especially when I have classes that end later such as night lab. It’s very relaxing to go to late night after night lab, even if it’s just for a bowl of cereal.”
Saxena added that late night usually offers comfort food, which she claims are best enjoyed in the later hours after a long day. When she wants a different late-night food choice, Saxena said she typically uses food delivery apps such as UberEATS or DoorDash. Some of her go-to places are Red 88 Noodle Bar and Woodstock’s.
Red 88 Noodle Bar is open as late as 2:30 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and is open until midnight the rest of the week. They offer their own delivery service as well as delivery through DoorDash and UberEATS.
First-year history major Erica Payne generally goes to late night in the Segundo DC for late night food cravings or to one of the markets for the sake of convenience. Payne lives in Cuarto, where the DC closes at 8 p.m. and does not offer late night. And, if she is in the mood for “something special,” she goes downtown — two of her favorites are Open Rice Kitchen and Burgers and Brew.
Open Rice Kitchen is open until midnight, save for Thursday, Friday and Saturday when it doesn’t close until 2 a.m. Similarly, Burgers and Brew serves customers until 3 a.m. on the weekends.
“I’m probably going to have to be more prepared about what I buy at stores [next year],” Payne said. “I think there are definitely a lot of options if you want a late night snack. There are a lot of places that are open at night.”
Third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major Sereen Banna goes to Old Teahouse, which is open until midnight everyday, or In-N-Out, which is open until either 1 a.m. or 1:30 a.m., for late night snacks while she’s studying. Banna also occasionally find herself in need of a caffeine boost for late-night studying sessions and loves that Dutch Bros is open 24/7.
“I would recommend exploring Davis before you settle into a pattern or routine,” Banna said. “Unless you explore Davis, you won’t know where to go for food — you’re going to stick to the basics, which is what we did in our house for a while. Everyone in Davis has their specific taste buds, and they all like something different, but there are some hidden gems here that Yelp can show you.”
Written by: Anjini Venugopal — features@theaggie.org
