Raise your hand if you went to Burgers and Brew with your parents when they came to visit you. This is one symptom of what I like to call the “Davis Classics” syndrome. A group of four or five restaurants soak up a huge portion of your prime time dinner dollars. I like to call these restaurants — the aforementioned Burgers and Brew, Crepeville, Dos Coyotes, Thai Canteen, El Toro Bravo and a few others — the Davis Classics. And as important as it is to show face at El Toro Bravo for Taco Tuesdays, you may be missing out on tastier, cheaper or healthier alternatives (a side note about Taco Tuesday: getting your food to-go is ok, but if you’re caught eating alone on Tuesday, you might as well be social tofu). I don’t mean to call out these restaurants. They’re popular for a reason: the food’s certainly good, the atmosphere’s fun. All I’m saying is, depending on the circumstances, there may be a better option out there for you. And in the world of eating out, it’s always best to have as many options as possible.

So, without further ado, let me help cure your Davis Classics syndrome.

Crepeville: Whether it’s your favorite Sunday brunch place, or (like me), your go-to breakfast-for-dinner spot, Crepeville deserves to be on the list of Davis essentials. Looking up at their color-coded hand-drawn menu, it’s not hard to find something you want to eat. But Crepeville is so safe. It’s very generic in a way and, at least for me, can get old very easily. That’s why I recommend Delta of Venus the next time you think about Crepeville. For the same price as Crepeville (if not cheaper), DeltaV (hence referred to as) has great food and a more interesting atmosphere. Not only do they often host live music, poetry and more, but their home-fry breakfast potatoes will absolutely obliterate Crepeville’s, guaranteed. DeltaV’s décor is original and interesting, while Crepeville’s seems more like a by-the-book breakfast place I’ve been in before.

Burgers and Brew: Davis’ burger game is pretty weak in my opinion. Here are your options. Burgers and Brew makes a good burger. Froggy’s makes pretty comparable burgers at pretty comparable prices. Redrum Burger is another Davis Classic. And then In-N-Out is In-N-Out. (Purposely left out The Habit). (Purposely didn’t bold The Habit). With an impressive amount of interesting burger choices and an equally impressive amount of beers on tap, Burgers and Brew is probably the best burger place in Davis (although it certainly reeks of grad student in there, doesn’t it?) It is expensive though, so if you’re looking for something cheaper but similar, why not check out Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shop? No burgers, but they have really good hot (and cold) sandwiches that offer a change of pace from B&B. Also, each sandwich comes with a cookie and a lollipop. Neat-o!

Thai Canteen/Ketmoree: Every night I say a prayer, thanking the heavens above that Davis has above-average Thai food choices. Thai Canteen is a hip and modern Thai restaurant geared at attracting college students. It’s also one of the most underrated drunchie (drunk munchies) destinations in Davis (open till 2 a.m. from Tuesday to Saturday). Ketmoree is Thai Canteen’s sophisticated, more career-oriented older brother. They both have great service and great food. That being said, you aren’t sacrificing much in the way of taste or atmosphere by going to Taste of Thai on G Street. I like their red curry better than both Thai Canteen and Ketmo (order it thai-spicy if you like drinking water). It’s cheaper than Ketmoree and less in-your-face than Thai Canteen. Sophia’s Thai Kitchen provides a delicious alternative to Ketmoree. My point here is that I like all four of these places. Each has its own nuance. I just wouldn’t confine yourself to Thai Canteen and Ketmo, because you might be surprised at what other Davis Thai has to offer.

Dos Coyotes: I could talk to you about Mexican food for hours, if you want to talk to me about Mexican food for hours, shoot me an email, jiversman@ucdavis.edu. Dos Coyotes is a Davis staple, with great wet burritos and even greater pulled pork nachos. Their salsa bar is undoubtedly the best salsa bar in Davis (with La Piñata picking up second place because of their killer habanero salsa). One salsa bar related complaint for Dos — the mango salsa is fantastic, but the serving spoon they give you for it is absurdly small. It takes eight or nine concerted scoops to fill up a ramekin. And obviously I’m filling up five or six. But I digress.

Good Mexican food goes far beyond the salsa bar. Taqueria Guadalajara and Taqueria Davis make tastier Mexican cuisine than Dos, and for less dinero. Taqueria Guadalajara (or Guads) has some of the best tasting meat of any restaurant in Davis. I personally order Adobada meat, but anything there’s good. They open early and have good breakfast specials. Taqueria Davis, on the other hand, has really good vegan burritos with zucchini, and they have whole wheat, spinach and tomato tortillas, which are fun. I really enjoyed their Al Pastor burrito as well.

At the end of the day, the Davis Classics play an important role in Davis food culture. These restaurants serve as home base when it comes to easy, thoughtless dining decisions with large groups of people. After giving this article a read, I hope you think for a while before deciding to go to a Davis Classic. Just make sure you’re putting some thought into where you go — the freedom to choose where you get to eat out should never be taken for granted.

Remember, now you’ve got a friend in the dinin’ business.

You can reach JONAH VERSMAN at jiversman@ucdavis.edu

Recent incidences of animal abuse require more transparency.

In 2015, UC Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine was named the top veterinary graduate school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In the same year, UC Davis achieved several incredible feats in animal science, from discovering a cure to a rare form of ear tumors in foxes to nursing over 50 animals injured in the Valley and Butte fires.

With cattle farms steps away from residence halls and new beekeeping courses coming to the school, it’s undeniable that UC Davis is a prominent force in animal science. However, beneath the significant breakthroughs in veterinary medicine, UC Davis has recently become notorious for its mistreatment of animals and lack of transparency concerning animal negligence on the campus.

In 2014, a small lamb was killed after it was crushed by its mother while being transported in a crate from a UC Davis research facility. The incident, which was originally recorded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), wasn’t publicly uncovered until a year later when an animal interest group unearthed the report and exposed UC Davis for its disregard concerning animal safety. Furthermore, UC Davis and USDA have been criticized for burying the incident at the end of the department’s inspection report under the category “Miscellaneous.”

Additionally, UC Davis has been under fire for years for widespread rumors regarding the mistreatment of monkeys at the university’s primate center. Though little to no information is confirmed concerning rumors of escaped monkeys, deceased primates and abused animals, activist groups have been protesting the center regularly for its alleged negligence. The center recently raised suspicion with its decision to search for a public relations firm to represent the organization. Several critics suspect this to be an effort to rehabilitate the center’s reputation following a string of damaging allegations.

As a university that houses thousands of live animals and a leading campus in animal research, UC Davis should have greater transparency when incidents of animal negligence occur. With thousands of students attending UC Davis for its prestige in animal research, it is both unfair and unjust for the university to hide incidents of animal abuse while still publicly celebrating accolades for its strides in animal science.

While a large portion of blame should also be placed on USDA, who monitored and oversaw both incidents, UC Davis should not be excused for failing to consistently protect the welfare of animals. With greater transparency comes greater accountability, and with greater accountability from the public comes potentially fewer instances of animal neglect.

Though, like the primate center defends, violations are bound to occur at every animal research center, there still needs to be a value placed on making these violations known to the public. Because there’s no way around it – animals were harmed and people should know about it.

A retrospective on campus history.

Edwin Starr, the performer, once asked, “War! What is it good for?” Absolutely nothing. But that hasn’t stopped mankind from causing the most violent events to ever occur on Earth, including the Crusades, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, The Expendables movies, Grand Theft Auto and partisan Youtube comments. However, there was one event that took place at UC Davis that suggests not only are we not the most warlike species on the planet, but we’re not the most warlike on this campus.

March 2, 1998. Biology professor Roger Lee was told by an Arboretum gardener that the local squirrels and ducks had become increasingly aggressive. He also added that lawns surrounding the creek were littered with furs and feathers. The professor didn’t think anything of it at first, but after a week of observation in the Arboretum, he came to a controversial conclusion. The ducks and squirrels had declared War.

Lee delivered his report to the University Chancellor in a 200-page file that was written hastily over a two-day period. In it, he included pictures, statistics, written witness statements from students and even pieces of weapon grade acorns the squirrels were developing in secret tree caches. One section of the report gave a vivid description of how violent the conflict eventually became.

The following notes are from Prof. Lee’s report on the day of April 3, 1998:

“12:30 p.m. – A large squad of up to 20-30 squirrels have taken residence in two trees outside Wright Hall. One of the squirrels is loudly squeaking and waving his tail. The rest seem to be watching his moves in a submissive yet disciplined manner. He might be the leader of this warband.

12:34 p.m. – Six mallards have entered the premises. They have landed outside the tree and are unaware of the squirrels’ presence. Several of the squirrels have launched acorns on the ducks. One was hit on the neck and has run away into the creek.

12:37 p.m. – The rest of the ducks flew away after a bombardment from the squirrels. The tree is loud with a high-pitched screeching that I now believe is the squirrel victory cheer.

12:51 p.m. – A large flotilla of ducks, up to 200 in strength, has landed and surrounded the trees. They are collectively making a loud quacking noise that is too loud for my audio recorder to pick up. Squads of them are making attack runs by flying into the trees and knocking the squirrels down to the ground. Picnicking students in the area have evacuated for cover from the noise and threat of being pecked to death.

12:54 p.m. – I am now being attacked by ducks who may have mistaken me for a giant squirrel. Ending observation log of 04/03/98. If anyone finds this, please tell my family I love them and tell my children to stay away from the Beatrix Potter books.”

Lee was later rescued from the Arboretum in time to heal from his injuries, finish his report and have a relatively late lunch seven minutes later.

Following Lee’s observations, the entire Arboretum was sealed off to student access. Refugee animals were denied access to resettle in the greater campus area. Protesters demanded that the Chancellor bring an end to the violence. Peace came on June 19, a little over two months after the conflict started. When the Chancellor announced that the Arboretum was once again open to the public, few students knew about the ultimate fate of the warring animals. What they did notice was a suspiciously large surplus of mystery meat being served in cafeterias and that there were far less animals in the Arboretum than before.

As for Professor Roger Lee, the event gave him such a mental shock that he moved to Baghdad to conduct study abroad programs. As of early 2003, he believed this was the right decision for him.

“I came here to get away from the damn violence,” he said, responding to questions on the Squirrel-Duck War of 1998.  “Every time I read about a war happening in some corner of the world, my mind goes back to the horror of the squeaking and quacking. Then more squeaking and quacking. Then more, and more, and…”

He ended the interview to continue staring off into the horizon.
You can reach EVAN LILLEY at etlilley@ucdavis.edu

On July 11, 2015, notorious drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán, also known as “El Chapo,” or “The Shorty,” escaped from a maximum security prison in Mexico. Following his arrest last week, authorities discovered this schedule, obtained by The California Aggie, detailing his daily activities since the escape.

5 a.m.: El Chapo awakens in a cold sweat. Tears are in his eyes. He has been dreaming of The Tunnel again.

6 a.m.: Unable to return to sleep, he prepares his breakfast. When you are the most wanted drug dealer in the world, this is not so simple. For example, to buy his morning produce, he has to build a tunnel that ends directly under the egg aisle.

7 a.m.: Time for a shower. El Chapo laments knowing that no matter how nice of a shower it is, it will never be his favorite shower.

8 a.m.: Time to hit the road. While on the run, El Chapo sees a bridge and gets inspiration for his next, even more daring prison escape.

9 a.m.: Work. El Chapo opens a rehab center for cattle and sheep with heroin addictions in hopes that it will attract a 15-minute “VICE” segment.

11 a.m.:  Uh-oh. El Chapo realizes he left a personal effect in his prison cell. He makes a quick detour to retrieve it.

Noon:  Lunchtime. Despite being on the lam, El Chapo likes dining at fine restaurants, and, by taking certain safety precautions like taking fellow diners’ cell phones, is able to do so on a regular basis. For the reason of taking their cell phones, El Chapo is one of the most despised criminals among bored women trying to get out of their dates.

2 p.m.: Work. It’s hard to run an international drug syndicate while running from the authorities. El Chapo does it by using MailChimp. MailChimp: Send Better Email.

3 p.m.: A pleasant mid-afternoon of people watching and napping at The Zócalo, Mexico City’s main square.

4 p.m.: Long-term planning. El Chapo doesn’t always want to be on the run. He needs to settle down some place safe and off the map. Some place where even the residents generally agree they’re in the middle of nowhere. UC Davis.

5 p.m.: El Chapo leaves the office for his home in the suburbs. He sits in his driveway for five minutes before forcing himself out of the car. Just another nine-to-five day in this ruined life. This hell is not what he envisioned when he graduated from Rutgers.

6:30 p.m.: Dinnertime. El Chapo is also known for always picking up the entire tab for a restaurant he takes over. Patrons are frequently upset that he doesn’t let them take care of the check for a change. It’s just rude.

8 p.m.: “Girls.” El Chapo doesn’t think Hannah could have gotten into Iowa in real life.

9 p.m.: El Chapo wonders if anything can be done to prevent Luis Guzmán from playing him in “Short but Big: The El Chapo Story.” He doesn’t want the drivel that’s been coming out of Hollywood’s big studios. He wants art. Subtlety. Sean Penn.

10 p.m.: El Chapo returns to his bed to go to sleep. As part of his pre-sleep ritual, and to ensure his safety, a member of the Federal Police tucks him in.

2:41 a.m.: Maybe El Chapo didn’t need to build a tunnel and crawl through it to escape. Maybe the answer was inside him all along.

Written by: Eli Flesch – opinions@theaggie.com