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Berkeley High students—already bombarded with a potpourri of culinary choices—were greeted Monday with the most conveniently located entry into the no-holds barred competition for student lunch money: a new school cafeteria. 

For the first time since 1993, when their old cafeteria was declared seismically unfit and demolished, an estimated 500 students waited in line this week while uniformed cafeteria workers heaped hot, freshly prepared meals onto their plates. 

And like any other day at the school, a couple of thousand more students poured out from the campus at lunchtime en route to downtown take-out restaurants, unmoved that their long awaited cafeteria was open for business. 

“I’ve gone off campus for over three years, I’m not going to stop now,” said Katri Foster as she returned with friends from a Chinese restaurant. 

That attitude spells trouble for the district, whose indebted cafeteria fund has cost it approximately $1.1 million over the past three years. Two months ago Director of Nutritional Services Karen Candito estimated the school would have to serve 900 meals per day at $3.50 apiece just to break even. Though an official tally was unavailable by press time, district spokesperson Mark Coplan estimated that only slightly more than one-fifth of the student body bought their lunches on campus Monday, 400 fewer than needed. 

The cafeteria is part of a $37 million construction project that includes a new gym, office space, a dance studio and a new library along Milvia Street. For the last 11 years the only food served at the school has been prepackaged entrees provided mainly to the 400 students on the free and reduced lunch program. 

“What we had before was so bad the only kids who would eat it would the ones who were getting it for free,” said Principal Jim Slemp. He hoped the new cafeteria could serve as a gathering place and foster an improved sense of community on campus. 

To attract the masses, Berkeley High is serving just about every type of food imaginable. Students can pick from 12 options including a burrito bar, salad bar with Annie’s Naturals dressing, pizza, rice and noodle bowls, burgers and pasta. There are two notable exceptions to the offerings, however. As part of the district’s nutrition campaign, students won’t find any fried food or sugary desserts and soft drinks. 

Student reactions to the cafeteria were as diverse as the entrees being served. Theo Wilson, a freshman, said his hamburger was better than most cafeteria food he’s eaten in Berkeley, but not quite on par with his favorite taqueria on Shattuck Avenue. 

For Kira Mandella the best part of the new cafeteria was not having to rush back from Shattuck during the 32-minute lunch period. “Usually the lines [at the off-campus food outlets] are really crowded and either we’re late for class or end up eating in class,” she said. 

Student complaints focused less on the quality of the food than the price. 

“I could go to Roundtable Pizza and get a Personal Pan Pizza and a drink for $3.50—here I just get a slice,” said Parris Moore, a freshman who brought her own lunch to the cafeteria. 

At $3.50, the lunch includes one entree, a drink and a piece of fruit. Candito said the price—50 cents more than smaller-portioned middle school lunches—is consistent with an across-the-board price hike the district implemented last year.  

Except for a slow moving line at the burrito bar, opening day appeared to go smoothly. Many students had already bought pre-paid debit cards to pay for lunches and Candito said lines would move faster when more students used cards instead of paying out-of-pocket. She didn’t have an estimate for how many students had already purchased the cards. 

Meanwhile, two blocks away, it was business as usual at Top Dog—a fast food restaurant—where Berkeley High students packed the line nearly to the door. “I don’t care what they have in the cafeteria, why would anyone want to stay in school during lunch?” said David Singer a 10th-grader walking back to campus after paying five dollars for two hot dogs and a drink. 

At optimum capacity the new cafeteria could serve 1,100 students, Candito said. While she doesn’t have to reach capacity, the new cafeteria remains a risky venture for the district. Usually, Candito said, elementary school cafeterias are the most profitable, but in Berkeley which has 11 small elementary schools with poor economy of scale that have historically lost money, the high school cafeteria must break even. 

To that end, Stephanie Allan said the district has laid off 11 food service workers at other sites and then rehired nine of them for the high school. Allan is the business representative for Stationary Engineers, Local 39, which represents Berkeley Unified School District’s food service workers. “They’ve melded everything else into the high school,” she said. “[Candito is] counting on serving one thousand kids a day and I’m praying she’s right.”›