OPINION: The rise and the fall of The Hill chicken wrap

By LilyBelle Cogliano

The Hill is a beloved food location on the Stonehill campus for all the late diners out there. Whether it’s post-afternoon practice, night class, or you’re just not in the mood for whatever's being served at the dining hall, The Hill is a valued and essential spot for students. Lately, there's a new fixation amongst the hill lovers: The Chicken Wrap.

If you like chicken, wraps, and a little nutrition in the mix, the chicken wrap is worth the meal swipe. Students are raving over the tortilla-filled, lettuce-wrapped in crispy deliciousness. It's the closest thing to the praised “Chicken Wrap Thursdays” Stonehill created and then discontinued. However, there is an issue with making such a beloved staple: the upkeep and consistency of the production.

There’s always been complaints about The Hill, whether it’s the slowness or goofing off of the workers in the back, understaffing, messed up orders, and so on. However, the latest one, which has lately been a problem for many students and their appetites, is the lack of offering items that are on the menu. For an unfortunate example: The Chicken Wrap. Let’s take into account the main components of this product: crispy chicken tender, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, and it’s wrapped in a tortilla. I have been denied a chicken wrap and still had the option to get a cheeseburger, quesadilla, or chicken fingers instead -all meals that contain aspects and components of this wrap. The question is, why can’t the wrap be made then?

Frequent hill goer, Nathan Ward, has many opinions on this topic:

“I get out of class, go to meetings, go to soccer, and by the time I can finally eat, I’m starving; And all I want is a chicken wrap. I go to the hill and see it on the menu, so I order it, expecting it to be on the menu. Then guess what, ‘we’re not doing chicken wraps right now,’ my nights are ruined. Sometimes I just leave. Why offer something on the menu, but then claim you're not serving it?” Nate has brought up opinions such as just taking the wrap off the menu, so that some people (himself mainly, and other chicken wrap lovers) won’t go there with their heart set on it, then get it ripped out of their chest when denied.

Many of Stonehill's food establishments have added and discontinued several food items that have been cherished and loved throughout the years. While it’s great to try something new, it’s important to consistently keep it up; otherwise, students will be disappointed. I personally have not recovered after the great ham and cheese croissant discontinuation at what once was “ABP,” but that's a rant for another day. 

Aces have always done a good job at putting up a sign when running out of lemonade or milk, so students know before getting in line to figure out another option or to change their mind before waiting. Some students will wait over 40 minutes in the notoriously long line for the hill, only to find they’re not serving half of their menu items. Had they known ahead of time, they might have gone off campus or tried to scavenge something up in their dorms.

In my final analysis, I say change is good, but upkeep is necessary. Add that chicken wrap, but make sure you’re consistently making it and not breaking students’ hearts. Putting time and care into making students’ food is appreciated, but goofing off and dancing in the back, then putting together the wrong order, is unfortunate for all parties involved: the student who has to ask for it to be remade and the worker who has to remake it. Sometimes, The Hill is amazing. The food is out in under five minutes, made with love, and everything that's on the menu is available. That's just a perfect scenario, however, on a once-in-a-blue-moon evening.