The Arrival of Bella’s Burgers (and the Dawn of a New Era?)
Art credits to Divya Agrawal!
December 20, 2015
In the cafeteria, near the hot lunch, there is a location where burgers sit in tiers, waiting to be grabbed by eager students. Only a month or so ago, the burgers that sat on the rack were considered sketchy at best, with very few students taking the risk of choosing to eat them. Then, as if by magic, those mediocre burgers were replaced with the holy grail of all burgers: Bella’s Burgers.
Bella’s Burger Shack now supplies Ridge with burgers that are available every lunch period, every day, with options like regular burgers, cheeseburgers, and the notorious Bella’s Burger with its special sauce.
While most students are very happy about this new addition to their cafeteria options, not all buyers are rejoicing. After Bella’s replaced the old burgers with their own, prices increased dramatically. In fact, most food prices in school this year have gone up, but so has the quality of the food. In addition to the newly added Bella’s Burgers option, there are also nachos, better chicken tenders, and new pastas. The question is, are students willing to pay higher prices for better food – especially for Bella’s?
Felix Zheng ‘16 is willing to pay more; in his opinion, “Bella’s burgers are more flavorful than the old Ridge High burgers and they are more filling. Also, it is nice to have an extra choice instead of just a plain hamburger or cheeseburger, despite their higher cost.” Many people in the lunchroom seem to agree with this, as they flock to the new burgers despite the countless other options available to them daily.
Sydney Kovach ‘19 agrees that the burgers are great to have as an option in school. However, she declares, “I don’t like the sauce [on the Bella’s Burger], and I think they should give an option for having sauce or not.” This is a common issue with students as well, but the availability of a regular burger or a cheeseburger gives students other options if they do not like the sauce on the Bella’s Burger.
Clearly, opinions vary from student to student, coming down to what students enjoy in terms of taste when choosing their lunch options. Overall, the reactions have been positive, and more and more students have been making their way over to that tiered burger rack and grabbing a Bella’s burger instead of the usual hot lunch, salad, or pizza options.
Val Post • Feb 29, 2016 at 2:07 pm
I really loved the addition of the new Bellas Burgers at the school lunch line. I expected them to be dry and cold, but they were kept surprisingly warm. The one thing I dislike is that they were priced more than they would be at the restaurant itself. I wish they would change that. Also maybe bring bellas mozzarella sticks to the school.
Anina • Feb 29, 2016 at 2:06 pm
I think it’s exciting that ridge is featuring local restaurants in the area. I would love the see more restaurants feature, but like other students I Hope the prices stay regulated and convenient for students.
Tori rosenthal • Feb 29, 2016 at 2:05 pm
I think it is great we have Bella’s burgers. It does cost more, but I believe it taste much better than the other burgers before.
Erin julian • Feb 29, 2016 at 2:03 pm
I love that we have Bella’s burgers now. My only complaint is that they’re super expensive and not always still warm when you buy them. Other than that, I think the addition of the burgers caused many more students to buy lunch so it probably helped out the school too.
Srinithi Vasudevan • Feb 29, 2016 at 1:49 pm
Since Bellas Burger is a place close to our community encompassing in our school is a great way to promote our communal beliefs.
Talia Shakhnovsky • Feb 29, 2016 at 1:44 pm
I think the new cafeteria food is so much better than it was before, and I hope this change continues to happen. Next, healthier, but still tasty, options need to be added to the menu.
Renee • Feb 29, 2016 at 1:05 pm
I think that they should have the bella’s bugars because the kids are gonna like it more because are more familiar with the meal. I also think bellas bugar taste really good and was glad to find out that they have them in school.
Sophie Thier • Feb 29, 2016 at 1:04 pm
I think it is great that we have an option of having Bella’s Burgers during lunch. Although it is more expensive to buy a Bella’s Burger over a regular burger, I believe that it is worth it because they taste much better.
Rebecca Blanchard • Feb 29, 2016 at 1:01 pm
I think it’s good that the school brought in Bella’s burgers because a lot of the kids love Bella’s. I can see though how it can cause a problem because of price. I think if we sell Bella’s and the normal burgers, it would solve that problem, and people can buy the better burgers if they are willing to pay a higher price.
ginny lafean • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:58 pm
I’m not a fan of Bella’s mainly because I don’t usually go there, but if they provide Ridge with higher quality food then I’d be willing to pay slightly higher prices. Especially if the food is more nutritious/favorable to people with allergies to things like gluten, then the higher prices are a reasonable price to pay.
amber vigeant • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:52 pm
i think the burgers being added to the cafeteria it a very helpful choice because they have limited options and allowing these burgers may not be the helthest choice however it is defiantly not one of the worst things for you and is probably better then getting chips or pizza
Ashley Yang • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:50 pm
I think that the increase quality of good tasting food is a benefit to ridge high school. It makes students more willing to actually eat food from this school. I used to not look forward to lunch because i want excited about the lunch options that they gave me. But now i look forward to trying all the new foods or sinking my teeth into a beautiful bellas burger.
Emily Wang • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:48 pm
In my opinion, I think that introducing Bella’s Burgers to Ridge is a great idea. Students have a stressful day, and being able to enjoy a fulfilling lunch is important. Personally, I would be willing to pay more for a better lunch.
Chandni Singhvi • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:43 pm
Personally, I think this addition to the school lunch options is a great one! People love Bella’s Burgers and go out of their way after school to buy them, so why not sell them here. We are not only making a great profit, but we are spicing up the lunch choices to exceed all expectations.
Salma elagizy • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:33 pm
This article talked about Bella’s burgers supplying burgers to the school. I believe that the price has increased drastically and the burger meat is not that different.
Sophia • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:33 pm
I think the idea for having Bella’s burgers stems from what was started in previous years with seniors going out and buying lunches from different restaurants for underclassmen. It’s a great idea to increase the availability of certain foods that the cafeteria doesn’t provide but also letting it seep past just senior privilege and into underclassmen.
Ben • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:32 pm
I think the idea for having Bella’s burgers stems from what was started in previous years with seniors going out and buying lunches from different restaurants for underclassmen. It’s a great idea to increase the availability of certain foods that the cafeteria doesn’t provide but also letting it seep past just senior privilege and into underclassmen.
Addie • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:31 pm
I agree with the fact Ridge’s addition of Bella’s burgers increased popularity of bought lunches at school. I believe Bella’s burgers at Ridge are a little different than at the actual restaurant, therefore I do not buy them.
Ken Sugathan • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:20 pm
i love burgers when they are seasoned well the meat especially with salt and spices also i think the fries should be better with seasoing not to much but the food is really good
Jule Merrigan • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:11 pm
I love that Bella’s Burgers are at Ridge. It gives a larger variety of food that is offered to students. However, the price is something that Ridge has to decide if it will become to large a problem.
mena loescher • Feb 29, 2016 at 12:02 pm
i think that having bella’s at school saves money and is convenient. I’m very happy about it cause i love bella’s and the school would make a lot of money.
caitlyn laffey • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:58 am
the bellas burger addition to Ridge is a brilliant idea because many students after school go to the center of town to eat at Bella’s burgers so for it to be so convenient in school would benefit people ad save money.
mariella miele • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:56 am
I think adding bella’s burger to the ridge high cafeteria is a great idea. Because many students would love it and Bella’s burger would benefit a lot from it.
Jenna • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:50 am
I think this is a great idea bringing this to our school. People love Bella’s burgers and I hink it will be a great sale.
Rohin Verma • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:20 am
I believe that students should be able to buy such goods for a reasonable price. So far, I have heard that the prices for these burgers are way above the normal price, which can cause a problem for the buyers. However, Bella’s Burgers still needs to make money off of selling their burgers to Ridge. I would say that students should moderate how often they buy these burgers in order to control how much money they spend per week. This is one of those situations where we (Ridge) cannot do anything but remove Bella’s Burgers from the cafeteria if the price becomes a huge controversial issue.
Nikita Kumar • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:19 am
I personally love the addition of Bella’s burgers in our school. I think they taste good and is different than the type of food we have at Ridge. I wish the price was a little lower but otherwise I think it’s great to have burgers from Bella’s.
connor villa • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:12 am
This article touches on all the important aspects of how the bella burger is doing at the school. Personally I love the bella burger its very good and tasty. I wish that the bella burger cost less and maybe it would be a good idea to advertise the lowering price of the burger.
Mark Durp • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:11 am
I am a huge fan of the addirion of bellas burgers to Ridge. I love Bellas Burgers and the sauce they use is just mouth watering. The crispy bacon haunts my dreams and the buns are so soft, I could just sleep on them. Way to god Ridge. We love Mark Durp.
Mary Zhang • Feb 29, 2016 at 11:09 am
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the addition of Bella’s burgers at Ridge High School, not so much because of the cost, but because of its lack of healthiness. From my observations, some people decide to buy Bella’s burgers a good three or four times every week. If these burgers are more accessible, we are more likely to eat unhealthier more often.