A large part of this Reading Week is the reopening of Salad King, our beloved campus eatery. Everyone at Ryerson eats at Salad King some time during the year; its price and proximity to campus will make sure it remains profitable for many years to come.
However, I suspect there’s another love for the small restaurant: it represents a common ground that many people can agree on that’s clean, tasty and right on price. Many a dispute about where a group should eat has been solved with “Salad King?” a long silence, and then agreement.
That’s important for a campus environment; not everyone can afford to eat in the cafeteria, nor do they have the facilities to make something improvised with things bought from Metro. Sometimes, people just need that space to relax, converse and not have to worry about knocking a big chunk out of their bank accounts.
I want to think that it’s a step towards a better campus environment, as well. With their Foot Locker location so close to the proposed Student Learning Centre (at the old Sam the Record Man site), you can probably expect that section of Yonge to become a bit more Ryerson-centric. Especially with the recent property destruction at Yonge and Gould, a place for students to eat, study and go to class would be a great step in defining our campus, and place in Toronto’s downtown.
