Food trucks, club booths and picnic tables filled up Arts Circle Drive on Friday as students gave up the usual dining hall fares in favor of local vendor foods. Spoon University at Northwestern brought back its annual SpoonFest, an opportunity for students to sample warm crepes, layered bagels and savory sliders all at once.
Restaurants included Soul & Smoke, Sweetgreen, Gotta B Crepes and 5411 Empanadas. Student organizations like NU chapters of Challah for Hunger, Plant Futures and Cookology also tabled at the event.
Weinberg junior and Spoon University NU content team member Julia Schnipper said the event was a celebration of Spoon’s spring magazine, which featured a memory lane theme.
Schnipper, also the president of NU’s Challah for Hunger, was selling challah, a braided bread of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, to fundraise for The Ark Chicago, an organization benefiting the local Jewish community.
“It’s really fun to just bring together all the different clubs at school, a lot of different favorite Evanston vendors,” Schnipper said. “I know everyone’s so excited to have Mensch’s back for today.”
Schnipper said Mensch’s, a Jewish deli-style bagel spot, drew long lines starting at 10 a.m., when the event began. The shop’s usual pop-up, housed inside Picnic, hasn’t hit Evanston since fall.
By noon, the line stretched to more than 50 people. Weinberg freshman Jackie Li said she left her class early with a friend to beat the lunchtime rush. After 25 minutes of waiting, she was at the halfway point in the line.
“This is not the longest line I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said. “I feel like I can justify waiting for it because neither of us have anything too urgent.”
Li said she looked forward to eating Mensch’s lox bagel, which she tried for the first time in Fall Quarter.
Though she said those around her in line spoke about hiked prices at SpoonFest, she said it was worth it considering the convenience of having local restaurants on campus.
“It’s nice to have opportunities in which the good food gets brought to us,” she said.
Weinberg junior and SpoonFest content director Emily Chow said the event is Spoon University NU’s biggest hit of the year.
She said SpoonFest brings people together in “their mutual love of food” and in celebration of “all Evanston has to offer.” She added that it was a joy to see the support from community members.
“We’re not only a food journalism club, we’re also a social club,” she said. “We couldn’t be more proud and happy about the turnout.”
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Related Stories:
— Trio of owners announce Mensch’s Deli to open brick and mortar location this spring
— Gotta B Crepes named in Yelp’s ‘Top 100 Places to Eat in 2020’
— Food vendors from Evanston, Chicago visit Deering Meadow for annual SpoonFest
