Urban’s proximity to Haight Street and its variety of food choices make it a popular place for lunch. However, Haight can foster a cliquish culture of getting lunch off-campus that impacts some students’ social lives and mental well-being.
Walking off campus for lunch can pressure students to make plans beforehand. “I feel like there are so many options [on] Haight … [that it] is not a thing where you just go up and see other people. … You kind of need plans to go [there],” Ella Pradhan ‘27 said.
Some students tend to make lunch plans ahead of time while others make decisions in the moment. Matteo Barbagli ‘27 said, “With my friends, someone texts on the Snapchat group chat, ‘We’re going here.’ Then we’re like, ‘Okay.’”
“If I’m texting a friend [to meet up], I … text them maybe the day before, [at] the very earliest,” Lucy Bone ‘26 said.
Eating lunch off campus can present a challenge when it comes to socializing with new friend groups. “[It is] hard to make friends and branch out when everyone has plans on Haight Street,” Pradhan said.
The social element of making plans for off-campus lunch affects students’ self-images differently. “I don’t want to go [to Haight Street] alone because it’s awkward to be alone. I don’t want people [to] see me alone and to think … that I don’t have friends,” Pradhan said.
Andrew Yost-Brody ‘26 said, “I don’t know if I’ve ever gone to eat on Haight by myself.”
However, not everyone shares this experience. “I’m very good at being alone during lunch,” Bone said. “Really, I don’t have a huge problem with it.”
Feelings of unease around friendships can arise for students when they make lunch plans. “It is a feeling of stress or anxiety,” said Pradhan. “[If my friends] all texted each other or somehow made the plan … [and] didn’t invite me, does that mean they don’t want me?”
Neah McGilloway ‘28 said, “If things go wrong and people want to go different ways, it can be a little bit stressful.”
The Salkind Center is an on-campus alternative to Haight Street whose lunchtime culture reduces the pressure to make lunch plans in advance. Pradhan said, “There [are] so many communal areas and … spaces, you can just join in.”
The Salkind Center’s culture of studying and working during lunch may reduce judgment around eating alone. “I eat alone if I have a lot of homework to do,” McGilloway said.
The larger and more communal spaces in Salkind allow for more student interaction than on Haight Street. Olivia Prime ‘27 said, “I’ll look around and see someone I’m not the closest with, and I’ll go eat with them or sit [and] talk with them.”
Greta Rechtin ‘27 said, “[There are] bigger groups eating [at Urban] than eating on Haight [which] is good for making friends.”
“It is nice to not just be with your friend group and have a conversation with people you wouldn’t normally get to hang out with,” Pradhan said. “I enjoy that, [and] I love meeting new people.”
