Hungry after a seemingly forever lasting C-Block, Layla S. ’28 joined the Commons line to wait for one of her favorite meals—a bowl of pomodoro pasta. After a few minutes without movement in the line, Layla looked ahead and saw the cause of her troubles—the Commons had run out of its main meal.

Unfortunately, running out of a meal has been a somewhat common occurrence that students have noticed within the past few months. When Joovy C. ’27 encountered this scenario a few times in the past, she recalled feeling “disappointed.” “I’m looking forward to the [meal] that they [scheduled],’” she said.

Chef Brandon Worrell, Director of Dining Services, believes that this issue will soon be a problem of the past because of the Commons’ progress in tracking student purchasing trends. “I know when a student’s been in line the whole time and we do run out, it’s very detrimental. It’s bad. And I hate that feeling of seeing that happen,” he said.

Still, Chef Brandon is hopeful for the future. “It’s very unlikely that when we run out of one item, we will run out of that item the next time we put it on the menu,” he said. “It’s really hard to gauge what is gonna be popular and what’s not.”

Students have also noticed the Commons’ recent shift toward being closed after school. Previously, after its lunchtime block, the Commons was open from the end of classes at 3:10 to 3:30, to provide fuel for students before athletic practices, extracurriculars, and long drives home.

After the recent fires, the Commons has been understaffed, so after school service has been suspended. Since many students remain on campus after school for different extracurriculars, this change has hit hard within the Westridge community. “As someone who stays after school a lot for theater and costume [crew], I wish it was open,” said Joovy.

Layla also emphasized the community space that the Commons offered students after school. “I’m usually here pretty late. There’s not much to do [now]. Or eat.”

While the earlier closure of the Commons will remain for the rest of the school year, Chef Brandon is optimistic of the future of after school snacks. “I should say, more than likely, we’re going to bring it back in some way,” he said.

Another recent issue within the Commons has been the combination of long lines and crowding. Since all of Upper School gets released from class at the same time, the line often grows past the doors of the Commons just five minutes into lunch. “It especially doesn’t help if you don’t get out of class early,” Layla said.

Even after students move inside the Commons while in line for food, the problem doesn’t get much better. Since there are multiple lines for sandwiches, salads, and the main dish, the lines often create chaos in the tightly packed Commons. “Sometimes it can get really hard to move around in the Commons…it gets very clogged up right [by the sandwiches and main dish],” Maddie M. ’26 said.

Some students have even resorted to planning their daily Commons visit to avoid the crowds. “I think you have to find the right pocket of time to go to the lunch line, or you’re going to end up waiting 15 minutes,” said Joovy.

Still, Chef Brandon has some ideas of how to make the Commons line go quicker which he would like to implement in the future. “I want to create more food items that would pull students out of the line so they could just walk and grab it and leave,” he said. Grab-and-go options, such as pizza, burgers, and the new addition of ramen, have shortened Commons lines previously.

While the Commons situation may feel difficult at the moment, Chef Brandon hopes that students feel heard by the Commons staff. “We want to try to reduce [wait times] as much as possible,” he said.