Derald’s Cafe

If only zero stars was an option. There is nothing I will miss less about having gone to law school at the U of I than the Derald’s Café. Derald’s while technically the law schools’ café/​cafeteria/​restaurant/​shame, is open to outside patrons, and indeed you will spy the random non-​law school patron subjecting their body to torture here and there.
To start, Derald’s food is BAD, I mean like bad airplane food. You can enjoy a grisly chicken cutlet on bread that I could believe they bought at Sam’s Club with lousy pesto and creepy, mushy cheese from the cooler. If you’re truly brave, try the Ham Salad– an item I think they’ve wisely discontinued.
Maybe you’d like a hot lunch? You can try a burger on a squishy bun (likely purchased at a big box store as well) and some seriously salty fries. But better act quick, they’re apt to run out of fries… Derald’s for some unknown reason has been in business at the law school for quite some time, yet they still remain unable to figure out how to appropriately meet their demands without running out of simple things like fries. You might also be interested in the much touted fish sandwich. Well, act quick again, it’s gonna sell out and don’t expect to have fries with it because the fryer is too full of fish filets. Yes, I know, a business attached to a law school, an institution where even objective excellence can be curved down to mediocrity, is home to a restaurant that can’t figure out how to successfully fry fish filets and potatoes in one day.
Their Starbucks jet fuel is at least reasonably priced, unlike the rest of the borderline inedible menu.
Remember to ask for silverware by the way, it’s often lorded over lest a law student steal some to eat a frozen dinner. One can only imagine that a «café» serving what often seems like reheated frozen food for exorbitant prices must really need to penny pinch to turn a profit.
Unless you’re a desperately hungry law student and you simply cannot wait for delivery or to run across the street to Espresso Royale, AVOID, AVOID, AVOID! Trust me, your wallet, your colon, your stomach, your taste buds, and yes, maybe even your soul, will thank me.