On February 20, the Lambert Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) held a Concession Corral, previously known as the Lasso Lounge, during both Lunch and Learn periods. Located in front of the 2900 hallway, the Concession Corral provides various food options, like ramen and mac n’ cheese, that are not typically sold at Lambert. However, many students have found issues with the food stand and wish to see some changes occur.
The food stand’s popularity can be attributed to the variety of options available ranging from ramen to Starbucks coffee. Most of the options are not sold in the cafeteria or at the school store, which makes the Corral’s periodic appearance every month a special treat. However, students who sit upstairs during lunch, like sophomore Tianyi Chen, have noticed the number of students buying from the stand has decreased significantly.
“I’d say pretty popular when they were doing it the first time it came around,” Chen said. “There were a ton of students…as time went on, less and less came.”
Even with the variety of food available, the Corral is not very inclusive when it comes to dietary restrictions. It is already hard not to feel left out, especially when certain items do have versions that accommodate allergies and other restrictions. According to Chen, the Corral should try to include more of these items so everyone has the opportunity to buy from the stand.
“I would just say add more options and just make the options more diverse,” Chen explained. “Some students have dietary restrictions and can’t eat a lot of the foods there.”
This semester, the Corral brought some changes to its payment methods. With the expansion of payment options to credit and debit cards, it would seem that there would be more students buying from the Corral. However, sophomore Arya Karmarkar notes that the level of popularity has not changed.
“It was fairly popular,” Karmarkar said. “There were a lot of people there, but it wasn’t overcrowded and [the Corral’s popularity] seemed to be about the same.”
Many students believe that Lambert PTSO should continue to hold the stand. The Corral is a fruitful initiative for the school, but there seems to be more room for change and improvement that would greatly benefit the PTSO and, in turn, benefit Lambert students.
