Riverview Café in Hilltop Recreation Center held Friendsgiving from 4:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15, giving students the option to celebrate Thanksgiving with their friends before leaving for fall recess.

This event isn’t a new concept, as Riverview Café held the event last year. The planning for this month’s event has been in the works since July, according to Molly Gardner, the marketing manager for Blugold Dining. 

“Last year, we held a Q&A on our Instagram asking students what their favorite holiday food was and we got overwhelming feedback, we took those answers and incorporated the most popular responses into our menu items,” Gardner said. 

Menu items such as turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce made the menu this year. Self proclaimed cranberry sauce fanatic, Angela Reedell enjoyed this dish at Friendsgiving dinner.

“I would say that it’s a 7.5/10, but only because there were some remnants of the cranberry and I don’t really like that,” Reedell said. 

Having some of these traditional Thanksgiving dishes from last year appear again was a priority for Gardner and Blugold Dining, as well as making sure the turkey would make it to the table this year.

“Last year, the food was the highlight of the event, so we really wanted to keep with some of the same menu items because we knew how much the students enjoyed it,” Gardner said.

Blugold Dining is excited to be able to serve turkey this time around, as it was not possible for the event last year because of the ongoing turkey shortage due to a bird flu outbreak. The turkey was ordered a few weeks in advance, to ensure students could eat if they desired. 

“The green bean casserole is pretty good and I really liked the crispy onions on top, but I would’ve liked more,” Gardner said. “I think the food was better today at the event than what is normally served, and I greatly appreciate the effort that was put into this.” 

Gardner says this is why Blugold Dining hosts events like this every month in hopes that students will enjoy them.

“We just really want the students to enjoy this event and they are the reason we host it,” Gardner said. 

Gardner said the event was more successful this year. For Blugold Dining, this means getting more people through the doors. 

“Overall, Friendsgiving went really well. We saw an increase in student participation and meal plan swipes that night in Riverview Café,” Gardner said. “When we checked in at tables, students were saying they really enjoyed the options and the food that was served,” Gardner said.  

Gardner said she thought the cookie decorating was a highlight, with over 150 cookies decorated in the course of two hours. 

Blugold Dining isn’t done hosting events this semester. From 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14, Riverview Café is hosting a Midnight Breakfast. There will be breakfast food, but also door prizes, karaoke and more. 

To learn more about this event and other future events that will be hosted by Blugold Dining, you can follow their Instagram account. 

Moris can be reached at [email protected].