A pile of trash stacked precariously high overflowed from the trashcans at Einstein Bros. Bagels in Poly Canyon Village over the weekend, causing students to question the quality of campus dining establishments.
“There’s always an issue there with flies and trash,” said mechanical engineering freshman Toby Goldsteinholm.
Goldsteinholm said although he had never seen it piled quite as high as he did on Saturday night, the situation still raises questions about the cleanliness of the restaurant.
Goldsteinholm lives in North Mountain Hall, but said he often goes to Einstein Bros. for dinner with his friends because the line at VG’s is usually too long.
The trash problem caused hesitation, but will not completely deter him.
“I’ll probably end up going back there because it’s convenient, cheap food,” Goldsteinholm said.
Einstein Bros. opened in 2008 when Poly Canyon first opened and is a favorite place for students to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Its menu offers a variety of foods, from bagels and wraps to coffees and desserts and according to manufacturing engineer sophomore John Henry who has worked at Einstein Bros. since the beginning of fall quarter, they get a high volume of customers everyday.
“(The overflowing trash) is a regular occurrence,” Henry said. “There is just so much business throughout the day and not enough trash cans.”
Henry said they are always taking trash out throughout the day, but the amount of students coming through makes it hard to keep up with.
Einstein Bros. has no official procedure or schedule for taking out the trash. Henry said it ends up getting cleaned every hour or so.
“We do sweep-throughs whenever we can,” Henry said. “If it’s jam-packed, we wait until the line dies down, then we go through and clean up, sweep the store and take out the trash.”
Henry has never heard of any complaints regarding the trash issue at Einstein Bros., but since he usually works nights, he said he thinks of the trash issue as “out of sight, out of mind.”
Poly Canyon Village residents, as well as other various Cal Poly students who dine at the Poly Canyon restaurants, depend on Campus Dining for breakfasts, study snacks and hearty dinners.
So for the students stopping by for some food throughout the day, the issue is not out of sight or out of mind.