Snack or Pass?

Do you ever rush out of bed to get to school on time, skip breakfast, and arrive at school hungry? You might choose to warily approach one of many breakfast carts around campus, just end up with a suspiciously small, brown-bagged item? We all know school food has a reputation of not tasting the best, with many students being scared off by the sight alone, but how bad is it really? Acknowledging school food can only be as good as school food gets, here’s my review on how yummy a week of these “delicacies” can get. 

Chocolate Chip Muffin

This chocolate chip muffin is a muffin I’ve eaten often. A frequently returning member of the school’s breakfast menu, this muffin is relatively decently tasting. The muffin is built simply: bread covered with chocolate chips and presented in a tiny plastic bag. The chocolate provides a rich flavor; evoking the sweet taste in your mouth like you’d expect of any chocolate chip. A fan of home-baked chocolate chip muffins, there’s no complaint there. The issue lies within the bread. Initially intriguing, each bite of this muffin’s bread brings your mouth closer to the Sahara Desert. The exterior is simultaneously soggy yet rough, a texturally painful experience as you progressively struggle to swallow. This clashes with the bright flavor of the muffin, giving this muffin an overall 4/10 breakfast cart score.

Guava and Apple Pastelito

This sweet treat is okay. That’s it. One of LAUSD’s newest menu additions- the guava and apple pastelito. The pastry is aesthetically pleasing, forming a cute puff pastry square with a circular jam filling within. However, the taste is what matters most here. 

In the words of junior Max Armadillo, “When I ate it for the first time, the bread was kind of hard and the jam was not that great; It’s edible, but it’s disappointing. I’m not saying it’s bad, but my standards were too high.” 

I wholeheartedly agree with Armadillo’s viewpoint. The crust on the puff pastry is flaky yet solid. Rather than providing a delightful crunchy experience, the pastry is rough and scratches the top of your mouth. On the bright side, this dough part of the pastry was my favorite part of the breakfast item. It was sweet yet also somewhat savory; the flavors dancing in unity on my tongue. The jam is where this paper-bag packed pastry really falls off. Unsure of whether to be sweet or sour, the jam wound up being bitter and tart. It provided an uncomfortable flavor that I, for one, did not enjoy. This pastry was okay overall, but like Armadillo said, very disappointing. 6/10 breakfast carts.

Cafe LA Coffee Cake 

A household name of its own, the LAUSD coffee cake is still around-for the better. Though the packaging has changed over the years, the coffee cake now branded to read “COFFEE Cake” in cursive, this breakfast item is the one I’d rate highest in this review. Every bite of this coffee cake offers different textures. The edges are crunchy and flaky, providing a delightful chew for everyone that enjoys corner pieces of their desserts. The middle is soft and spongy, like a pillow in your mouth. Overall, the coffee cake’s taste is what matters most. And it tastes decent. Much like the other breakfast items on this review, the Cafe LA Coffee Cake hits the sweet spots of your tongue. Amongst them all, this coffee cake stands out as one of my favorites. 8/10 breakfast carts. 

Cinnamon Pan Dulce 

The fourth pastry on this list, LAUSD’s school breakfast seems to show a common theme. However, this pastry does it better than most. The cinnamon pan dulce is cute, small, circular-shaped, and white, nearly identical to store-bought Mexican conchas. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but the flavor is quite nice too. The bread is sweet but not too sweet, providing a rich flavor that slides down your throat. Like the chocolate chip muffin, though, despite it being actually quite delicious, this cinnamon pan dulce is SO dry. Each gulp is a struggle and without some water, I wasn’t able to finish this pastry. I’d absolutely recommend this pan dulce after the coffee cake, but if there’s no hydrating beverages in sight, don’t give it your time. 7/10 breakfast carts. 

School food is relatively decent, despite the breakfast menu having a seemingly huge preference for sweets. Granted, some non-reviewed school breakfast items do include savory items like Beef Sandwiches, Jalapeño Chicken Sandwiches, and Ham & Cheese Croissants. If you’re hungry one school morning and have water or milk lying around, give these breakfast items a shot. You won’t regret it . . . unless it’s the chocolate chip muffin.