Hot lunch has been a staple of my educational life. Ever since elementary school, I’ve been grabbing that plastic tray and waiting in the lunch line every day without fail. In my opinion, school lunch gets an undeserved bad reputation. Although the meals aren’t perfect, the Food & Nutrition staff at MHS do an amazing job serving hundreds of students balanced breakfast and lunches with the limited budget they have. After years of eating school lunch, I was curious to see which one is my favorite, so I decided to rank the lunches I get each day.

The rules I established for this ranking are as follows: I am only going to get lunch from the North Cafeteria; my lunches will be from the Main Line — with a few exceptions; I will rank the lunch as a whole, not by the different components served.

Teriyaki Chicken Barbecue and Chow Mein Noodles

I usually love teriyaki chicken, but this meal was unsalvageable. The flavor and texture of the chicken were good, but it was so salty I couldn’t enjoy the teriyaki notes. The mixed vegetables were edible, albeit a bit bland and their textures were soggy. The crunchy and sweet bell peppers were great. Overall, this meal gets a 3/10.

Chicken Drumstick and Baked Potato

This is one of my favorite lunches the school provides, and it did not disappoint. My favorite part is the peas. I love peas. The potato was well baked and soft, and the chicken was juicy with some good flavor. The cookie was a bit stale, but overall this lunch hit the spot. 8/10.

Cinnamon French Toast Sticks

I have conflicted feelings about this lunch. I love sugar, but the syrup on french toast combo is almost too much sugar. The French toast sticks were a bit soggy this time, though they still tasted good dipped in syrup. The sausage, on the other hand, is very suspicious. I don’t know what meat is in it, but it only just passes as edible. The slushy and apples are the same as always, delicious. You can’t go wrong with them. Overall, this meal was a 6/10.

Barbeque Shredded Pork and Mac & Cheese

I know some people love this lunch, but I don’t really feel it. The Mac & Cheese has an unnerving slimy texture, and the cheese tastes more like plastic than cheese itself. The baked beans were beans –a flavor I personally don’t like — , and the cauliflower left a strange aftertaste. This lunch’s only saving grace is the pork, both flavorful and with a nice pulled pork texture. In total, 5/10.

Mandarin Orange Chicken

I love orange chicken. The tangy sauce and crunchy chicken is a mouth-watering match. The rice wasn’t mushy and complemented the chicken well. I also adore the canned tangerines, as demonstrated by the copious amount on my plate: they are sweet and refreshing. The vegetables were passable on this lunch; they didn’t taste the best but were acceptable. 9/10

Popcorn Chicken

Once again, my favorite part of this meal are the sides. I absolutely love corn and could eat it every day. Aside from that, the mashed potatoes were slightly plain alone, but great with the gravy. The popcorn chicken is just fine. It wasn’t delicious, but it was edible. My berry cup was frozen, but I find that the icy texture makes eating it more enjoyable. 7/10.

Beef Steak Burger on a Hamburger Bun

I actually really like this lunch. It might not be as good as Culver’s, but it’s an impressive school lunch. The burger patty and bun are dry, but after loading it up with mustard and mayo — don’t judge –, it tastes better. The cheese is great and the paper thin bacon is fine as well. Pickles bring the whole thing together. Both the broccoli and fries were on the soggy side, but tasted fine. The peaches were perfect, juicy and fruity. 8/10.

Pizza Dippers

Here I decided I didn’t want Main Line lunch, so I got pizza dippers instead. The actual dippers themselves are underwhelming, the crust is dry and the cheese is unpleasantly chunky. However, it is saved by the tomato marinara sauce, which is bright and tangy. As expected, the peas were amazing — I love peas– , and the harvest bar was delicious. 6/10.

Mini maple Pancakes

This lunch was a let-down. The pancakes are bland and everything has a mushy texture. The potatoes are soft and have no real flavor without covering them in ketchup. The sausages are mysterious: I do not know what’s in them and they taste funky as well. The texture of the cooked apples are a little unpalatable, but they have a good cinnamon flavor. 5/10.

Chicken Tacos

This was my first time trying the chicken as my taco meat, and I have to admit, it is better than the beef. The chicken was flavorful and the texture was perfect. The lettuce is crunchy and the cheese at least adds to the colorful palette, if not the flavor. The rice is a bit mushy but tastes fine when added to the taco, and the beans are inoffensive. Pears are also my favorite fruit and taste great canned, so overall this lunch scored an 8/10.

Mini Corn Dogs 5/10

This lunch is usually pretty high up in my ranking, but it just wasn’t hitting as hard today. The fries were so soggy even the ketchup couldn’t save it; the corn dogs themselves were tough and even the sausage within was plain and flavorless. The crispy apple slices were probably the only good part of the meal. 5/10.

Despite my criticisms, I really do enjoy school lunch. I’m extremely thankful to our school’s Food & Nutrition staff for working hard every day to provide quality meals for the school, and I will continue to be a loyal patron to the school cafeteria until I graduate. Hopefully, this ranking inspired you to try some of the more delicious school lunches– and don’t forget to say “thank you” as you’re being served nutritious meals!