The Best of Georgetown

Best station at Leo’s: Omelette

For students with meal plans, the prospect of eating at Leo’s three times a day, every day, can seem monotonous and unsatisfying. That being said, Leo’s actually does offer quite a bit of variety and tries its best to please everyone, from carbo-loading athletes to health nuts, the quintessential example being the omelette station on the lower level.

The key to the omelette station’s appeal is that it offers choices. It lets students select their own fillings from a variety of foods, offering everything from bell peppers to bacon, and whether to use whole eggs or just egg whites. Be warned, though: the best time to try it is in the early morning—later on in the day, wait times can stretch beyond 20 minutes.

Still, as tasty as the omelettes are, try not to overdo it—after a few months of omelette breakfasts, maybe switch to syrup-drenched Belgian waffles or one of Leo’s range of cereal options.

Best Leo’s Employee: Antonio from the wraps station

Best professor to fill your POG requirement: John Pilch

If won’t take long to realize that everyone has a very unique experience taking Problem of God. Some people are forced to sit through remedial lectures on the basic principles of every religion you can think of (try Wikipedia), and some have the time of their life as they find a Jesuit-driven opportunity to question their faith. But most neglect the opportunity to fulfill their basic theology requirement with Introduction to Biblical Literature.

Sure, it’s easy to see how the class title would be rather off-putting, but contrary to first impression, Professor Pilch’s class is not an attempt to sway you toward Christian ways. The material is simple and the class is rather objectively graded, so it shouldn’t be difficult to pull off a good grade. But the material is also remarkably interesting, as you’ll read the Bible as a historical document through a lens that pays particular attention to the book’s intended purpose. He’s funny, too.

Best slack off class: History of Rock and Roll

Best thing to do before you graduate: Climb John Carroll

Best coffee: Baked & Wired (1052 Thomas Jefferson St. NW)

Its delicious and distinctive confectionaries make Baked & Wired the strongest competition facing Georgetown Cupcake, but it is also the best place in Georgetown for a cup of joe. Unlike some coffee shops in the area, this is no in-and-out hole-in-the wall—Baked & Wired is replete with comfy couches and offers wireless access, too.

Although it closes earlier than, say, late-night lifesaver Midnight Mug, Baked & Wired bests its competition with an expansive drink menu and the sheer quality of its coffee. There are no wrong choices. While the weather is still warm, the crisp iced coffee is a satisfying selection.

Getting this far off campus can be good way to eliminate distractions, too.  Students can get more work done here than they would by “taking a break” on Lau 2 and watching re-runs of Teen Mom. Plus, the pumpkin cupcakes are a perfect reward for a completed paper.

Best date restaurant: Sequoia (3000 K St. NW)

Best place to hide during the zombie apocalypse: The Tombs (1226 36th St. NW)

Let’s not kid ourselves; we all know the zombie apocalypse is coming sooner or later. So where is the best place to hunker down when the undead inevitably rise to exterminate our race once and for all? The Tombs.

In peacetime, the quintessentially Georgetown bar is a great place to grab a delicious meal, or to knock back a pint or ten if you’re over 21 (don’t even try to use fakes here). But the bar’s subterranean location beneath 36th street means there are fewer windows to barricade against the impending swarm of brain-eaters, and only a few doors that open from the outside, making it an ideal hiding spot.

Just as important as the bar’s formidable defenses is the reasonably priced and satisfying fare it offers, particularly its selection of cheap study snacks. The ten-ounce strip steak with a Tombs brownie is delicious—although if you’re busy living out the last moments of I Am Legend, you probably won’t care.

Best place to have your parents take you: Bodega (3116 M St. NW)

Best Twitter account to follow: Julian Vaughn (@MrJuJuVaughn)

Although his 105 followers are a far cry from the millions following Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, our men’s basketball team’s very own Julian Vaughn (@MrJuJuVaughn) is one of the most entertaining people in the microblogging universe. His twitter bio makes the claim that he’s “the most interesting man in the world,” and after perusing his page, it’s hard to refute him.

In his abbreviation- and hashtag-riddled tweets, Vaughn reveals himself as a giggling, wisecracking jokester, poking fun at teammates and friends alike. Whether calling someone out for using an outdated cell phone (“Just seen dude w a RAZR cell fone….#ewwwwwwwwwwww #its2010”), trying his hand at meteorology (“Uh bubba…..its gon rain somethin a fierce tonite…”), or predicting his performance next season (“But he gonna miss, and big daddy ju gonna get the rebound and put it bak babyyy and I steal ur thunder!”), our presumptive starting center has no shortage of amusing opinions. Sorry,    @KingGeorgetown, but @MrJuJuVaughn is Georgetown’s true King of Twitter.

Best month to be on campus: October

Best alternative study space: Leavey Corridors

Although it suffers from a hideously brutalist façade, Lauinger Library is nevertheless an okay place to get work done. But when Lau is too crowded and you need a study space that is quiet and isolated without making you feel like you’re in solitary confinement, the openness of the ground floor of the Leavey Center makes for a nice change of scenery.

Hoya Court, a food court bustling with Hospital staff during the day, has plenty of workspace and a decent number of outlets by nightfall. The hallways past Hoya Court are even more secluded and quiet. During the day, you’re never far from food (besides the food court, there’s a Grab ‘n Go station and a Cosi), and at night it’s usually easy to find an empty table. For caffeine junkies, there’s the Corp-run Uncommon Grounds coffee shop, as well as a Starbucks. It has all the advantages of Lau (except the books and printing), and not nearly as many noisy students.

Best book store: Bridge Street Books (2814 Pennsylvania Ave. NW)

Best administrator: James O’Donnell

Not every administrator at Georgetown hides behind a cadre of assistants or bureaucratic hurdles. But then again, few of them count donkeys, dead languages, chocolate, and cupcakes among their chief interests, as Provost James O’Donnell does.

But O’Donnell isn’t just a Provost with a refined palate and a dry sense of humor. (Regarding his title, he once claimed, “We had to use an old Latin word to make it sound impressive enough for academics.”) He’s an accomplished scholar, writer, and editor who knows his stuff—if said stuff comes from the ancient Mediterranean world, anyway—and he has three decades of experience as a Classics professor.

O’Donnell is the kind of guy who agrees to judge a chicken wing contest, then calls the winner a “beacon of poultry excellence.” He’s the kind of guy who responds to student emails quickly and directly. (We suspect he obsessively checks his inbox.) He’s smart, dedicated to his job, and well spoken.

Why can’t every administrator be like JO’D?

Best grocery store: Safeway (1855 Wisconsin St. NW)

From the wine cellar to the nut bar to the in-store Starbucks, it’s not a stretch to say that the enormous new Safeway at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and 34th Street is the nicest grocery store you’ll find in the D.C. metropolitan area.

For freshman looking to avoid the “freshman 15,” there’s a wide array of healthy options, including excellent fresh produce. And the made-to-order hot sandwiches next to the rows of fresh bread and bagels will make you forget about Grab-N-Go Hoya wraps. For the lazier students among us, the GUTS Wisconsin shuttle, which arrives a mere one block north of the store, departs frequently from right outside Darnall.

With an in-store dry cleaner and an impressive offering of floral arrangements, the so-called “Social Safeway” (named for the elite Washington socialites who do their shopping there) is the full package. Vital Vittles is more convenient, but nothing can match Safeway’s incredible selection and prices. Our advice? Get a Club Card.

Best Corp service: Vital Vittles

Best neighbor to hate: Stephen Brown

Last year, nothing caused as much of a stir as www.drunkengeorgetownstudents.com. Angry Burleith resident Stephen Brown, apparently vexed by the noise undergraduates made while reveling late at night in his neighborhood, created the website in an attempt to drum up negative publicity about—you guessed it—drunk Georgetown students.

A former professional photographer and American University professor, Brown’s site featured creepy, stalkeresque pictures of Georgetown students drinking in Burleith (later blurred at the request of his web host), as well as enraged invectives about the horrors of living next to college students. He even included the addresses of several students whom he had photographed. Several local news outlets picked up the story, most sympathizing with Brown, and eventually, so did the Washington Post.

Maybe Brown hoped the publicity would change Georgetown’s storied drinking culture, or at least force the University to house more students on campus. But from sweaty Burleith techno ragers to Village A rooftop keggers, Georgetown students’ penchant for getting plastered lives on. What did Mr. Brown expect? Camera or no camera, college kids are going to drink.