By Jenna Kirkman
URBANA, IL – APRIL 28, 2005
Like every other Wednesday, students began lining up far before 4:30 p.m. outside of Peabody-Snyder Residence Dining Hall. It was Fat Don’s Wednesday, also known as their one and only chance to eat some decent food with their meal plan credits. However, today was different. The line stretched from the dining hall entrance, through the Snyder lobby, and out onto a nearby street, and it seemed to be growing by the second.
Anxious students fiddled back and forth in line, for sometimes over an hour, as the smell of summer barbecue floated up their noses and overwhelmed their taste buds. As they moved forward in line, the grassy area between Peabody and Snyder came into view, and so did the food. Hungry students in line soon began to realize that they had many more food lines to tackle before they could fill their growling tummies.
Three men, dressed in strange, colorful outfits, and also called “The Pink Flamingos” played their tropical rendition of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” as students tapped along to the beat from their picnic tables in front of the stage.
Colorful rings of soft plastic hung around nearly every neck at the cookout, because every Fat Don’s attendee had been “lei’d” by the woman who scanned their I-card. No, this was not a normal Fat Don’s Wednesday. This was Fat Don’s done Hawaiian style.
Every Wednesday night, during regular dinner hours, the Peabody-Snyder Dining Hall plays host to Fat Don’s, a popular specialty restaurant best known for its carnivorous menus and freshly grilled taste. Fat Don’s outstanding reputation is a result of its scrumptious meal alternative to everyday dorm food. Wednesday, April 27, was the final Fat Don’s serving of the Spring 2005 season, and the Fat Don’s crew added a special twist to their weekly festivities. The Fat Don’s grand finale, annually deemed as the “Big Kahuna” cookout, is a Hawaiian themed feast that draws in record breaking crowds each year. The Big Kahuna is a fantastic gathering of University students, all anxious to devour a real meal, and catch a glimpse into the summer atmosphere that they have been longing for all semester.
“I just love it because I really feel like I am on vacation in Hawaii,” said sophomore International Studies major, Sara Hislop, as she placed a steak on her crowded paper plate.
Rib-eye steak was a popular meat choice, along with chicken breasts, brats and barbeque pork.
“I just came for the pulled pork,” said freshman Computer Science major, Matt Geske, who waited in the food line for 20 minutes in order to snag some of his precious meat. Geske also waited in the original line outside of Fat Don’s for around 50 minutes before he even caught a peek of his favorite food.
“I would probably wait even longer if I had to,” he said. “Fat Don’s is delicious food, and a great environment to hang out with your friends in. It’s definitely worth the wait.”
Geske knew exactly what to expect while he devoted nearly an hour of his day to standing outside Peabody Hall. Other first time visitors at Fat Don’s were less prepared.
“There’s a whole pig on the table over there!” said freshman Anthropology major, Brittany Piper, as she scooped pasta salad on to a large portion of her plate.
Guests were warned on the Big Kahuna event flyers that a “whole pig” would be included at the cookout. The pig, lying among decorative green leaves, with a huge portion of its body absent and already distributed to hungry students, was complete with a red apple locked between its pointy teeth. Despite the warning, some consumers were still shocked.
“I had to come to this line because I couldn’t walk past that thing,” said Piper, who is a partial vegetarian.
Unlike Field of Greens, a specialty restaurant on campus that serves strictly vegetarian foods, Fat Don’s provides options for both meat lovers and vegetarians. Pasta salad and fruit salad, along with corn on the cob and potatoes, are only some of the non-meat selections. Fat Don’s also offers a mouth-watering dessert line, including a cotton candy machine, which is an exclusive feature during the Big Kahuna cookout.
“Last year, I came late, and I didn’t get any cotton candy,” Hislop said, as she made her way towards the huge and growing cotton candy line, “So this year, I’m going there before I finish my main course.” Even attempts to beat the crowd to a certain line failed, as lines never seemed to die down. These constant mobs of students placed a high demand on the chefs preparing the food.
Jeff, a chef for the Peabody-Snyder Dining Room, as well as Fat Don’s, claimed that preparation for the Big Kahuna began many weeks in advance.
“This is a lot of meat to handle,” Jeff said, while manually flipping over about 30 chicken breasts on his massive outdoor grill. Jeff’s grill was one of five similar grills, each one covered with chicken breasts.
“I don’t mind all the work,” he said, “And as long as I can cook for them, I’m happy. It’s a great thing for the students to be able to come out here, and just enjoy the mood of it all.”
Students agreed that the mood of Fat Don’s Big Kahuna was one of the main reasons they attended.
“I just like all the fun colored leis, and the whole summer party feel,” said Piper. “It’s a great break from school work, and it reminds me that summer is coming.”
With only two weeks left of classes and exams, some students are even using their Big Kahuna experience as motivation to study.
“I love the smell of cooking outside on the grill,” said Geske. “I’m not going to wash my clothes when I get back to my room. And then whenever I am feeling lazy, I’m going to go smell them, so they’ll remind that I only have to work hard for one more week. Summer is right around the corner.”
As students began clearing out, having stuffed themselves with seconds, thirds, and even fourths, they dreaded the schoolwork that waited for them on their desks at home. But their stomachs were full, and their clothes were drenched in the smell of cookout. Fat Don’s Big Kahuna had left its mark, and students were at ease, knowing that summer was near.
1 Comment
October 17, 2008 at 3:21 am
Ohhhhhh man how did I just randomly stumble upon this?