BGSU Dining Services part 2: Founders and Macateria

Bowling Green State University

Last week, I ventured to two of the four dining options offered on the BGSU campus and rated their pizza.. My next post will profile the pizza made by the Macateria and Founders Keepers Food Court.

As a two year employee of Founders, I’ve eaten my fair share of their pizza. In the years past, our pizza was made from processed dough and Hunt’s tomato sauce. With a new head chef and a dining service make over, Founders now has a new tasty piece of pie that will surely satisfy any taste.
This semester Founders head chef, Bret Richards, has decided to start from scratch and conduct a home made dough and sauce.

“After a lot of experimenting, I decided to try different recipes for our pizza,” Richards said. “We started with a tomato puree and fresh basil and garlic to add a more spicy taste than sweet. In the process, I made several different pizzas with different kinds of sauces to see what one students liked best. When we finally decided on one, I wanted to make an equally good dough to compliment the taste."

Founders dough is a thick and soft style crust cooked on a lower temperature. Richards said the low, slower cooking time helps the crust rise and makes for a more deep dish style pizza. A coating of garlic butter is added to the crust before every pizza is cooked.

“I probably make over 60 pizza's a day,” said Colleen Hermes, classified staff member at Founders. “We try to make every pizza the best we can. Chef Bret has measured out the ingredients and toppings so the pizza never changes taste wise.”

Along with a great sauce and crust, Founders also has the most unique flavors of pizza offered on campus. Chicken bacon ranch, buffalo chicken wing, Philly cheese steak and chili dog are all amongst some of their fabulous toppings.

Macateria located in Macdonald residence hall on the west side of campus. It is one of the oldest residence halls on campus and is a good reflection of their pizza. Occupying more than 600 students, Macdonald is the most traditional of all the dinning services. Their menu pretty much stays the same throughout the week and so does their pizza. Even though their pizza isn’t made from scratch, their product is pretty tasty compared to the Falcon’s Nest.

Their sauce is sweeter with a hint of sugar that gives the pizza a slight ketchup taste. You can tell they use canned sauce and processed dough. Corn meal covers the bottom of their crust and gives it a gritty taste. The cheese and toppings are of a low quality and the cheese they use is more than likely grade D. In my opinion I think grade D is a pretty fair estimate for Macateria pizza. The students agree.

“I never want to eat a piece of pizza from Macdonald’s ever again,” said Ciara Eddings, former resident of Macdonald. “They never change any of their toppings and the cheese is terrible tasting. Only time I eat it when there is nothing else better. It’s definitely the worst pizza on campus.”

So there you have it folks. A two part series profiling the pizza on BGSU’s campus. Hopefully with new dining facilities being built, the recipe for the university’s pizza will improve. Until then, take this with you: Enjoy the Sun Dial’s and Founders pizza, it’s the best on campus. For a crispy, thinner piece try The Dial. For deep dish style go to Founders. For a piece of garbage go to the Falcon’s Nest or Macateria. Use what I have told you wisely. And remember, stay cheesy Bowling Green.