Every weekday at 11:26 am, students at Wilsonville High School rush out the doors, hop into their cars and head to lunch. Prior to the lunch period, students are texting all morning–deciding where their lunch will be from. The restaurants in Wilsonville gives students multiple choices: Chinese food, sushi, American, and much more, the question is which type of food will you choose?

Once you have figured out whether you want Chinese, Mexican or American food, you then run into the issue of what restaurant you want to go to. There are multiple Mexican restaurants in Wilsonville–ranging from super cheap to average price. You can choose to have a cheap, one dollar, quesadilla from Taco Bell, or you could choose to spend more money at chipotle for a healthier version, it all depends on what you value. Do you value your money do you value healthy eating habits? Now there are many more Mexican food options than these two restaurants, there is also Qdoba, San Francisco, and San Blas. There are also multiple American places to choose from-they are mostly fast food like Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s. There are also places like Red Robin and Ram, but these places require you to call in and pick up or risk being late to your next class.

These are just a couple examples of the wide variety of food choices in Wilsonville, oddly enough, when you talk with students, there are only a couple of main restaurants that students go to lunch at: Rice Time, Chipotle, Noodles, and Costco. In my own opinion, Chipotle is the number one option in Wilsonville because it is quick, healthy, and not super expensive. Also, the restaurant is close to the high school, making it popular for students to take back to the school and eat. Rice Time is also very popular; students often call in to ensure that their food is ready on time, and they are able to eat it before heading to class. Noodles is located right next to Chipotle, making it a prime restaurant. Many times, a group of students will head in the direction of Noodles and Chipotle, some students go to Noodles, and others head to Chipotle. Also, Noodles has a variety of food: salads, all types of noodles, and delicious cookies. Costco is the last fan favorite I will talk about. It is the farthest restaurant on this list of four, but it is worth the drive. Students buy pizza for two dollars, salads for four dollars, or a hotdog and drink for a dollar fifty. For a high school student without a job, this makes Costco super popular.

While many students still bring lunches to school, many go out and buy their lunch. Some may see this influx of student traffic as annoying, it’s actually very important to local and chain restaurants around the community. Students bring a lot of revenue from not only their business but also their influence on their peers. Going out to lunch is a basic part of a high schooler’s life; but where to go is up to them.