The Sheraton Hotel on University Avenue is just one of many familiar sights for Syracuse University students. As they hustle to and from Starbucks or Marshall Street, students pass by the Sheraton constantly. However, it’s rare they actually have reason to go inside.

I had the pleasure of dining at Rachel’s Restaurant inside the Sheraton. It’s in the perfect location for students to grab a non-dining hall, non-GrubHub, non-weird-kitchen-concoction-that-tastes-better-than-it-looks meal at an affordable price.

The ambiance was fairly typical of an American restaurant. It was quiet at 1 p.m. on a Friday and seemed to lack a lunch rush, but the calm demeanor of the wait staff and the quiet dining area was a welcome change from the typical restaurant bustle.

I will note that the interior design of the restaurant screamed “I’m a hotel restaurant.” The décor was very neutral and plain.

At lunch time, it offered a $15 dollar all-you-can-eat buffet as well as a menu. Its specials of the day included a New England clam chowder. It was tempting, but not quite enough for a born-and-raised Massachusetts girl with high standards for seafood, and clam chowder in particular.

The lunch menu was fairly basic and included favorites people with all different tastes could enjoy. There were traditional turkey clubs, burgers, Caesar salad and pizza options. All the choices looked tasty, but by no means special.

Kelli Mosher | Staff Photographer

A colleague informed me that Rachel’s mac and cheese was really good. I can’t resist a good mac and cheese, so I took her up on the suggestion and ordered the smoked gouda mac and cheese. The combination of one of the world’s best cheeses and one of the world’s best dishes sealed the deal.

It definitely did not disappoint. The server brought me a huge entrée sized bowl of the stuff. On the menu, it was listed under an “entrée” category, but I don’t know if my brain processed that I was ordering a whole huge bowl of mac and cheese. The portion size was absolutely massive.

There was a ton of cheese sauce, much more than actually necessary for the pasta. It was really creamy and packed with smoked gouda goodness. It used cellentani pasta, and its spiral, grooved and tube-like shape was prefect for holding onto all the gooey wonderful cheesiness. I approve.

It was incredibly filling and even though I came into the restaurant decently hungry, I only managed to eat about a quarter of what they served me. But hey, I’ll take leftovers — which I ate later that night. Sometimes with mac and cheese, the leftovers are nowhere near as good as the dish was when it was fresh off the stove. But even reheated in the microwave, I thought it was just as good as when I had eaten it earlier in the day.

For good measure, I also had a chicken Caesar salad. The grilled chicken was tender even though it had been on the charcoal. The lettuce was crisp, but they did mix in a lot of dressing into the salad. Not really my taste, as I prefer a lighter coat of dressing, but not something that many people would have a problem with.

The food was good, but not special. I liked what I ate, but I think it was much more appealing to me in the moment. As I look back and reflect on the atmosphere, the menu, the flavors, I am not blown away. The mac and cheese was excellent, but I’d be just as content with some Annie’s from a box as I would be with Rachel’s.

As a plus, the food was not expensive, as it can sometimes get in hotel restaurants.

Would I return? Maybe. If I really felt like I needed to not eat dining hall food, easy mac or peanut butter and jelly, I would. But with the freedom to explore new restaurants every week, I think I’d rather return to Phoebe’s Restaurant and Coffee Lounge, which isn’t far from campus either.

Published on March 27, 2016 at 9:39 pm

Contact: cmrussel@syr.edu | @caseymrussell