Fresh Meat grilled on west side

Aeden Africa

For years, students at UACHS relied on Sams, China Fun, and Georgio’s Pizzeria as staples for quick lunches, but the completion of NJCU’s dorms on West Side Avenue and Gothic Knights Drive is bringing new food to the table.
Five Guys opened a new location just two blocks away. The grand opening of the restaurant is gaining attention from the students at UACHS. Travis Perumal, a junior at UACHS, has been a fan of the bi-coastal burger franchise for awhile.
“I love Five Guys and I’m excited for the one nearby to open. It’ll be a nice change of food compared to the stuff I have been buying for the past two years.”
Perumal is also a regular of Sams who will drop in a few times a month for some drinks or candy, occasionally ordering an italian chicken sandwich.
“Sams is really convenient, it’s relatively cheap and it’s right there so you can go to Sams and back to school and still have time to eat,” said Perumal.
Sams Corner Store has a decent sized menu consisting of fries and a variety of sandwiches. Alongside Georgios and China Fun, these stores have been around for many years and have provided for generations of UACHS kids, and never really had anything to compete against.
More recently Sams has raised their prices up by a dollar or two. Making the famously cheap meals push the spending limit of most students at UACHS. One being Marwa Shehata, a sophomore at UACHS that frequently spends her money at Sams.
“I usually would spend 40 dollars a month on food from Sams or Georgios last year,” said Shehata. “When Sams raised their prices, I wasn’t going there as much but now I barely spend 20 dollars a month.”
With these price ranges, Sams will be charging the same as Five Guys and with Five Guys providing a new set of options, students at UACHS as well as local residents might turn their back on the early stores of the area.
“ Five Guys is only in Bayonne,Hoboken, and downtown. Having a location this close to where I am is going to make me want to go all the time.” said Shehata. “But Sams has always been around, it’s still pretty cheap and they sell snacks and candy Five Guys won’t have.”
Students at UACHS are now deciding if they’re sticking to the old reliable stores of the West Side area or if they should indulge in the newly constructed red and white burger shop.