O’s Campus Cafe

Okay, so I’m already having a pretty rough morning as it is, so put hungry on top of running on 3 hours of sleep, and you don’t get a very good combo. Or a very nice review.
Today was my first time at O’s, because I was hungry and it was the closest thing around because I had class right afterwards. I went to the register where it said «order here» where the lady took my order. It was until then. She said something that I didn’t really catch, so I just handed her my card to pay, assuming I would pay for my pizza there. But instead of being like, «oh no, you pay for it on the other side,» she rudely told me like I was stupid, «Go. Over. There. To. Pay.» WELL EXCUSE ME FOR MISHEARING YOU. You couldn’t have said it in a nicer way?! Luckily, the guy at the actual paying register was a hella lot more friendly and somewhat made up for the rude experience, but not really. I would give them a 1 star, but the other guy was pretty nice and the pizza seems decent enough. Never coming back though, unless I’ve been starving for 8+ hours and there is literally nothing else open. Customer service is a huge deal breaker for me.

This Place is the epitome of «Okay». It beats some of the other food on campus but the prices started to increase dramatically. I’ve been on campus for 4 years and seen the price in sandwiches increase from $ 4.00 to $ 5.50. Which is also a super mediocre sandwich. The best thing I could say is really worth the price would be the Mediterranean salad which actually gives you a decent quantity for the price. A yogurt parfait also costs around $ 4.00 which I found was ridiculous. I still go back if I really want something close by but it’s never really my go to go to.

Eat at your own risk. My husband found a spider in a sandwich recently, so they comped his next meal… which was a salad with dirt, a piece of gravel, and a gnat in it.

I had the coffee 7 mornings, and NOT 7 in a row. I did the buy 5 and get one free for coffee. My free coffee was cold, bitter, disgusting (YESTERDAY’s reheated coffee I bet ya anything!!!). So the coffee wasn’t great anyway. It was actually gross every visit, then my free cup was the worst I’ve ever been served. The breakfast taco was good, bean, potato chunks and scrambled egg, the refried bean was tasty. There was a teaspoon amount of cheese in the taco I think which was neither exciting or disappointing. I will not be getting breakfast from there again.

Order the: Fries… because who can mess up fries right? …wait…sometimes the fries are soggy… okay nevermind. Just order whatever, it’s food.
O’s in the business school used to be a Burger King back in the day. How I miss those times.
Whenever I eat at O’s it is only because I need to eat and do not have the time to go elsewhere (although thankfully due to the construction of the SAC there are numerous options close by).The blackened fish tacos and fries is my go to combo as I feel that it is an okay value, but like their other entrees that I’ve had, the fish tacos tend to be extremely bland. I eat their breakfast tacos rather frequently as anytime breakfast is catered on campus it tends to come from O’s, but as breakfast tacos go they are some of the blandest that I’ve had. Their tortillas always seem to be steamed to the point where they seem more like a hot congealed goo. Also there’s something about their salsa that doesn’t taste quite right.
It’s not worth the money, if you have the time make the walk to the SAC or Dobie. If you don’t and can only make it to O’s, well… it’s food.

I pretty much ate here for an entire semester b/​c I was new to the UT campus as a grad student and didn’t know where else to eat. I determined that Peter O’s Burger provided the highest amount of quantity/​satisfaction with the lowest amount of money (bang for the bucks) so that’s what I got every time. It didn’t taste very good but at least I’m full afterwards. Yup, life of a grad student.
But after exploring the other parts of campus, I decided to come back here again to try something other than Peter O’s Burger. Honestly, I have NO IDEA what’s so good about the enchiladas. Seriously. What the heck. For over $ 7.50, I got this small piece of enchilada, super salty rice and beans, and the chips were just tiny crumbs. I posted up a picture of how unappetizing it was. I forced everything down b/​c I was really hungry. But even afterwards, I wasn’t even half full and had to go get more food. It was one of the most disappointing meals I’ve had in a looooong time. It looked bad, it tasted bad, and it’s probably really unhealthy. For around $ 7.50, I could have gotten a foot long sub with double meat at Subway or a Chipotle bowl with some guac.
The only advantage of this place is the location. That’s it. It’s nicely situated among the engineering buildings, just a little closer than the SAC and the Union. But because of my latest experience, O’s just lost any leverage it had over me with the distance.

The food is not just «not great» or «meh», but disappointing.
The prices are too high.
The staff will barely look you in the eye, nevermind helpful.
I can only imagine they are in business because they are the closest and only option for busy people in that area of campus.

I have to agree with a lot of what Andrew said. I have been on the campus for jusrt over 10 years and I have steadily seen the quality drop. The first thing I ever had from O’s back in 2001 was the bagel sandwich and it was outstanding. A ready big bagel loaded with egg, cheese, and bacon for about $ 4.00. Then about 2004, they started using smaller bagels (Like you’d buy in a grocery store) but the price stayed the same. I continued to buy the bagel sandwiches but apparently other didn’t because they eventually took them off the menu completely.
The breakfast tacos are good and priced reasonably. However, the salsa they made in house took a nose dive about 2 years ago.
To be fair, O’s is overall good. However, I have seen them better.

This is the best kept secret at UT! The food is amazing by campus standards. O’s beats J2, JCL, Kinsolving any day of the week! The breakfast tacos are so delicious and when topped with red and green salsa it is heavenly and divine. SO GOOD.

Three words… chicken avocado wrap. To complete this perfection, get sweet potato fries for the side! Add one of the many sauces (chipotle ketchup is totally worth a try) that O’s has at their sauce bar to both the fries and the wrap for some awesome variation! The other food here isn’t bad, but all pales in comparison to the supreme wrap!
Side note:
I have to give a shout out to the staff at the ACES. My girlfriend left her purse there, and fortunately for us, the staff contacted us a couple of hours later. She was able to get everything back after O’s had already closed. Thank you!

I am writing in reference to the O’s cart behind the Main Building. I work in the main building, so I’ve come to love this cart. The breakfast tacos… EVERYONE who works in the MB or the tower loves them. They’re simple but delicious (my favorite is the potato egg and cheese) and comes with red or green salsa.
I recently tried a sandwich there, not expecting much, but ended up with a DELICIOUS turkey, salami and cheese sandwich with chipotle mayo. YUM!
So, the meals are pretty over priced, but the tacos are cheap and there’s a new guy working that who’s WAY nicer.

Dude, no complaints here. $ 1.50 breakfast tacos and conveniently located on campus. My favorite is the black beans, potatoes, and cheese, also coincidentally always the last ones left. If this place has run out, I check out the to-​go cart in front.
Anyway, I think O’s should open a cart in front of the Mechanical Engineering building (where my classes are), and then rename themselves Tex Mechs.

Meh… meh…meh…
Eating here looks like a good idea, I mean it is on campus, the line isn’t too long, they do have «fresh fare» that is cooked differently daily, and the environment is decent too… BUT the food is just not really a good idea other than convenience… I don’t go to UT but I went here to grab lunch and their premade sandwiches are just blah. No real flavor, not very big… they had these shrimp sushi wrap kind of things too but the girl I was with wasn’t too impressed with that either… this is just a campus eater basically but with a facelift…
Kind of like a monet — looks better from far away ya know? It smells good, and maybe if I had ordered some of the things off of their fresh menu I would have liked it better, but their enchiladas and stuff that were sitting there also just did not look appetizing… it just looked like it had been sitting there for quite some time…
lesson, bring your lunch to campus if have to eat here a lot…

I will only go to O’s for Enchilada Day. I think the enchiladas are overpriced at $ 8 for two little enchiladas, a scoop of rice, and a scoop of beans because it’s a campus café, not a real Tex-​Mex restaurant with good food. But, hey, it’s the best you can do for enchiladas without leaving campus and they taste ok. So, yay for Enchilada Day. The breakfast tacos suffice in a pinch. Everything else I’ve had there is tasteless and definitely way overpriced.

Since I eat at either this one or the one in the business school at least twice a week, I probably should get around to reviewing it.
The problem with campus food is that it gets repetitive. What tastes great the first time, sucks badly after eating it 100 times in a row.
At the ACES location, it’s important to remember Thursday is Enchilada Day. They have different specials each day of the week, but this one is by far the most popular.
Me? I don’t get it, but here’s sample conversation in my house…
(me): what did you have for lunch today?
(husband looking at me stupidly): It’s Thursday? Enchilada Day at O’s!
(me rolls eyes and whacks forehead): of course, what else could you possibly eat than steam table enchiladas on Thursdays?
(husband glares)
If you are going to go to O’s, here’s a basic outline because I eat there so often.
ACES location: good chicken sandwich. Fries are okay. Free refills on the drinks which includes the Hibiscus Mint Tea which rocks. Desserts are generally okay and so are the soups.
In the prepack case, the chicken salad is okay and I like the spring rolls. I avoid the tuna salad because it once made me quite sick, and occasionally the chefs get bored and toss curry powder in it. Not bad, but different.
Business school location for O’s… if you force me to choose, the ACES location is better, but this one is closer to my office. It also has one of the best kept secrets on UT’s campus. I used to go to the Jester dining hall to get a salad. You put it together, they weigh it, and pay. In the O’s business school location, they charge by the size of the container, not the weight. I buy a small salad (which is plenty big) and load up on tasty vegetables for lunch. It’s a great deal for what you get. Also, since this location is a bit smaller, the staff does a good job at keeping the salad bar clean.
The business school location has the same sandwiches as the ACES location, but its really apparent how the person who puts it together affects the taste. I actually like the Chicken Avocado sandwich better at this location (had it for lunch today). I think they do a better job chopping the chicken up and taking care with the sandwich. However, if I’m getting the regular chicken sandwich, ACES is better.
In the pastry case, the blueberry scones are pretty good as long as you remember to microwave them for 30 seconds. The cinnamon rolls are also good, but again they need to be introduced to the microwave.
The business school location (not sure about the ACES location) serves breakfast tacos in the morning and recently started serving the Breakfast croissants available elsewhere on campus. Both are good, but I really like the bacon, egg, and cheese croissant with a little jelly.
Verdict: the food here isn’t phenomenal, but I’ve had far worse on campuses. The thing I really appreciate about the O’s locations is they do try to change the menu every semester or two, and serve things people want to eat. They aren’t scared to experiment with sandwiches or options, but they are all generally just okay.
The last thing I’ll note is the business school location does have a coffee bar so you can get an espresso, latte or mocha here, and last I checked, the ACES location doesn’t offer them.

I do a lot of business on the UT Campus, and have done so for years now. Seen a lot of changes in the variety of food options for lunch around campus. But, when you really are on the campus, and don’t feel like making the walk to the Drag, what are your alternatives? Not much, however there is a little gem buried in the ACES building and on the 3^rd floor of the McCombs Business School. O’s is a very cool little breakfast/​lunch stop, which has a variety of great, freshly made tacos, sandwiches, salads, and fresh hot lunches. Everything is made in house and contains no preservatives. They have daily specials, and is priced student style. They usually have a couple of coffee’s, nothing fancy but good java from Austin Java Coffee Company. They are open from 7.30−3pm. My favorite always seems to be the Apple Chicken Chipolte Sammy. They also have several deserts. You can get a coffee punch card, and end up getting one free.
In the ACES location, they have seating inside and out. Outside you will find a nice pergola patio with plenty of tables. You will also find the famous, fear no evil, UT squirrels. Who will, if you do not watch it, steal your sammy and chips right off your plate, while you are sitting there. However, I have been able to keep them at bay, with small little bread rolls stuffed with rat poison. I toss a couple around me before I sit down to eat my lunch. The squirrels get all excited, scarf down the rolls, and then run away full, thinking that they got away with another free meal, laughing all the way. But the last laugh is on them… bahahahahaa… little ratty bastard thingys… This seems to be working, since the last few times I ate outside, there seems to be a decreasing population. Okay I digress… and yes, I’m kidding. Although Pinkie came to me in a dream last night and suggested I start on this great plan to take over the world one squirrel at a time.
Another great thing, is they also have a couple of kiosks around campus, at the main building, Harry Ransom center, and one outside ACE’s if you don’t have time to stop in. It sure beats the crap out of Wendy’s or anything else for that matter in the Union.