Campus Canteen

Nick's Canteen is a Morgantown/WVU icon - 50-plus years in the making. A couple years ago, ownership changed hands, and it's now called Campus Canteen. But most people still call it Nick's.

It's located right across Prospect from Boreman Hall on the downtown campus, so it's basically the only restaurant on campus without being a campus restaurant. They've long been known for their subs and gyros. But I hadn't been there since it was Nick's.

The bright blue outside is home to essentially a restaurant, a head shop and a convenience store inside. Want a gyro with a side of condoms and a pair of eyelash curlers? This place has it. It's so cluttered and filled to the brim with merchandise, it's a little overwhelming. Especially for such a small area.

There's a menu board as soon as you walk in the door, and I just went after the standard gyro with a combo of a fountain drink and fries. After paying ($5 minimum for a card), I took one of the few booths to wait for my food.

They have so much stuff, there are two-liters sitting in crates on floors. It's also pretty grimy. It could use a thorough cleanse. Take a look at that salt shaker for instance. Ugh.

My food came out in a styrofoam container, so I took it back to my office. While I'm usually not a huge fan of fries, these were extra crispy - maybe even battered - so they had a nice crunch on the outside. I picked up some ketchup from inside the Mountainlair to use. So I was pleasantly surprised.

The gyro was okay. The meat had a little too much snap to it - like it was cooked for 10 minutes too long. A handful of lettuce was thrown on top and maybe a bit of tzatziki sauce. I just want to like this so bad because I really want a good gyro in Morgantown. It's just not happening. The meat was overcooked, too much lettuce, not enough tzatziki. And the flavoring wasn't even stellar. Not quite the Nick's I remember.

Grade: C