Students Spend $78,000 on Food Delivery Per Year

Credit: Antonios.com

Credit: Antonios.com

(413) 527-8383: the phone number that a lot of Williston students have learned to love and parents have learned to hate.

Antonio’s Pizza and Wings, just next door on Main Street in Easthampton, is no stranger to the Williston community.

Whether it is a Monday night after study hall, or a Saturday night after a big sports game, Jason Cunningham from Antonio’s said the restaurant is always busy, though it’s tough to guess exactly when their phone will be ringing off the hook.

“We can never predict the calls coming in,” Cunningham said. “On nights that you would expect the lines to be busy, it is quiet, and vice versa.”

As unexpected as the amount of orders there may be, Antonio’s still averages between 20 and 25 calls a night from the Williston dorms. Upwards to 175 meals a week catered by Antonio’s keeps the two delivery drivers, which they employ after 10:00 p.m., busy every night.

Let’s break down the numbers: If Williston students place 20-25 calls a night to Antonio’s, and an average order is $9-$10 (according to Cunningham) then students are spending upwards of $200 a night at Antonio’s.

If an average order at Riff’s Joint — another Williston favorite located in the Eastworks building in Easthampton — is around $12, and students are calling in about 10 orders per night, the tally comes in slightly less than Antonio’s at around $120 per night.

Extrapolated to a weekly basis, students are spending $1,400 a week at Antonio’s, and $840 at Riff’s. Monthly, the numbers jump to $6,400 for Antonio’s and $3,360 at Riff’s.

Let’s take it even further: On the entire academic year calendar, subtracting two weeks in December and two weeks in March for breaks, students attend school for roughly eight full months. That means for an entire school year, Williston students spend, on average $51,200 at Antonio’s, and $26,880 at Riff’s. That’s a total of just over $78,000.

A dorm that both Antonio’s and Riff’s can always count on is Ford Hall. “If not all the orders, a large majority of the food is being delivered to Ford Hall,” Cunningham said.

Just about every kid on campus can tell you their last five numbers on their Sammy Card and their go-to order at night.

A second year Junior at Williston, Tim Rego, is no stranger to the landline phone in the common room of Ford Hall. This phone is used to call in all food orders during study hall.

“Without a doubt, chicken parm sub from Antonio’s is my go-to,” Tim said. “Starting last year, this has been my order ever since.”

Riff’s Joint reaffirmed that the majority of orders are delivered to Ford.

“It is pretty clear that the boys in Ford love their chicken bacon ranch wraps and burgers,” Caroline Stuart from Riff’s pointed out.

Both Antonio’s and Riff’s had great things to say about Williston, and are looking forward to another school year.