The “Rooted” station on the left served cauliflower al pastor. The “Mason Manor” station on the right served carne asada street tacos, fire-roasted corn elote and various toppings during Global Street Day Sept. 8. (Isabella Pearlstein / Fourth Estate)

Students enjoyed a variety of dishes from worldwide cuisines

BY ISABELLA PEARLSTEIN, CULTURE EDITOR 

Banh mi, carne asada tacos, cannoli’s and more.  

Southside dining hall debuted Mason Dining’s first Founding Foodies Festival event for the semester – Global Street Day – Tuesday, Sept. 8. 

As part of the event, Mason Dining handed out free samples of paella in Wilkins Plaza, allowing students to try a dish from the dining hall. 

Within Southside, the different stations served cuisines from Latin America and countries such as Vietnam and Italy. Besides the usual serving stations, students walked up to a small stand serving mango with Tajin on a stick or found the walking cannoli station. 

“I had a little bit of the mango on the stick. That was fire. I also met the cannoli guy; that was also fun,” said Aimee Mangampat, a freshman English major. 

The walking cannoli station let students customize their cannoli during the Global Street Day event Sept. 8. (Isabella Pearlstein / Fourth Estate)

“This is the best food I’ve ever had at George Mason,” said Amelia Luna, a junior International Security and Law major, about the paella. 

Garret Connor, a junior Business major, had street tacos, lemonade, dumplings, spring rolls and sandwiches.  

“I liked the street tacos the most just because you could just load them up with a bunch of stuff,” he said. 

Jillian Hall, a junior Criminology major, had the spring rolls and described them as “the best thing I’ve ever had here.” 

Mason Dining has several more events planned for Southside, Ike’s and other dining halls this semester. On Sept. 17, Southside will have a matcha parfait pop up from 8–11 AM. 

“These events are designed to create memorable experiences, encourage students to explore different cuisines and bring the Mason community together through food,” said George Charbel, Mason Dining’s executive chef.