By Tasha Bailey

lba011@latech.edu

 

Double cheeseburger: $1.

Baked potato: $1.

Medium pizza: Less than five dollars.

Finding a cheap meal at 1 a.m.: Priceless.

Over the years college students grow accustomed to eating at fast-food restaurants.

Some of the cheap restaurants that stay open late to feed starving students’ hungers are McDonald's, Papa John’s, Wendy’s and Dominoes.

“I am a big fan of McDonald’s; I like to get the double cheeseburger and fries for a dollar a piece and also the apple pies that are two for a dollar,” Satoya Beene, a senior marketing and communication design major, said.

McDonald’s dollar menu has everything from double cheeseburgers to soft-serve ice cream to a good, cold drink to quench a student’s thirst.

“We stay open 24 hours on the weekend and we stay busy all through the night,” Lisa Bennet, store manager of the McDonald’s on Trenton Street, said. “About 90 percent of the time we are selling food from the dollar menu and the majority of the time our students are from Tech. I can tell because I look at the decal in the back window.”

Another reason this McDonald’s is student-friendly is it is open 24 hours a day.

“I can eat from McDonald’s dollar menu all day long and they have a variety of different entrees,” Shannon Laventon, a senior kinesiology major, said. “I am a college student and I don’t have a lot of money.”

Not only do students get good deals on burgers and fries, but they can also save money at local pizzerias.

“Papa John’s is the best place to eat because they are always giving away free pizza for some reason,” Cekedrick Batton, a junior education and journalism major, said.

Many students are even willing to sign up for a credit card to get a free meal.

“Usually when Papa John’s gives away free pizza you  have to sign up for a credit card, but I don’t mind because I can always not accept the card and get the free pizza,” Remerson Edwards, a graduate student of computer information systems, said.

Wendy’s is another late-night spot that has good, cheap food.

“I like to eat at McDonald’s but I prefer to eat at Wendy’s because they have baked potatoes and junior bacon cheeseburgers on their dollar menu,” Ashley Whiten, a junior psychology major, said.

Cheap, late-night restaurants are the main attraction to college students because the price is right just for them.