Hoagie Wednesday: My Friends’ Favorite New Tradition

Dining in Northfield

Carleton has two dining halls on campus that students choose between for dinner most nights during the week. As someone who anticipated finding dining hall food gross, I was pleasantly surprised by our food quality and the variety of food options.

However, eventually getting a little tired of dining hall food and wanting a change of scenery is an inevitable freshman canon event. Thus, my friends and I have taken to making occasional walks to downtown Northfield for dinner. If you’ve never taken a trip to Hogan Brothers in the dead middle of winter in -10-degree weather, I implore you to give it a try.

The Inaugural Hoagie Wednesday

At the very beginning of winter term this year, our group chat received an excited text message about the upcoming “Hoagie Wednesday.” My ears were perked; I could never turn down such an invitation. It seemed like most of my friends felt the same, so we quickly formulated a plan to meet up and walk downtown. I’m not sure at what point we all independently inferred that “Hoagie Wednesday” was an actual thing, but we were sorely mistaken. Hoagie Wednesday is not, in fact, a discounted event. It’s not an event at all. Hoagie Wednesday is merely my friend Sam’s name for his routine weekly visit to Hogan Brothers.

Blissfully unaware of this fact, though, we began our trek all the way from Goodhue to the beloved restaurant around 5:30 PM. For reference, we looked like a clan of Stay Puft Marshmallow Men bundled in our winter clothes as the snow fell around us. And it was very worth it. Nothing could have hit the spot more than a warm hoagie in that moment. The experience was so magical that we’ve decided to make it a tradition; it’s an unspoken rule that on Wednesday nights, an impressive clump of my friends and I head to Hogan Brothers for some delicious sandwiches and soup as respite from dining hall food.

Visit Hogan Brothers, and Make Your Own Traditions!

In light of this tradition, Hogan Brothers holds a very special place in my heart. It’s a hub of social activity for not only my friends and I but also the rest of the Carleton student body. Every time I visit, I take note of the groups of students clustered around tables chatting and catching up after long days. The mix of good food and warm, comfortable atmosphere makes it a top choice for off-campus meals.

I highly recommend both visiting Hogan Brothers and creating your own goofy traditions. Both are great ways to bring you and your college friends closer together, especially as freshmen that are new to the college. Plus, our ever-growing crowd of Hoagie-Wednesday-goers could always use new additions! Who knows, maybe if enough people partake in “Hoagie Wednesday” the tradition will actually become official.

Leksi (she/her) is a first-year Carleton student from Colorado Springs, Colorado and a prospective pre-law Psychology or Cognitive Sciencemajor. So far, she could not be happier with her college decision! Northfield and Carleton have done an amazing job providing Leksi with the only five things she needs to thrive: local coffee, music, wilderness, the gym, ice hockey, and (of course!) her friends. She is involved in club ice hockey and the Carleton Association of Nature and Outdoor Enthusiasts (CANOE). If you’re unsure where to find Leksi on campus, your best bet is the group tables on Fourth Libe or hopelessly lost somewhere deep in the arb. Meet the Other Bloggers!