Spectator and Columbia College Student Council host Free Food Expo on Low Plaza
On a sunny day, members of the Columbia community were treated to tastes from a variety of local vendors.
By Esmeralda Paredes / Deputy Photo Editor
From sliders, to green salads, to new flavors of energy drinks, attendees of Saturday’s Free Food Expo, co-hosted by Spectator and the Columbia College Student Council, were treated to a variety of tasty bites from local restaurants and vendors.
The event offered the Columbia community a chance to sample dishes from local restaurants including DIG, Dos Toros Taqueria, Symposium, Junzi, Harlem Shake, Massawa, and Crepes on Columbus. Refreshing drinks were provided by Red Bull, Guayaki Yerba Mate, GT’s Living Foods, and Oren’s.
As the spring sun shone over Low Plaza, crowds of students and community members gathered for the event. Held for the third consecutive semester, Food Expo has firmly reestablished itself as a campus tradition following its pandemic hiatus. Taking place on the warmest day of the year thus far, with temperatures peaking around 80 degrees, attendees enjoyed their food and drinks while lounging in the lovely weather.
Requiring only campus access and a free ticket, Spectator and CCSC were excited to bring the event back once again.
“I’m so glad that we’re able to do this event again. It’s so thrilling to have this back on campus every semester, and we so enjoy working with CCSC every semester to make this happen,” Shea Vance, BC ’26, Spectator’s editor in chief and president, said. “We love to connect with the community this way, and it’s also such great food, and we love these vendors.”
Haya Fine, GS/JTS ’26, attended the event with a friend, taking in the sunny weather and trying out the many available options.
“I found out through the Instagram, and it’s been so delightful. It’s a beautiful, sunny, gorgeous day. Food has been great, vibes have been good.” While she had only tried a couple spots so far, she planned to test out the rest.
“Dumplings were quite yummy, but I’m excited to try the Harlem Shake, so that’s what’s next.”
Albert Tsai, GS ’26, Spectator’s publisher, was excited by event’s the potential to bring the Columbia community together while supporting the local businesses participating.
“I think it really helps the student body connect with the neighborhood which is always something that we like to work on in general, right? We don’t want to be on our own little campus bubble all the time,” he said. “I think it also really helps for local businesses, especially once they’re newly opening up to be able to connect with the students.”
Spectator hosts the Free Food Expo on a semesterly basis, with the engagement and revenue sections taking on the event’s organization as a major, months-long project. They work to find vendors and make sure the event runs smoothly.
Bryan Ge, CC ’26, Spectator’s revenue director, called working with vendors and setting up the event his “favorite part about being on revenue,” adding that he loves to “see their happy faces when they come give out food. It’s the one thing I look forward to every time.” Ge is also a fan of Massawa, a participating Ethiopian restaurant located just a few blocks from campus.
“I love their injera and any of the little curries that they have, it’s always delicious.” Massawa also gained a new fan in Iris Wu, CC ’27.
“My roommate actually is from Ethiopia, and a couple months ago she recommended Massawa to me, and I never had the chance to go, and now that I’ve had a sample I’m more tempted and compelled to visit.”
The expo also served as an opportunity to promote Spectator’s mobile app, which launched in the fall. To receive the free food and drinks, attendees simply had to show a free ticket accessible on the app.
“I personally love the app. I use it on a daily basis, and I hope that if it’s the first time they’re getting some exposure to it, they learn to love it too and keep up to date with everything Columbia,” Ge said.
Harlem Shake was a big hit—not only for their delicious sliders, but also because of Lucy, a golden retriever who was the restaurant’s mascot for the day. DarDra Coaxum, a co-owner of Harlem Shake, attended alongside Lucy. Coaxum stressed the importance of having good food while studying in college.
“I’ve been a college student before, and I know how hard it is to just, really feed yourself every day, so just to be able to have a break and get some free delicious food that you can get locally, it’s like, what beats that?” Coaxum said.
Having participated in the Free Food Expo last spring, Harlem Shake was one of the event’s returning vendors. Coaxum believes that the event helped attract more students to the restaurant.
“We had a lot of students that didn’t know about us before that started venturing over a little bit further east in Harlem and came by to see us, and because of that, we were happy to participate again and hopefully we can do this next year too,” Coaxum said.
By 2 p.m., the event had wrapped up, and Heather Chen, CC ’26, Spectator’s managing editor, said she was glad to reflect on a successful day. Chen said she was especially excited to hear that the expo was inspiring people to visit the restaurants’ physical locations.
“I’ve heard from multiple people that they’re planning on going there, to the actual location now that they’ve tried it. … I’m really happy to hear that, because I feel like it really shows the purpose of Food Expo.”
See the full article here: https://www.columbiaspectator.com/spectrum/2025/04/02/spectator-and-columbia-college-student-council-host-free-food-expo-on-low-plaza/