Breakfast is often cited as the most important meal of the day, and what better way to dine in style than with a made-to-order omelet, fried egg, or scrambled eggs?
All four of the University’s residential dining halls offer omelet stations during breakfast every weekday and during brunch every weekend. The Daily Princetonian analyzed omelet orders at Yeh/New College West (NCW), the University’s newest dining hall and an increasingly popular option for students. 49.6 percent of seniors ranked Yeh/NCW as their favorite dining hall even though it wasn’t in operation for most of their time at Princeton.
Omelet chef Miguel Villamar estimated that 100 to 120 students order omelets every day, totaling 700 to 840 omelet orders each week. Of these, 120 students filled out a survey about their order. The survey was conducted from Saturday, April 22 to Friday, April 28 in the Yeh/NCW dining hall with the cooperation of dining staff.
The survey revealed higher use of the omelet station by athletes, and that there exists a small group of students that consistently get an omelet in the morning and builds their relationship with the staff.
The respondents were primarily first-years and sophomores, at almost 90 percent. First-years and sophomores are required to be on the unlimited meal plan, which gives daily access to all the dining halls on campus, and thus the omelet stations in them.
Over 57 percent of all orders contained either mozzarella or cheddar, and 42 percent contained either ham or sausage. Female respondents’ orders contained cheese more often. 51 percent of male respondents and 63 percent of female respondents ordered omelets containing at least one type of cheese. However, male respondents ordered more meat, with 48 percent of orders containing meat, compared to 31 percent of female-identifying respondents’ orders.
“I get an omelet with ham, tomato, and cheese,” Patrick Grate ’26 said. “The cheese blends so well with the roasted ham.”
Grate orders an omelet “every morning, if I can. It’s something I look forward to.”
Grate is clearly not alone in his frequency of ordering. 24 percent of respondents order omelets over five times a week.
86 percent of respondents order omelets at least weekly and 58 percent order more than three times per week. Male respondents order more frequently than female respondents, with 69 percent of male respondents ordering more than three times per week compared to 46 percent of female respondents.
“Every day I’m here,” Zev Schuman ’25 said. “Probably four times a week.”
According to the University, about 18 percent of students participate in varsity sports. 37 percent of respondents to our survey listed themselves as athletes. Non-athletes also ordered more vegetables than athletes. 4.4 percent of athletes’ orders contained broccoli compared to about 16 percent of non-athlete orders, but athletes’ orders contained 2.5 times the percentage of kale compared to non-athletes.
Many sports hold early morning practices, and given its close proximity to Jadwin Gym and other athletic facilities, many athletes dine at Yeh/NCW dining hall for breakfast. Over 75 percent of athlete respondents order omelets more than three times per week, compared to slightly under 50 percent of non-athletes. However, a similar percentage of athletes and non-athletes order omelets five or more times a week, at about 24 percent each.
“I just came from practice which is near Jadwin, so [Yeh/NCW] is the closest dining hall,” women’s softball team member Allison Ha ’25 said.
Ha is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Athletes order more often and order higher quantities of eggs each time. 16 percent of athlete orders were for five or more eggs, compared to six percent of non-athlete orders. A higher proportion of non-athletes, 14 percent, specified egg whites only, compared to 5 percent of athletes.
While similar percentages of first-years and sophomores order omelets, 53 percent of fried egg orders are from the Class of 2025, compared to 33 percent from the Class of 2026. Scrambled eggs are available daily on the buffet, but students can request they be made for them at the omelet station, and can thus add fillings.
“[I order] two eggs scrambled with bacon and ham, usually,” Ha said. “But here, they don’t have bacon so I just get ham. I like having the meat in it.”
Residential dining halls are open on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. for breakfast and from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. for brunch on weekends. The majority of brunch omelet orders occurred between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., while the breakfast orders were more evenly distributed, highest between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. The Yeh/NCW dining hall omelet station has a sign by the line informing students that it closes at 10:30 a.m. daily, 30 minutes before the dining hall closes for breakfast.
“Miguel makes some famous world-class omelets,” Grate said. “I get an omelet with ham, tomato, and cheese … Everything within one egg omelet. It’s beautiful. When you become a frequenter of the omelet station here at NCW, you kind of get to know the personal styles of each cook. I personally like Miguel’s style a lot, and I prefer getting my omelets from Miguel, but also no staff has made an omelet I haven’t enjoyed.”
While waiting in line to order omelets, many students, especially omelet station regulars, talk with Miguel Villamar, the omelet chef who is there five days a week, and who cooked 95 percent of respondents’ eggs.
“Why do I like to make omelets? Because I get paid for it!” Villamar joked. “I like to talk to people. I like to talk to people a lot. I like to see everybody. I like to greet. I wanna make you smile in the morning. That’s why.”
Andrew Bosworth is a Data contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to correction[at]dailyprincetonian.com
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