Spicy beef mix, twice-cooked pork, Xiao Long Bao—these are some of the most common orders in a special group chat between Williston students and Oriental Taste.
Most Williston students order food delivery by calling a restaurant from the official Williston-sponsored restaurant list or from an online food delivery platform like Door Dash or Uber Eats. Most would not be in direct contact with the restaurant staff; However, more than 40 Williston students (most juniors and seniors) have a direct line of contact with the staff at Oriental Taste through a group chat. This allows students to organize group deliveries, make special food requests, and pay with WeChat pay, a Chinese form of payment rarely used outside of Chinatowns in the U.S.
The group chat was originally formed through parents’ suggestions.
“We started this group chat with Williston five years ago,” said one of the Oriental Taste staff. “Parents would stop in Northampton with their kids on their way to Williston, and they would all come over to eat at Oriental Taste because it reminded them of home. A lot of parents suggested that we have a delivery option for Williston so that their students can more often eat Chinese food, so we created a special delivery group chat.”
Oriental Taste, at 41 Main Street in Northampton, has been around since 2016 and was originally formed to give local residents in Northampton a more authentic Asian food experience.
Cici Cao, a senior who joined the group chat in 2021, orders from it frequently.
“Ever since I have joined the group chat, during school trimesters I will order from them about once a week or once every two weeks, usually when I don’t feel like eating the dining hall food,” she said.
Wakanda Hu, a sophomore, also used to order from the group chat a lot, but now mostly makes her own food in the dorms.
“When I was ordering from them a lot, I would order every week or every two weeks, and occasionally even more when I [had] away games because I may not have time to eat or may be too tired to,” she said. “Now, I order lot less because I have learned how to cook, and I buy my own Asian food supplies online.”
Having group chats like this is not uncommon for Chinese students studying internationally at high school or college. Smith College, for example, has a group chat with more than 150 members for international package delivery, where they can periodically make group shipments and bargain for discounts from the company owners.
This common practice can be partially credited to China having one centralized social media platform – WeChat. Because of this, it is easy to form networks to communicate, and foreign students bring this practice to the States with them.
Cici and Wakanda have very similar reasons for ordering delivery from the group chat.
“I think the Asian food at Williston does not feel as authentic as Oriental Taste, since OT [Oriental Taste] is made by actual Chinese members and Sage Dining is not,” Cici said.
“Williston Asian food is too American, too sweet, and the rice often doesn’t feel right, they added like a sweet sauce to spring rolls, so being able to eat Oriental Taste is a comfort for me” Wakanda said.
The group chat is currently thriving; However, there is speculation and worry about how the new DoorDash and Uber Eats policies will affect it. Cici thinks that the recently implemented policies will negatively impact the group chat.
“I think the group chat will die down,” Cici said. “I also think that Oriental Taste has a better rapport with the older students here at Williston, and newer students don’t use the group chat as frequently, which is also why I am convinced it will die down.”
Wakanda disagrees, and think the group chat will continue to thrive.
“Door Dash is faster than delivery from OT; However, OT is cheaper and you don’t have to pay immediately, so I thin people will continue to use the group chat for OT delivery,” said Wakanda. “As long as Williston exists, and as long as Oriental Taste exists, I think this group chat will continue to live on.”
Right now, the group chat gets around two to three orders a day and serves as a staple in the Chinese foreign student community. If you are considering ordering from Oriental taste, Cici recommends the soup beef mix, and Wakanda recommends the pork ribs and Xiao Long Bao.
