Hospital Food and the People Across the Table
I wanted to change the pace of the blog and keep this one light. I’m almost finished with Monday’s post, and it’s heavy. Very heavy. So, I decided to write a fun one for you to enjoy this Saturday morning. Since there’s no Texas Tech Football, I figured I’d give you something else to critique: hospital food.
My earliest memory of hospital food has nothing to do with being sick. It has everything to do with summer, my grandparents, and homemade coconut cream pie.
I was born at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, Texas. Growing up, I would spend a month each summer with Memaw and Papaw, Jane and Jay Ray Reid in Odessa TX. Memaw was a “Pink Lady,” one of the hospital volunteers, and she seemed to know everyone in the building.
Those ladies did a little bit of everything. They helped run the snack bar and coffee shop, delivered books and magazines, took pictures of newborns, and raised money for nursing scholarships and medical equipment. They brought a little comfort into a place where people often needed a lot of it.
But as a kid, my priorities were pretty simple: cheeseburgers, fries, and coconut cream pie.
The Hospital That Set the Standard
We would go to the hospital snack bar, which felt like a little diner to me. The cheeseburgers and fries were good, but the homemade coconut cream pie was what I looked forward to most.
Those pies were made by Arleva Oliver Lewallen, known to many as “Nanny.” She was a longtime MCH volunteer whose cooking included chicken and dumplings, chocolate icebox pies, and those wonderful coconut cream pies. She blessed this earth with her presence for 99 years.
If you know old-fashioned coconut cream pie, you know the kind: a flaky crust, a custard filling made from scratch, plenty of coconut, and a tall meringue topping browned just right.
That was my introduction to hospital food. Naturally, I assumed all hospital cafeterias were like that.
For years, my family heard me say, “Let’s go eat at the hospital!” Sometimes jokingly, but honestly, part of me meant it. In my mind, hospital food meant a good meal with Memaw and Papaw.
Then came my hospital visit for that little heart issue at Baylor Irving, which I mentioned in my last blog post. We all got to eat in the cafeteria—well, maybe not me. They wouldn’t let me eat anything because of my “little” major medical condition. Reality hit. Ironically, my office today is less than a mile from that hospital—as the crow flies.
When they finally let me eat the only thing I remember THE FOOD WAS HORRIBLE.
No flavor. No salt. Certainly, no coconut cream pie like Nanny’s.
My childhood dream of amazing hospital food had officially been destroyed.
Two Birthdays and One Questionable Drive Through Decision
The next memorable hospital visit was May 3, 2001, at Baylor Grapevine, when Macie was born.
Once again, the food did not live up to my Odessa expectations. And for the younger folks reading this, DoorDash and Uber Eats were not options. You ate what was available or figured something else out.
Macie took her sweet time joining us, and I got hungry.
By December 21, 2003, when it was Matthew’s turn, I had learned a lesson: food required a plan.
When Jennifer gave the signal that we needed to head to Baylor Grapevine, I said, “Great, let’s go!” Then I proceeded through the McDonald’s drive-through.
I was not going to make the same mistake twice.
Let’s just say that was not my best strategic decision.
Very soon after we arrived at Baylor, Matthew arrived. In my version of the story, we had plenty of time. Jennifer’s version is a little different.
From that day forward, Matthew was early to everything.
Our Unofficial Hospital Food Reviews
Fast-forward to March 2025. Hospital food became part of our lives in a way I never could have imagined.
When you spend that much time in hospitals, you learn where to eat, what to avoid, and which nurses to ask for recommendations. You also find a little humor wherever you can.
So here are our unofficial reviews. Think Yelp, for hospitals. One star is bad. Five stars is amazing.
Covenant Hospital in Lubbock
Room service — (1/5)
Matthew’s first order looked like “a bowl of Alpo.” Those are Matthew’s words, not mine. To his credit, he did try it.
Still one star.
Homemade breakfast burritos — (4/5)
The café helped redeem the situation. The breakfast burritos were solid.
Homemade vanilla scones — (5/5)
Jennifer loved these so much that on a later trip to Lubbock, I ran into the hospital just to grab some for her. Apparently, there were still a few reasons to voluntarily visit a hospital for food.
Drink selection — (5/5)
They had Diet Dr Pepper. That deserves recognition.
Overall rating — (3.5/5)
Full disclosure: this visit introduced me to the wonderful world of DoorDash. Why had no one told me about this before?
I used it so much during our stay that some people started referring to me as “Mr. DoorDash.” I accepted the title.
Baylor Sammons Cancer Center
Café Charles — (3/5)
Most of our meals here were breakfast, and it is pretty hard to mess up breakfast. I would give it three stars.
We did not experience “room service” at this resort, so I cannot offer a review of that department.
Children’s Medical Center Dallas
Children’s gave us several options: room service, the Dining Car café, the Atrium Café food court, and the largest Starbucks I think I have ever seen. If not the largest the busiest that building has over 1,000 team ambers at any given time plus all the families. Imagine the amount of caffeine needed to run that building.
These deserve separate reviews.
Room service — (3.5/5)
Matthew loved being able to order from an app on his phone. He could choose exactly what he wanted and order as much food as he wanted as often as he wanted.
For a young man spending so much time in a hospital room, being able to make those choices mattered.
The Dining Car — (2.5/5)
On our first visit, we were in a hurry and grabbed a hamburger and a chicken sandwich from the hot line. They were so dry that we both nearly choked trying to eat them.
When we told the nurses, they immediately said we had gone to the wrong place.
“Go to the Atrium Café.”
Lesson learned: ask the nurses first.
The Atrium Café — (4/5)
The nurses and doctors highly recommended this one. It had a made-to-order Mexican grill, which I described to Matthew as having his own little version of Branded Bowl, Chiloso, or Chipotle right there in the hospital.
He gave me his order, and I went to retrieve the food: queso, chips, and quesadillas.
It tasted great. Unfortunately, afterward Matthew got sick and threw it all up. We thought the grease from the cheese in the quesadillas was too much for him. Seeing that pretty much ended my lunch, too.
That was part of our reality. A meal could start as something we were excited about and turn difficult very quickly.
Everyone raved about the breakfast burritos, though, so let’s give them their props. We would see Dr’s in the am walking throught the Hospital carrying the breakfast burritos..
Starbucks Our Caffeine Headquarters
I have never seen a busier Starbucks in my life. At times, it seemed like there were 50 to 75 drinks lined up on the counter. A lot of nurses apparently run on Starbucks, and after watching how hard they work, I understand why.
We quickly learned to preorder at least 15 minutes ahead. The customer service was great, and it became our regular stop for caffeine.
Matthew and I spent many hours sitting in the Starbucks atrium, looking out toward the courtyard. We loved that spot. It felt like the hub of the hospital, with people constantly coming and going.
And for a 22-year-old single guy, the people-watching wasn’t bad either, if you know what I mean.
DoorDash also made its comeback. Jersey Mike’s became one of our go-to orders. Matthew would hold down our prime location and I would go retrieve our DoorDash Order.
Breakfast on Matthew
One of our favorite “hospital meals” did not come from a hospital at all.
Matthew would catch an early flight from Lubbock to DFW. I would pick him up, and we would head straight to Mother’s Daughter’s in Dallas.
That became our spot. We had so many conversations over those breakfasts.
Matthew would always pay with what he called his “EBT card.” Before anyone gets the wrong idea, he did not actually have an EBT card. That was his name for the payment cards he received through the clinical trial.
He would use them to buy my breakfast each week. He also used them at B-Dubs on Wing Wednesday to feed the boys.
That makes me smile. He was going through so much, and he still enjoyed picking up the tab for the people he loved.
Why Food
You might be wondering why I just walked you through decades of hospital meals, coconut cream pie, and my questionable decision to stop at McDonald’s while Jennifer was in labor.
As I look back, I realize how many of these memories are tied to sharing a meal.
Cheeseburgers with Memaw and Papaw. Waiting for Macie to arrive. Heading to the hospital to meet Matthew. Breakfast with my son before another appointment. Sitting beside him in the Starbucks atrium, watching the world move around us.
The Bible has a lot to say about food, gratitude, and gathering around a table.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 reminds us that eating, drinking, and enjoying the results of our work are gifts from God. In 1 Timothy 4:4–5, Paul teaches us to receive what God provides with thanksgiving.
Acts 2:46 describes the early believers sharing meals in their homes with glad and sincere hearts. They were building a life together, and eating together was part of it.
Jesus shared meals with people, too. In Matthew 9:10–13, He sat with tax collectors and sinners. Those tables made room for people others might have passed by. And in Luke 14:12–14, He encouraged people to extend hospitality to those who could not repay them.
Proverbs 15:17 teaches that a simple meal served with love is better than a feast surrounded by hatred.
I think about that when I remember our breakfasts in Dallas. I remember Matthew paying. I remember our conversations. I remember getting that time with him before the appointments began.
Some of the hospital food earned one star. Some earned five. But I am thankful for the time we had together while we ate it.
If you have the chance to sit down and share a meal with someone you love, take it. Put your phone down. Ask a question. Stay a little longer.
I would give anything for another breakfast with Matthew, even if it came with one-star
