The Village Liaisons at Seton Hall are creating a Zagat-type guide of South Orange establishments for the fall semester's incoming freshmen.
"We hope to have our guide, The Blue Orange, distributed in all of the orientation packets distributed to incoming students," Jessica Renner, a student who is organizing the guide, said.
According to Renner, Village Liaisons will be working with Freshman Studies to achieve this goal.
Since it is the first year the guide is being offered, Renner said it will be "pretty straight forward."
She said the guide will include sections on the Freshman Studies program, Seton Hall, the SHUFLY, other campus services and reviews of local restaurants.
According to Renner, the restaurant reviews will be based on "food, price, distance from school and overall quality."
Currently, only Village Liaisons members have written reviews, but Renner hopes University faculty and South Orange residents will be able to contribute to the guide "soon."
"Our ultimate goal is to have a guide that will be distributed to the incoming class every year with information about restaurants, stores, services and other exciting events at Seton Hall and in South Orange and neighboring towns," Renner said. "Our hope is that this guide will encourage more students to venture into town and take advantage of the opportunities around the school."
Junior Bryan Izquierdo is a fan of the idea.
"It's like a guideline to what's the hotspot basically," he said.
Izquierdo said Village Liaisons should add The Gaslight Brewery & Restaurant, which is located on South Orange Avenue and the Village Diner, located on Sloan Street by the train station.
"The Village Diner is the best diner," Izquierdo said. "All the food there is fresh. I would definitely give that a five, honestly."
Sophomore Franchesca Gonzalez said she likes the idea of a Zagat-type guide for University students. She said she would like the authors to add Stony's to the guide.
"Stony's is really good," Gonzalez said. "You can even eat outside [there] when it gets nicer."
Stony's is located on Sloan Street, near the train station. It offers hamburgers, hot dogs, salads and several sandwiches, according to its menu located on the Stony's website.
Renner added the guide will be available for all Seton Hall students on the Village Liaisons website. She did not give a date for publication.
Jessica Card can be reached at jessica.card@student.shu.edu.
