On Tuesday, I was given the opportunity to sample some of the new menu that will accompany the radical new renovations to the building. Aside from the video menus, a promise of breakfast at times that aren't breakfast (arguably the bet kind of breakfast) as well as a much more expansive menu than the Kate and Willy's we used to know, Lackmann has done its best to stray from the usual burgers and fries mentality that it was plagued with in the past.  This is not to say that cheeseburgers are a bad thing, but three years of the same fried food tends to grow old after some time.

  Water, Malt, Yeast, and Hops.

  Together, these fabulous four ingredients create beer, the 6000 year old fermented beverage. However, the college world usually sees beer in a different light: a cheap, buy by the bulk, watered down way to get buzzed. Names like Budweiser, Coors, and Natural Ice (aka Natty Ice) are household names when it comes to beer, but they were nowhere to be found at the Spring Craft Beer Expo at Nassau Coliseum.

Sometimes a menu item sounds so wacky that I absolutely have to order it. If this scenario sounds familiar, then I'm sure you empathize; how could I simply turn down the ‘Red Velvet Poppy Seed Pound Cake French Toast' at Shopsin's? I didn't.

Gentle Brew's coffee shop, a quirky addition to Stewart Avenue that's not too far from the Hofstra campus, prides itself on serving fresh coffee with an authenticity you're not going to find at the local Dunkin Donuts.