Each weekday at precisely 10:54 a.m., students spill out of the doors of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, thanks to the miracle of open lunch. For the next forty minutes, students are free to enjoy the delicious advantages of being located near the heart of Bethesda.

For about 25 percent of students, lunch is all about McDonald’s. With the smell of fresh french fries surrounding the restaurant and notoriously low prices, it’s unsurprising that the hang out bulges with B-CC students each day.

Also popular with students is A-1 Cafe. This buffet-style restaurant offers a wide selection of everything from bagels to orange chicken and allows customers to purchase it by the ounce.

Near A-1 Cafe lies the Bethesda Gourmet Deli, known to students as “The Secret Deli” for its hidden location inside the Bethesda Towers. As expected, it serves sandwiches, burgers, soups and other deli favorites. I continually go there to buy its amazing curly fries, which are well worth their relatively high price.

Farther down East-West Highway rests a strip of common lunch places—Starbucks, Booeymonger and the newly-opened The Perfect Pita.

Booeymonger boasts a vast assortment of sandwiches and salads, including make-your-own options, but also offers a surprising amount of other choices. Inexpensive bagels, frozen yogurt and milkshakes compile some of the unique elements of the menu.

Diverse is a fitting word to describe the options at The Perfect Pita. The Mediterranean-American restaurant offers an array of pizza, pita sandwiches, falafels and even salads. It also has an excellent selection of vegan and vegetarian options.

For a lunch alternative, many walk to Smoothie King. The infinite list of mouthwatering (and extremely filling) smoothies is also popular with B-CC students.

For those of us blessed with cars, friends with cars, or a really fast walk, the opportunities expand.

With flavors like Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter Fudge and Cookies & Crème, it’s unsurprising that the Bethesda outpost of Georgetown Cupcake is wildly popular with students.

To escape the steep price of each cupcake, many students ask for the “flavor of the day” cupcake, which is posted on the Georgetown Cupcake Facebook and Twitter pages. The first 100 customers to ask for the flavor get the cupcake for free. Not only is this cheap, it's also a great way to try the not-on-the-menu flavors. (White chocolate raspberry anyone?)

Right across Georgetown Cupcake are two other popular lunch places—Bethesda Bagels and Sweetgreen.

Bethesda Bagels offers probably the best bagels in Bethesda at only $1.10 each, making it a common student lunch place.

Right next door is healthy hot spot Sweetgreen. Featuring locally grown, organic salads as well as fat-free frozen yogurt at only 80 calories a serving, it’s the perfect restaurant for the health-conscious.

For those of us willing to indulge, The Burger Joint is an obvious pick. Burgers, fries and milkshakes compose this mecca of flavor. It also offers some unique selections, such as asparagus fries and tuna burgers.

The best thing about food, and eating in Bethesda, for that matter, is its infinite variety. What's your favorite place to eat in Bethesda? What's your regular lunch stop?

The Bethesda lunch rush break-down: