Well, we
could eat before we arrive, but that's entirely to logical.

After all, this is the Hauppauge Robotics team. Logic has no place here whatsoever.
Essentially, at the height of the build time, some of us live on Chinese food and caffeine alone. It's quite effective, actually. As for building up a relationship with a local restaurant, well, lets just say by the end of the year, we knew the delivery person personally, didn't have to give directions straight to the robotics room, and our free stuff sometimes came in a seperate bag.
The meals do tend to be great places for conversation as well. Then again so does most of FIRST.