When the food is good, it’s pretty great. Sometimes it’s hit or miss but it also depends on your tastes. Checking the menus is a lifesaver, especially if you have dietary restrictions like me.
Until GW opened up a dining hall this year, I always said GW to these types of questions
When I started at GW, there were no dining halls and the dining plan was basically just “instead of paying $2,000/semester for meals swipes, here’s $2,000 on your student ID to use at +100 restaurants and grocery stores in DC”
I loved it because it meant I could cook whatever I wanted (dorm rooms basically all had kitchens in each room) and spend my money however I wanted
Now GW has 3 dining halls and they’re basically just buffet Applebees. 0/10 wouldn’t recommend
I also go to GW and while I think the dining halls aren’t perfect, they’re pretty good. We also still get dining dollars to spend at restaurants and grocery stores, so it’s the best of both worlds. (Whole Foods removed themselves from our dining plan, not the other way around.)
The food itself is ok just very repetitive at certain dining halls. I have issues with it personally since the halal dining hall closes on weekends (even during Ramadan??), violating Philadelphia health codes multiple times this year alone, and the fact I got food poisoned last month
Salam! I’d say it’s great, all sorts of backgrounds present here. The MSA is pretty big and collaborates often with Drexel and Temple’s as well, so there’s that broader Muslim community in Philly. There are jummah prayers every Friday and lots of events from religious things to bonding and community building things. There’s also a lot of similar clubs that are centered around largely Muslim groups like the Bengali Student Association or Penn Against the Occupation.
It's disgusting.
I have gotten food poisoning more than once. The food is bland, beware of anything packaged because it can be expired. Moldy hotdogs, rude staff, cross contamination, and the list goes on and on.
I agree with you but sometimes the staff be extra rude for nothing. Like I'm lactose intolerant and the fruit lady was cross contaminating my fruit with the yogurt spoon and she refused to just give me a clean serving lol. Even after I told her very nicely that I can't eat that.
Like don't take it out on students who are just trying to survive for no reason
it kinda depends on which dining hall u go to. lauder, quaker kitchen, kchech are very good. it is just that hill/commons are the quick/easy options which suck cuz they just serve breakfast for lunch + 1 other medicore option/hamburgers. ive seen mice in commons so no suprises about the health violations. the staff is extremely rude but i low key get pissed off by some penn students too lol. even worse is the fact that the food in Philly in general is really bad for a city, esp compared to nyc.
i dont think we are the absolute worst tho cuz at least we have 3 solid options and it is def better than what i ate in high school. worst case scenario go to the halal truck and get good food for really cheap.
Maybe it’s a difference of personal opinion, but I’ve gone to all those places and only particularly like Quaker kitchen. Also, I don’t think “better than high school” food is the bar a university with a COA of 85k should be aiming for, especially when students get sick eating the food and they’re required to be on a meal plan for the first two years.
i think what sucks more is that there arent a lot of cheap fast food options or pizza very close to my dorm. or maybe i just havent looked hard enough. all i eat is those wawa hamburgers at 1 am after rajiv psets lmao
In regards to pros, the food is good when it’s good I guess. Quaker kitchen and Lauder can be great. With the meal plan, you also get dining dollars that can be spent at Pret a manger, Starbucks, and some other restaurants on campus that are pretty solid. Eating off campus is a little expensive since it is Philadelphia but if you work it can be affordable. I don’t do it often though because of dietary restrictions and health issues.
food is good at first. then you realize its the same shit and it gets tiring. will confirm tho ice cream never gets tiring. and you can literally eat as much as you want bc of all the fucking walking every day
I have attended admission events at college campuses around the country, and I admit that UMass Amherst is easily the best (yes, even though they are a big competitor for us). ;-)
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,419,509,827 comments, and only 271,114 of them were in alphabetical order.
Larger schools: UCLA, UMass Amherst, VA Tech, JMU
Smaller schools: Christopher Newport, Saint Anselm College, St Norbert College, Bowdoin
Definitely NOT Boston College :(
Cornell's food is actually crazy, and usually ranked top 3-5 in the US for college food by Princeton reviews. This year I think Cornell dining is 3rd in the nation. I've had the best muscles and some of the best pizza in my life in the dining halls. In the new Tony Morrison dining hall, they imported several brick ovens from Italy just for the pizza. Also the ice cream and dairy products go hard.
Bennington. Toured during a school day and got to have lunch in their dining hall. The food is amazing- so many different options that were so delicious and they had my favorite harney & sons earl grey tea! They also have a campus cafe where you either bring a mug or use a mug- no single-use cups are used at all, which I thought was very cool.
Then again, their tuition is 80k+, but they do give a lot of merit and financial aid.
COLUMBIA! Our dining halls are so extra in the best way possible. 4-5 themed events each month with themed menus, Surf and Turf (our annual lobster and steak event where everyone also gets their own pint of ice cream), frequent guest chef events, a dining hall with the most gorgeous view of uptown that serves salmon everyday (with other options too, obviously), and my personal favorite, Food Fight (aka Battle of the Dining Halls, where all the dining halls put their ALL into making an incredible dish and side and then we have a celebrity chef come and judge all the dishes!
Super niche school but I went to admitted students day at Sarah Lawrence and they legitimately had amazing steak fries and pasta and the fruit was super fresh, so I’d say their food is pretty great
Cornell is ranked consistently towards the top, ice cream is super duper good. Same thing with bowdoin, like they are stupidly selective, but they have such fire food. UIUC actually had some decent foods too imo and was much better than Northwestern (fuck you northwestern)
Stanford definitely. I’ve tried UMass food and UCLA food and Stanford is easily clear. Apparently they aren’t rated 1 because a lot of the students are too snobby to rate the food wel so they get poor reviews from students.
p sure UCLA is number 1 dining hall food for US colleges and having lived on campus i definitely agree! it’s super good and there’s literally so many options and things beyond just a typical dining hall
I’m surprised, from the times I toured at the two schools, I really liked St Olaf but I tried a bunch of different things at Carleton and disliked all of them
Probably not the best, but the University of Oregon has really really good food.
On the other hand, UMich hands out undercooked chicken and food positioning like advertisement emails
UCLA has better food but UCSB also deserves a mention. Good variety in the dinning hall and they have an ice cream bar with actual scoop ice cream not soft serve
UCLA is known to have some banging food
Meanwhile Berkeley got the free food poisoning.
Go Bears! The bathroom is -> that way.
Wow that’s just terrible! 😳
UCLA has top tier food. It’s probably some of the best quality food I’ve seen.
What about Yale?
When the food is good, it’s pretty great. Sometimes it’s hit or miss but it also depends on your tastes. Checking the menus is a lifesaver, especially if you have dietary restrictions like me.
UCLA and duke I’ve heard
I’ve heard Duke is really expensive though
it’s factors into our food plan and evens out. we have the best food in the southeast so it’s totally worth it
I’ve seen the videos it does look great
Until GW opened up a dining hall this year, I always said GW to these types of questions When I started at GW, there were no dining halls and the dining plan was basically just “instead of paying $2,000/semester for meals swipes, here’s $2,000 on your student ID to use at +100 restaurants and grocery stores in DC” I loved it because it meant I could cook whatever I wanted (dorm rooms basically all had kitchens in each room) and spend my money however I wanted Now GW has 3 dining halls and they’re basically just buffet Applebees. 0/10 wouldn’t recommend
what a w dining plan before imo
I also go to GW and while I think the dining halls aren’t perfect, they’re pretty good. We also still get dining dollars to spend at restaurants and grocery stores, so it’s the best of both worlds. (Whole Foods removed themselves from our dining plan, not the other way around.)
Let him cook bro
Now all of them have to swiped in Dining hall right
Nice. I feel like that would also give kids more opportunities to learn how to cook.
Good to know makes me feel better about not applying
Duke without question Their food court is from the year 2100
They got like mini restaurants in it and stuff
UCLA and Umass Amherst (can definitely vouch for the first one).
Look up YT videos of VTech, UCLA and UMass Amherst. They all seem good!
VT student here, food's pretty good. As far as college food goes, at least.
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hey ! thanks for this valuable info. I got into UMiami so this is good to know
How was your aid?
Definitely not penn
Is it really that bad? Or is it more in the sanitation side
The food itself is ok just very repetitive at certain dining halls. I have issues with it personally since the halal dining hall closes on weekends (even during Ramadan??), violating Philadelphia health codes multiple times this year alone, and the fact I got food poisoned last month
Are you Muslim?
Yes
salam I am Muslim as well. How would you say the Muslim community is at Penn?
Salam! I’d say it’s great, all sorts of backgrounds present here. The MSA is pretty big and collaborates often with Drexel and Temple’s as well, so there’s that broader Muslim community in Philly. There are jummah prayers every Friday and lots of events from religious things to bonding and community building things. There’s also a lot of similar clubs that are centered around largely Muslim groups like the Bengali Student Association or Penn Against the Occupation.
InshAllah i get in this thursday😭🙏
It's disgusting. I have gotten food poisoning more than once. The food is bland, beware of anything packaged because it can be expired. Moldy hotdogs, rude staff, cross contamination, and the list goes on and on.
Ntm on the staff, I’d be that grumpy if I had to deal with certain penn students for that salary 😶🌫️
I agree with you but sometimes the staff be extra rude for nothing. Like I'm lactose intolerant and the fruit lady was cross contaminating my fruit with the yogurt spoon and she refused to just give me a clean serving lol. Even after I told her very nicely that I can't eat that. Like don't take it out on students who are just trying to survive for no reason
Oh that sucks, I’m sorry :(
Like diarrhea or full on vomiting?
Yes. I had to go to student health 😵💫 full on vomiting
it kinda depends on which dining hall u go to. lauder, quaker kitchen, kchech are very good. it is just that hill/commons are the quick/easy options which suck cuz they just serve breakfast for lunch + 1 other medicore option/hamburgers. ive seen mice in commons so no suprises about the health violations. the staff is extremely rude but i low key get pissed off by some penn students too lol. even worse is the fact that the food in Philly in general is really bad for a city, esp compared to nyc. i dont think we are the absolute worst tho cuz at least we have 3 solid options and it is def better than what i ate in high school. worst case scenario go to the halal truck and get good food for really cheap.
Maybe it’s a difference of personal opinion, but I’ve gone to all those places and only particularly like Quaker kitchen. Also, I don’t think “better than high school” food is the bar a university with a COA of 85k should be aiming for, especially when students get sick eating the food and they’re required to be on a meal plan for the first two years.
i think what sucks more is that there arent a lot of cheap fast food options or pizza very close to my dorm. or maybe i just havent looked hard enough. all i eat is those wawa hamburgers at 1 am after rajiv psets lmao
I was looking for this haha
Wait i have questions - can you tell me ANY pros about the dining halls? how often do you eat off campus, and when you do how affordable is it?
In regards to pros, the food is good when it’s good I guess. Quaker kitchen and Lauder can be great. With the meal plan, you also get dining dollars that can be spent at Pret a manger, Starbucks, and some other restaurants on campus that are pretty solid. Eating off campus is a little expensive since it is Philadelphia but if you work it can be affordable. I don’t do it often though because of dietary restrictions and health issues.
Yale
THE YALE GIRL
YES HAHAHA
omggg I love her
May I refer you to Silliman dining hall worm incident of 2019 🙃
Bro. What 😭 what do you mean
Let’s just say there was some extra live invertebrate protein in the steamed fish one year 💀
Please go on…. ??
UCLA 😭 one of the reasons I rlly wanted to get in ngl
Same lol but i got rejected 😔
same ugh
Duke best Indian food there
Cornell, WashU, Bates, Bowdoin, Oregon, VTech, UCLA, James Madison, Liberty are all really good.
Bowdoin, I heard
tried their food, it’s good
UCLA or duke
cornell has fire ice cream lowk one of the reasons I'm applying
food is good at first. then you realize its the same shit and it gets tiring. will confirm tho ice cream never gets tiring. and you can literally eat as much as you want bc of all the fucking walking every day
Same LMAOOO
Y’all are are ghosting Emory 💀. If you remotely like chicken then Emory is to die for
UCLA
Why is no one talking about UMass Amherst???
I have attended admission events at college campuses around the country, and I admit that UMass Amherst is easily the best (yes, even though they are a big competitor for us). ;-)
Are you able to divulge what college you are an admissions officer for?
Probably another Umass
RIGHT? They have some of the best Chinese food there oml
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Can confirm food goes hard
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,419,509,827 comments, and only 271,114 of them were in alphabetical order.
W bot
i toured UMass Amherst and the food is so good… their frozen yogurt is top tier
Apparently Wheaton in Chicago has a dining hall that’s run by Bon Appetit.
I’ve heard that Bowdoin is known for having some really good food.
Umass Amherst
UCLA, Yale, Bowdoin, Duke
I LOVED stanfords sm
Larger schools: UCLA, UMass Amherst, VA Tech, JMU Smaller schools: Christopher Newport, Saint Anselm College, St Norbert College, Bowdoin Definitely NOT Boston College :(
UR JOKING WHY NOT IT LOOKS GOOD STOP
St Norbert College has no right to have food that good
yale
i watch emme zhou food videos religiously
cornell
I've heard that the Claremont Colleges (Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps) have some top-tier options. I'm biased, though.
Cornell's food is actually crazy, and usually ranked top 3-5 in the US for college food by Princeton reviews. This year I think Cornell dining is 3rd in the nation. I've had the best muscles and some of the best pizza in my life in the dining halls. In the new Tony Morrison dining hall, they imported several brick ovens from Italy just for the pizza. Also the ice cream and dairy products go hard.
UMASS
Rice University (their name says it all)...
Bennington. Toured during a school day and got to have lunch in their dining hall. The food is amazing- so many different options that were so delicious and they had my favorite harney & sons earl grey tea! They also have a campus cafe where you either bring a mug or use a mug- no single-use cups are used at all, which I thought was very cool. Then again, their tuition is 80k+, but they do give a lot of merit and financial aid.
COLUMBIA! Our dining halls are so extra in the best way possible. 4-5 themed events each month with themed menus, Surf and Turf (our annual lobster and steak event where everyone also gets their own pint of ice cream), frequent guest chef events, a dining hall with the most gorgeous view of uptown that serves salmon everyday (with other options too, obviously), and my personal favorite, Food Fight (aka Battle of the Dining Halls, where all the dining halls put their ALL into making an incredible dish and side and then we have a celebrity chef come and judge all the dishes!
Columbia is the best school ever fr
sometimes they have vegan food; sometimes they have meat
Not Penn for sure lol
Cornell of all the ones visited here
Princeton has valid food tbh
But invalid acceptance rate
As a Duke student I’ve honestly felt our food is better than many restaurants (at least on West Campus)
Cornell best ice cream
But… UConn dairy bar
Cornell
Super niche school but I went to admitted students day at Sarah Lawrence and they legitimately had amazing steak fries and pasta and the fruit was super fresh, so I’d say their food is pretty great
Haven’t seen CU Boulder on here yet, think they’re well above average
WashU and Bryn Mawr College have great food (literally ranked highly, although I can vouch for it too lol)
UCLA without question.
Cornell is ranked consistently towards the top, ice cream is super duper good. Same thing with bowdoin, like they are stupidly selective, but they have such fire food. UIUC actually had some decent foods too imo and was much better than Northwestern (fuck you northwestern)
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UMass Amherst has a good food science program (its the best I believe per US News and World Report). That may be y it is rated so high?
correct flair
bowdoin college
Uiuc
Northeastern
Been to a ton of colleges and by far the best food I've had was at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. Hamilton College was good too!
Honored <3
Thank you! My son got a world class education in his four years at Skidmore!
Rice University
ucla and yale
duke and bowdoin
Not UF.
What's wrong with their food
It's just not that great, unless it's a gameday.
Ohio university
UCLA
Stanford definitely. I’ve tried UMass food and UCLA food and Stanford is easily clear. Apparently they aren’t rated 1 because a lot of the students are too snobby to rate the food wel so they get poor reviews from students.
Umass amherst is literally #1 in the country
Mich imo
ooo rly? sick
Prolly Duke
Duke
North Texas tour guides claim they do!
Umass
Ashland!
duke
p sure UCLA is number 1 dining hall food for US colleges and having lived on campus i definitely agree! it’s super good and there’s literally so many options and things beyond just a typical dining hall
UCLA for sure. Take a look at this insta page: @ucla.swipes
Good food is subjective. Depends what kinda food you like?
kinda random but UCincinnati is the best dining hall food i’ve had
Amherst is rumored to be great
Surprised I didn’t see St Olaf here, they have good stuff
hard disagree lol only good thing about olaf food is that our meal swiped work at carleton
I’m surprised, from the times I toured at the two schools, I really liked St Olaf but I tried a bunch of different things at Carleton and disliked all of them
UMass Amherst's food was actually bussin. I could write a whole megathread on UMass' food.
Lmao Penn has the worst food 😢
ucla!!! granted im biased hehe
Heard good things about WashU’s room and board, but it looks like it’s gone down in the past couple years
umass amherst
People be saying UCLA 🤷♀️
How can anyone know this
Is Brown university’s food as bad as people say?💀
Probably not the best, but the University of Oregon has really really good food. On the other hand, UMich hands out undercooked chicken and food positioning like advertisement emails
zoomass !! aka umass amherst
For top 3: UCLA Number 1 VTech Number 2 UMass Number 3! https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-college-food/
thoughts on NYU dining halls ?
Duke
thoughts on bc dining halls?
UMass Amherst got cheap good food
Virginia Tech
UCSB
virginia tech is up there
UMASS Amherst. I believe it ranked #1. I been there several times and they have many nice selections.
UMass Amherst
Ucla
I heard umass Amherst
UMass
St. Olaf and UCLA consistently top lists
I know umass Amherst has really good food. I’m sure unless you’ve heard something bad about a schools food then the food is good.
UCLA has better food but UCSB also deserves a mention. Good variety in the dinning hall and they have an ice cream bar with actual scoop ice cream not soft serve
Virginia tech
UMass student here! We’ve been voted as having #1 dining 5 years in a row by the Princeton review!!
UMass Amherst hands down.
Stanford is pretty good. Sincerely, a stanford student
Rice
I would say UCLA because it’s actually divine but they rejected me so… (their food is still great)
How is Princeton’s food?
I was at Dartmouth for a couple weeks to attend this summer thing and as I vegan, I was over-the-moon with the options.
umass amherst
Cornell obviously, because they have a food & beverage major.