One of the most important factors students think about when deciding which colleges to apply to: where is the best college food? Clearly, this is a very important aspect of your life on campus, and it pays to fully understand your dining options. This post will offer helpful information about how to think about campus catering, and what sorts of questions you should be asking as you investigate the culinary possibilities.
A campus visit priority: test for the best college food
Do you plan to eat in a campus dining hall during your college visit? Maybe you should! Students, and parents, are increasingly paying more attention to the food options on college campuses. As families decide where to send their students to college they are no longer just considering a school’s offering of a particular major, location, or physical beauty. They are also considering how well their student will be fed on campus.
When visiting colleges, take the opportunity to have at least one meal–maybe two–while on campus. While most students will be paying for their meals with their campus IDs (which double as debit cards at most schools), you can pay with cash or credit card. Money is money!
Our favorite meal on campus is dinner, though most families only stick around campus for lunch. Why is dinner a better meal? Because students tend to be more social and relaxed at dinnertime. They have finished their classes and labs for the day, students are coming off the sports fields showered and ready for a meal, and many are getting ready for the evening’s activities (which probably includes studying, but probably other things like music rehearsals, club meetings, and visiting lecturers). Dinner is a good time to observe the social scene. Lunch, on the other hand, is often all about business. More students dine alone, staring at their books, checking their schedules, making appointments to meet up with peers, or just downing some food to keep things moving through the afternoon.
And breakfast? Forget about it. Lots of college students simply skip it: they don’t get up early. And if they do have some breakfast, it is usually on a “grab and go” basis.
Campuses compete to offer the best college food
College officials pay attention to how students perceive campus meal offerings. They know that students (and their parents) are paying a pretty penny for campus dining, and administrators want to be sure that they are offering value for money. As American palettes and priorities change, campus officials and catering companies want to provide what their customers–the students–want. Campuses are making sure those “foodie” needs are being met. Colleges are offering nutritionists, accommodating allergies, and focusing on a green dining movement. In addition, colleges are supporting students who choose to be vegan, vegetarian, and eat organic. Essentially, colleges are keeping up with what the students want.
Many colleges, including the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Community, have moved to a restaurant concept. Today’s students are excited to see fresh and healthy options in the dining halls. While students will tell you that eating healthy is extremely important they also crave variety. To meet those needs some schools are offering up everything from sushi to burritos while still keeping those dining hall staples such as burgers, pizza, and macaroni and cheese on hand.
Campus dining: a corporate affair
Most students and families don’t realize it, but only a handful of corporate catering companies serve the vast majority of meals on college campuses. Some of the biggest national names in catering serve hundreds of campuses across the country. These include Sodexo and Aramark. One smaller company, Bon Appétit, prides itself on serving quite a few of the top universities in the country, as well as many of the most exclusive liberal arts colleges. The fact is that colleges can actually save money by delegating the responsibility for managing numerous dining outlets to a single company.
So if you have a meal on campus that you either liked or disliked, remember that it is likely that the catering company serving grub on this campus is probably the same company serving students down the road (or three states over).
Just because a campus is served by a corporate catering company doesn’t mean, however, that the food will be bad. Even when managed by a single company, there are likely to be several different kinds of food outlets on campus (e.g., a sandwich shop, a coffee shop, a late night snack shop,, as well as the full-service traditional dining hall. Some campuses, as mentioned, might also have restaurant concept outlets or food courts.
Further, larger campuses might also operate franchises of other corporate restaurant companies, such as Starbucks, Taco Bell, or Domino’s. In these places, at least, you’ll get exactly what you expect from these global restaurant conglomerates. And you’ll be able to pay for the meal with your student ID (thanks, mom and dad!).
How do you know it’s the best college food?
The problem in going to the dining hall on your campus visit is that it can be hard to know whether the meal you are being offered is typical. So you might ask yourself, “is the food always this mediocre, or am I just hitting it on a bad day?” After all, menus change all the time and your meal may or may not be representative.
To find out, ask. Whether you are loving or hating what you’re eating for that particular meal, ask some other students questions about their own dining experience. Here are some questions you might ask.
- What do you think of the food here?
- How often do menus rotate?
- What sorts of things are offered at every meal?
- Are dining administrators responsive to student requests and feedback?
- Have you noticed an improvement or a decline in the quality of food services, or has it pretty much stayed the same since you started as a student here?
- Where else do you go to get food on campus?
- Which cafe or restaurant or cafeteria offers the best food on campus?
Special dietary restrictions
If you’re vegan or vegetarian, you might want to gather more information about the dining options. Similarly, if you suffer from Crohn’s or celiac disease, you might want to have a conversation with the dining manager, or at the very least talk about your dietary concerns with an admissions officer. Also, if you have dietary restrictions related to your faith (e.g., kosher or halal), ask. Again, because campuses compete to offer satisfying and nutritious meals to their students, the odds are that they are thinking about these special circumstances, too. When in doubt, ask.
The best college food: a summary
Food is an absolutely critical aspect of the college experience. You’ll likely want to sample the fare while you’re on the campus visit. But do keep in mind that any food establishment meant to serve hundreds if not thousands of customers every day is unable to offer unlimited variety. No matter where you go to college, you’re likely to experience the fact that dining on campus can become fairly routine. After all, meals are provided not just to tickle your tongue but to nourish you through all those papers, exams, labs, and problem sets you have to do. And if you’re ever in need of a special treat, you can always investigate the off-campus dining options!
Trying to decide which college campus is right for you?
The expert college counselors at Great College Advice can help you navigate the college selection process. Whether food or anything else is your priority in choosing a college, our admissions consultants can help you find the colleges that fit you best. Give us a call or contact us for a free consultation.
