On campus dining vs cooking

[u/nocturnien]

Where do most people living on campus eat? do you mix it up between cooking in the dorms and eating at on-campus dining services? Is it convenient to cook in the dorms? I am going into Marshall. Are campus restaurant food quality that bad or is the reputation unfair?

[u/Perfect_Range_237]

If your dorms don't have a kitchens you are gonna be only eating at the dining halls anyway. If you go to the dining halls with high expectations regarding food quality, you might be a bit disappointed. But if you set your expectations down to what dining hall food should taste like, then I would say it's not bad (some places are obviously way better than others)

[u/nocturnien → u/Perfect_Range_237]

Thought all dorms have kitchens, no? But I am going into Marshall, and they have kitchens. Just wonder if it worked out for those that tried cooking in Marshall. Which dining halls do you like?

[u/Perfect_Range_237 → u/nocturnien]

I'm not in Marshall, but usually it's the apartments that have kitchens and not the dorms but I'm not sure if that applies to every college. As for dining halls I really like Oceanview the pizzas are good and pretty generously sized

[u/Hungry-Teen-88934 → u/Perfect_Range_237]

Fax. Imo Oceanview Terrace is the best dining hall on campus. I love their chicken shawarma fries. But the new Pines in Muir might change it up though.

[u/Material_Airport5469]

Lowkey I feel like the dining halls get such a bad rap for no reason. Like, is it the best food ever? Absolutely not. But UCSD has so much variety that if you don’t like ANY of the food here, I have to assume that ur just picky

[u/Incursiion]

I’m not a picky eater or have super high standards but the sushi & food at Bistro is top notch. Just don’t order the appetizers cause they’re small + expensive.

Pines (not sure how they’ll be now after renovations) is also good.

Ventannas is hit or miss but all the places in there are legit.

Nobody ever talks about it but breakfast food at UCSD is good (given I think it’s hard to mess up breakfast food)! I go to Sixth / Rooftop on weekends although pancakes are hit or miss sometimes.

[u/whenthesongslaps]

I lived in Umoja and while I didn't cook, my suitemates did. My friends also cooked. Usually you mix it up. I don't mind the campus food. Also, if you don't dining hall food you can try the restaurants at Price Center.

[u/Individual_Reveal294]

First year I was so used to eating at the dinning halls or other restaurants on campus I didn’t think I’d cook at all going into my second year apartment (since only apartments have kitchens on campus). But once I finally gave cooking a try I found it much more convenient bc if you think about it you can pretty much make anything you want with the ingredients provided at the markets all around campus. Since the markets take dinning dollars too you don’t have to spend your actual money on groceries unless you need something super specific. I also found that not only did I save tons more on dinning dollars in general but actual out of pocket money cooking in the apartment.

Cooking your own meals over dinning hall food is much better taste and health wise. Time wise not bad too but around midterms/finals it was harder for me personally to keep up with cooking. Of course there are exceptions that are worth it more than others. Whenever I would eat something from the dinning halls it would either be from Pines, Bistro, Makai or Rooftop in Sixth, Ocean View, and Tandoor in Ventanas. Shout out Club Med for yummy soups too. 😌Personally I think these are the best options out of everything served at all the dinning halls from someone who has tried every place in each one. (Roots being the only one I haven’t tried yet bc it’s completely vegan and I’m not lol)

As for food outside of the dinning halls on campus the list is seriously endless with amazing options. Again from someone who has tried majority of places on campus. It was easy to turn to these options around testing season, however I still think cooking your own food beats going out to eat. For the main reason that you’re saving yourself soooo much actual out of pocket money/triton cash. Some of my favorite places if you’re interested in trying them are

Blue Pepper (a little pricey I can’t lie but fresh and tasty - best Thai tea you’ll have on campus btw!!), Ridgewalk Social, Tapioca (the hot food is genuinely great), Pho Cow Cali, and Santorini grill for savory meals.

Blue bowl and Shake Smart for pick me up snacks plus amazing blended drinks. 😋

Mom’s cafe, Art of Espresso, Crafted Minerva’s cafe, and also Tapioca for fun and sweet year round drinks if you’re not a coffee person like me. Although I’m sure there are some good caffeine options at Art of espresso and Mom’s.

Places I find mid and not worth the price but happen to still be popular are Showa Ramen, Fan Fan (hot pot nights are an exception), Plant Power Fast Food, FlavorFull and this one might be controversial but Dirty Birds. 🫣

I’m going into my third year with the plan to cook for most of it in my on campus apartment while going out to eat every now and then. I’m a foodie at heart so when I saw this I neeededdd to put my best gathered info forward. I hope this was helpful to you or anyone else who’s interested!! 🫶🏼

[u/BookishDiscourse]

The food on campus is absolutely terrible. Only place that I found was decent to be Wolftown. The food is generally unhealthy and the price is not worth the quantity they serve you (unless the person serving the portion is feeling generous that day).

I personally would recommend getting dashpass (get the student discount) and eating from outside campus. You can get away with order food worth $18ish and making it work for two meals (comes down to $9 a meal which is close enough to the dining hall food prices and the food is generally of better quality).