Is it true that college food is really nasty?
Depends on the school.
True, it does depend on the school. My university has some cafeterias which are ok, but it also has chain restaurants on campus which are up to par with what they produce across the country.
Dining halls tend to get poorer reviews than say other eateries on campus that will accept dining hall points. That being said, UCLA’s dining hall food is pretty danged good. For most dining halls, I’m sure there are some things kids tend to avoid and some that are go-to’s.
My kid at one of the Clatemont schools was pretty happy with the food. They could go to the dining halls at any of the 5 campuses, and sometimes did. Fresh fruit smoothies on one campus, good sandwiches at another.
My kid is very happy with her school’s food. It can really vary. You can get a pretty good idea by using the website niche.
I agree with @intparent. My D is very happy with the food at the Claremonts. She regularly eats on 4 of the campuses.
I’d recommend going on the Princeton Review and College Niche if you wanna see some campus foods reviews. Like the others say, it all really depends on the school. I go to UMass Amherst (which is ranked #1 for food on the Princeton Review), and I’ll tell you right now, the food isn’t bad at all. On the contrary, many of the local restaurants in the surrounding area lost a ton of business once they revamped the food here because no one would bother going out to eat anymore since the food on campus was already so good (pretty sure there was this petition or something going around a couple of years ago because of this). Anyways, for the most part, college food can go from being just decent to very good. I’ve never been to a college before who’s food was as bad as high school lunch quality, so it can only really go uphill for you food wise.
Not good.
Bon Appétit is known to be one of the best college food service providers. My daughter goes to a school that uses them, and the food is pretty good. My husband and I have eaten several meals with her there and we found everything to be pretty tasty, fresh, and visually appealing too. My daughter is only complaint is that it can be a little repetitive. This is probably due more to the fact that she goes to a small school with one dining hall and only a few other options for meals. I find her complaint sort of funny considering that when she lived at home she ate almost the exact same thing for breakfast and lunch every single day!
From my experience with college 30 years ago and my D’s colleges today I can say it has improved a LOT! There are far more choices and cuisines. I agree with another poster that students can deem it rather repetitive. Meats and fish can be a bit overdone as there is no way to economically and expediently serve to order. It’s still cafeteria food so much of ones opinion will depend on what they are used to.
Thanks a lot for all the replies