Dining wasn’t an issue for my 5, all very adventurous eaters, 2 celiac. One of my daughters loved eating sushi and gf paninis on a regular basis and had no idea why students complained about food (although to be fair, it was mostly the parents). None of mine had dining plans after sophomore/junior year, some missed the ease of eating on campus, others greatly preferred to shop and cook. Not much talk of college students starving, back in my day students tended to gain weight due to terrible food so unhealthy diets of fries, ice cream and cereal.
I would say it wasn’t really important except for the one school where the food was downright awful. There were other factors that didn’t make this school a good fit but it was the only school where food made the con list.
Variety was most important to my D. She loved that food trucks and restaurants took meal swipes if she was getting tired of dining hall food.
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100% not a consideration for any of my three sons. And they were 100% fine.
If any had food allergies then it would be a consideration.
What would be “safe foods”? (For my education) Thanks.
Definitely one consideration, as well as presence of a kitchen in the upperclass dorms. Between 2 equal colleges could be the deal breaker.
Aramark tends to be the worst, Sodexo it depends, Bon appetit is reliably good, and you can now find college kitchen with real chefs&trained assistant cooks, locally sourced food sources, etc, which tend to be best as it’s mainly made fresh&onsite.
Access to a few brand restaurants with swipes or even better an agreement with local restaurants, food trucks, willingness to take student ideas all pluses.
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the specifics depend on the person, but for me ARFID presents as extreme pickiness, so basically just foods that i enjoy eating consistently. so like cheese pizza is one of the foods i’m consistently willing to eat/an example of a safe food. mostly the problem is if all the dining hall serves are foods i don’t like/don’t really want to eat, i end up skipping a lot of meals; am currently working with a dietitian on this.
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Well, back in the '90s the denizens of the Southeast dorms at the University of Wisconsin – Ogg, Witte, and Sellery – had two nearby choices under the same roof: Pop’s Club and Ed’s Express.
Pop’s Club was the “sit-down” spot offering daily entrees, salads, burgers and sandwiches. There were tables and booths for seating.
Ed’s Express was the takeout joint offering primarily subs, nachos, pizza, and ice cream.
I utilized both frequently and was rarely disappointed. Occasionally I’d grab a Paul Bunyan burger over at the Union, a few blocks north of my dorm, and devour it on the Terrace. It was like a really, really good Whopper with cheese.
When money was burning a hole in my pocket, I’d run down to the Nitty Gritty for a burger, La Bamba for a burrito as big as my head, or to Big Mike’s Super Subs (now Milio’s) or Cellar Subs (no longer exists) for elevated sub sandwiches. The latter three were on State Street.
The best pizza we knew about was Pizza Extreme, which still exists; in fact, they’ve expanded since I was there 25 years ago.
Gumby’s was the discount pizza place – back then you could get a 16-inch 1-topping pizza for like $5.99.
ETA: To actually answer your question, I was choosing between Beloit College and UW-Madison, and coming from a family of Badgers the choice was pretty easy and not at all affected by the respective food scenes. But while at UW, I was delighted at the food options and quality – both the campus joints, Pop’s and Ed’s, and other nearby options not affiliated with the university. I live to eat, so if the food had been subpar/meh… the overall experience would have suffered.
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Thank you 
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A bit off topic, but we had a thread a few years back about food insecurity on campuses and how hidden the issue is. It made me realize that I often went hungry because I had no money to buy anything outside my meal plan which covered lunch and dinner (in my dorm only) Mon-Sat and brunch on Sunday, no breakfasts, so I ate 13 meals a week with nothing between brunch on Sunday and lunch on Monday. That’s it. I didn’t give it a thought because it just wasn’t an option to eat more. I do remember using studying as an excuse to avoid going out with people who were headed for pizza or burgers. My BF (now DH) was as poor as I was, so we found other things to do. We just didn’t focus on food back then, and it wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is now.
I’m glad our CC students are faring better.
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Logistics (a very important aspect of the military that often goes unnoticed) at its finest.
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I am seeing that episode from Band of Brothers when they are wolfing down the spaghetti and “catchup” and loving it (before being forced on the run up Currahee). I guess it is all relative!
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Given youngest DD experience: at small residential campuses with mandatory meal plans all 4 years and only 2-3 places to eat speak with students. Often it looks fine at the visit (better variety on open house days…)
DD now cooks for herself without kitchen in the building. You have no idea how difficult it was to reduce her meal plan. She literally refused to eat 3 meals a day there and she is not picky eater…No guarantee she will have that next year.
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I do not have comparison point, but maybe because of prices for food the main staple for Bon Appétit this year is pork. If it is not pork, it is catfish… We do not even keep kosher but we do not eat either. So DD has 0 options except crappy salad. She said she can’t see rice and potatoes anymore because that the only thing she ate the whole year…And now we are learning that she should not eat them due to some health issues just discovered. So her food court options are slim to none…
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I guess this suggestion is on topic! Speak to the dining hall folks. Very often, they are able to come up with alternative meals for students who have health issues. It’s worth asking!
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Did it… they are useless. Promise a lot, deliver nothing. Chaplain warned them about Passover too. They ignored her. Chaplain was furious.
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It wasn’t for us, though my DD noted the schools with only fast food food courts and didn’t like those. She ended up a school with very well regarded dining halls (A+ on Niche) and ate well. She even did a partial dining hall plan after she moved off campus.
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I was in the same boat. The only reason I was ever able to eat ordered pizza or go out for it…I worked for the owners of one of the pizza and bar chains in my college town…and they were very generous to their employees. If I wanted to…I could make a pizza to take home every time I worked…and I usually did.
Like my kids, I worked in college, but my work money was paying my tuition…not ordering carry out anything.
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Also not 100% guarantee, but Niche ratings (based on students’ reviews) look accurate to me. At youngest DD food is C, dorms C- (terrible freshman dorms), safety C etc. I agree with every single rating.
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The school that my D thought was horrible is rated an A on niche so I’d take those ratings with a grain of salt 
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This is absolutely terrible. Don’t they have vegetarian options at least? Stir fry stations? Omelet stations?
Did you look at detailed ratings by categories?
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