<p>For eating, the snack bar is super expensive and won’t get cheaper, but the quality may improve considerably once Bon Appetit takes over. Right now, most of the food isn’t awful, just limited in selection. They have some pseudo-gourmet burgers this year that are pretty good. Smoothies, chicken strips, and big cookies (OMG sooo good) are probably the most popular foods there. Salads and wraps are disappointing. You get a lot of “dining dollars” with your meal plan that you can spend there, too, so price isn’t as much of a consideration–your money has already been taken from you (or your parents), so you may as well spend it. Your dollars roll over throughout the year. First term here, you’re forced to have the 20 meal a week plan, which only has $75 dining dollars per term, but after that you can switch to the 12 meals a week plan, which has $275 dollars a term and you can eat at the snack bar all the time with that amount.</p>
<p>Other places for casual eating with friends: Goodbye Blue Mondays (cute coffeeshop a few blocks from campus, hugely popular with students and professors, very much a scene and you see people studying there all the time), Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar (new waffle joint, hope they don’t go under, unlimited coffee and good waffles and comfy atmosphere and wireless), and Tiny’s (hot dog joint that does 1/2 price hot dog happy hours every week and is also open late on Friday nights to feed the drunk crowd). For longer meals, Chapati is a great Indian place a block from campus and is most peoples’ go-to place for a nice weekend dinner with friends. There’s also the Rueb (serves great burgers and sandwiches though not super cheap), the Tavern (not as good as it should be for the price but you might want to mix it up, it’s mostly known for Sunday and Monday 1/2 price wine nights and the cheap Tavern special breakfasts), James Gang Hideaway (coffee shop/wine bar/bistro expensive food, not very popular with students), and Mandarin Garden (Chinese food varying widely in quality, but I do love the sesame chicken). There’s a bunch of pizza places around too (B&Ls and Basil’s are both decent) and apparently some hoity toity wood oven pizza place is going to open soon.</p>