<p>@ohrly123
Only being here for a semester so far, I do not know everything there is about on and off campus dining yet, so this is only going to be a limited answer.
There are a bunch of different on-campus meal plans Upperclassmen have a few other options, but as a freshman there are really only 2 options. One is the value meal plan ($2410/semester), where I think you get 224 meal swipes per semester. The other is the unlimited ($2660/semester), where you get “unlimited” swipes, and $250 dining dollars. I wish there was a meal plan that was in between those, and I know other people share this opinion with me.
On campus dining is great quality-wise. UMass is ranked #2 by Princeton Review for best campus dining I believe. There are so many different options on campus. There are 4 dining commons around campus (Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester) that are relatively similar. They use meal swipes (1 swipe to get entry, then buffet style I think it’s called). They have a bunch of different stations such as pizza, sushi, grill, salad bar, latin food, asian food, pasta, dessert, a new main dish every meal, etc. This food is usually pretty good, and I rarely have complaints about it. Still, it is dining hall food so it is also not 5 star restaurant quality either. After a while you might get a little sick of it, but each dining hall has its own personality so you just need to switch it up sometimes.</p>
<p>There are also other on campus eateries. These take dining dollars (or debit, cash etc). These include Blue Wall (sort of like a mall food court with a bunch of different options, like sandwiches, asian food, gelato, etc. I have only gone once so I don’t remember everything, but there is a lot!), Baby Berk 1 & 2 (food trucks), and various cafes around campus that tend to have a different selection of items than the regular dining halls. </p>
<p>I have not been to many off campus places yet. However, there are many different types of food to eat in Amherst. There are pizza places, american, chinese, african, vietnamese, italian, mexican, persian, indian, french, ice cream, and chain restaurants. To be honest, I have only gotten pizza once (really good!), so I could not tell you how good the other food is or the cost or anything. But Amherst downtown is really close. It is in walking distance off campus, or you can ride the bus if you do not want to walk. Also, my friends like to go to nearby Northampton (which happens to be the home of Smith College, another college in the 5 college consortium). This is easy to get to by riding the bus. This is another cute little downtown, and there are a bunch of nice restaurants and shops there as well.
There is also a supermarket (Big Y) on the bus route. I have not gone yet, but I have heard nice things. I think it would be hard to cook for yourself in the freshman dorms (plus I think you are required to be on the meal plan as a freshman), but that is also an option.The bus system is actually really great and a lot easier than I anticipated. It takes longer than a direct car ride (it makes stops and stuff obviously), but it is still really convenient, and I do not feel like I need a car on campus (at least for now).</p>
<p>I hope this helped and let me know if you have any more questions!</p>