TOWERS OR FORBES honors HOUSING

pandem
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:18:34 +0000

The meal plan works like this.

You can buy dining DOLLARS, which can be used in numerous places.

A few examples:
Quickzone (convience-type store in Towers)
William Pitt Union: A bunch of eateries (my personal favorite place to spend dining dollars)
Einstein’s Bagels: in Posvar Hall and Benedum Engineering Building
Petersen Events Center: Burger King, Salad place, Smoothies, Sub Connection
etc.
Starbucks and Chic FilA in the Cathedral of Learning.
etc.

Then there are Dining PASSES, which essentially let you eat buffet-style until you leave.

There are only 2 places like this;
Market Central (in Towers)
The Perch (in Sutherland Hall).

The food isn’t as good but you’ll have to eat there eventually. Also, Market ToGo gets you a sizable portion of food for one Meal Pass, which you can take with you.

The meal plan I’m on is 50 Dining Passes and $950 dining dollars. Ideally, you should try to have more dollars and less passes, unless you really like Market Central. No matter which plan you get, dining PASSES are required. (50 is the minimum for Freshmen).

All in all the food is decent. It’s kind of hit or miss in terms of particular items; the burgers at The Perch are pretty good, as are the wraps. Market has a pretty good stir-fry place, and their omelets are good as well. Ice cream is surprisingly good as well.

I’ve got some time, so I’ll describe every food station at Market, for those who may be interested.

When you walk in, you can go to the left, right, or straight.

To the left is an Italian place, with pasta, pizza, wedding soups, and so on. Pizza is kind of greasy; haven’t tried the pasta or soup. There’s also 360, a stir-fry with various vegetables, rice, noodles, and a choice of meats (steak, chicken, a couple others.) Beyond that is a salad bar.

Straight ahead are burgers, chicken, french fries, and omelet station, a waffle-maker, and cereal.

To the right is a long counter with the “special of the day” so to speak. Usually pretty good, and it varies greatly from day to day. There’s also a sandwich counter, fruit, soups, and a ton of desserts (cookies, muffins, ice cream, coffee, tea, etc.)

Keep in mind that most of these places change their menu everyday; while there’s always burgers, sometimes you’ll see chicken, sometimes hashbrowns, etc.

All in all I’d give Market a B. It’s pretty good if you get the right thing, but the food available via dining dollars is much better.