<p>Strange question, but does UF have any dining halls which are the traditional “school cafeteria” type (either buffet or ordered meals) rather than fast food chains? If so, where are they? My daughter is probably attending next year. She did summer programs at two colleges last year and really preferred the dining halls that had a more “home cooking” style, rather than the fast food chains. For one thing, she is a vegetarian, and most fast food places only have one or two veggie options on their menu, which is fine if you’re only going there once in a while. But you can’t eat the BK veggie burger or the Wendy’s baked potato every day for a year.</p>
<p>She’s going to be in IA, so she’d live in Beaty. Is there a cafeteria for meal plan that is somewhere near Beaty? This would probably affect what kind of meal plan we would get for her because, if there are only the fast food places nearby, we’d probably get a smaller plan with the idea that she’d cook for herself in Beaty.</p>
<p>My son is in IA. We insisted on the meal plan for the first semester (unlike other schoolds, it is not mandatory). We are glad because although Beaty has a kitchen in each suite, keeping up with dishes is not always a priority, and having the meal plan kept him out of those issues with the roommates. </p>
<p>He got the 7 day week plan, which works out to about $115 per week for unlimited meals. Its kind of like the Lido deck of a cruise where they have unlimited dining, but like anything else, it grows old. We ate there with him once and found it clean, good basic food and lots of options.</p>
<p>I think he plans on going off it, but we will let him decide. You can always eat there without the meal plan, but its a lot more expensive.</p>
<p>Meal plans can be viewed at the Gator 1 Central website. Broward dining is the closest dining hall to Beaty, and it’s slightly better than Gator Corner Dining (near Tolbert). I wouldn’t recommend a meal plan unless your child plans on eating there for almost every meal, since they cost a lot individually. I had the 7-day Plus meal plan, but quickly switched to declining balance, because I can spend the money at an restaurant, store, or dining hall on campus. The balance also transfers between semesters, unlike Flex Bucks. I started at the end of August 2012 with almost $2000, and have $460 left until the end of April. I never once added any additional funds.</p>