My kid just graduated as CS Engineering so I can’t say specifically about the Mech engineering lab.
With respect to food, VT on campus dining is rated very highly and there’s a ton of different choices (including chain stuff). There’s a good amount of off campus choices too.
My kid was pretty busy doing school stuff or clubs most of the time, but there’s lots of outdoor stuff to do. Great hiking and tubing on the New River when it’s warmer. Blacksburg is a small college town, but Christiansburg is close and Roanoke is ~20 minutes away. Still not the big city, but more options.
HTH!