Best campus food

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people so lazy as to believe that Harvard doesn't have hot breakfast when it's incredibly easy to confirm the opposite.

Belgian waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage.

https://www.dining.harvard.edu/weeks-undergraduate-menus

The majority of Harvard halls don't have a full range of hot breakfast options.

According to this, only two halls offer full hot breakfast but they added warm breakfast sandwich options this fall for all dorms:
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/9/10/huds-menu-changes/

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/11/7/huds-hot-breakfast-union-petition/

Yes, freshmen are the ones who consistently get decent hot breakfasts daily. Why on earth would only two upperclassman dorms, out of 12, have some hot options. I wonder if those are the two where athletes are concentrated. Warm breakfast sandwiches was the concession for the rest? We are talking about a filthy rich university. It's embarrassing how little they care about UGs, across the board. My kid, at a far less wealthy school, has an array of pancakes, waffles, omelettes or other egg dishes, breakfast meats etc. daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think kids choose Harvard for the food.

A PP made that point. Harvard allocates little to dining because that doesn't affect its bottom line. The wealthy students can pick up or doordash whatever they want.

Yep. And the poors would sleep in tents and eat gruel if the outcome was a Harvard degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke alum. The new dining area (I think it is called the WU) is beautiful and offers lots of diverse options.

However, I am old fashioned and don't think one goes to college to eat expensive sushi and the like. Keep it simple, stupid. Food should obviously be edible and relatively healthy with diverse options to cater to different needs and tastes. But this facility is just another example of the ridiculous arms race schools are in on less important areas while continuing to jack up tuition every year and now lay off employees. I know there are concerns about affordability.

I miss the days of the Rat, the CI, ordering in Subway, Domino's, Wild Bull's, etc.

+1, Duke alum here, and you just made me nostalgic for Wild Bull's and the Oak Room!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^the food was and is awful. Zero excuse for cold continental breakfasts only! Does any other college do that??

Absurd that one can attend the most prestigious university on the globe (and one of the most expensive) but can't get a gat dang omelette.

Malcolm Gladwell writes about this conundrum in one of this books. Basically, colleges have to balance providing good food versus providing financial aid. If economic diversity (e.g.) is important to the school, the school will favor pitting its resources towards attracting through scholarships the student body it wants versus funding the cafeteria.

[Anonymous]

*putting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^the food was and is awful. Zero excuse for cold continental breakfasts only! Does any other college do that??

Absurd that one can attend the most prestigious university on the globe (and one of the most expensive) but can't get a gat dang omelette.

Malcolm Gladwell writes about this conundrum in one of this books. Basically, colleges have to balance providing good food versus providing financial aid. If economic diversity (e.g.) is important to the school, the school will favor pitting its resources towards attracting through scholarships the student body it wants versus funding the cafeteria.

Flagships are cheaper and likely naturally attract a diverse student body, so they can point their endowment to food (like UMass does).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^the food was and is awful. Zero excuse for cold continental breakfasts only! Does any other college do that??

Absurd that one can attend the most prestigious university on the globe (and one of the most expensive) but can't get a gat dang omelette.

Malcolm Gladwell writes about this conundrum in one of this books. Basically, colleges have to balance providing good food versus providing financial aid. If economic diversity (e.g.) is important to the school, the school will favor pitting its resources towards attracting through scholarships the student body it wants versus funding the cafeteria.

That was his premise, but it was false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^the food was and is awful. Zero excuse for cold continental breakfasts only! Does any other college do that??

Absurd that one can attend the most prestigious university on the globe (and one of the most expensive) but can't get a gat dang omelette.

Malcolm Gladwell writes about this conundrum in one of this books. Basically, colleges have to balance providing good food versus providing financial aid. If economic diversity (e.g.) is important to the school, the school will favor pitting its resources towards attracting through scholarships the student body it wants versus funding the cafeteria.

This doesn't really make sense. You can factually have enough money to have good financial resources and good food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^the food was and is awful. Zero excuse for cold continental breakfasts only! Does any other college do that??

Absurd that one can attend the most prestigious university on the globe (and one of the most expensive) but can't get a gat dang omelette.

Malcolm Gladwell writes about this conundrum in one of this books. Basically, colleges have to balance providing good food versus providing financial aid. If economic diversity (e.g.) is important to the school, the school will favor pitting its resources towards attracting through scholarships the student body it wants versus funding the cafeteria.

That was his premise, but it was false.

It might apply to some schools, but to the richest college in the world? Nope, not buying it. If every other Ivy can manage hot breakfasts for all students on weekdays, so can Harvard. They choose not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This NYT article about sushi cited the Princeton Review ranking for best food, with UMass Amherst at #1.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/dining/america-sushi.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Here’s the full list:

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/?rankings=best-campus-food

Anyone have personal experience with the food at these colleges?

My DD is at UMass. We were visiting there recently and I can personally confirm that it is very good.