<p>Ive been hearing that the food at SLO is pretty awful all over the place and was wanted to hear directly from some of you who would know</p>
<p>also are there healthy options because i try to maintain a rather strict diet</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>My older daughter is a sophomore at Cal Poly and has managed to find healthy food options in SLO. She is a vegan so doesn’t eat meat or dairy products. Her first year she was required to purchase a meal plan so she had to eat at least 8 meals/wk on campus. She ate from the salad bar, or got hummus and pita or vegetarian sandwiches from various eateries on campus. On Thurs nights there is a great Farmer’s Market in town to get fresh produce - fruits, vegetables, good natural/organic stuff. She also loves shopping at New Frontiers natural food market or Trader Joes. For restaurants there is the Natural Cafe, Oasis (for mediterranean food), and several other good healthy places in town. Don’t worry - you can find good food in SLO!</p>
<p>My daughter managed to find plenty of healthy options as a freshman last year. Just go with the Freedom Plan so you’ll have more Plus Dollars to spend on campus. That way, most of your meal plan won’t be spent on complete meals on one plate. Instead, you can be creative and put together your own meals with food items you prefer. Or take stuff back to your dorm room fridge. My daughter usually had bowl of cereal in her dorm lounge every morning.
They now have a all-you-can-eat option at one of the eateries. My daughter doesn’t want to do that because she’s afraid it will just make her gain weight. :)</p>
<p>that is good to know thanks for the replies</p>
<p>however i was wondering more about the quality of the food because thats what I heard was rather subpar (im talking on campus here)</p>
<p>are there vegan options</p>
<p>The food is definitely subpar. Freshmen that live on campus are required to have a meal plan. If you live in the dorms, your best bet if getting the plan with 8 meals/500+ plus dollars. You don’t have a choice if you live in the apartments (8 meals/week, 200 plus dollars/quarter). The meal food is pretty disgusting, except if you go to Einsteins, which is pretty far from the dorms. However, the food you can get with plus dollars is a lot better. There will definitely be times where you want to not eat because the food is disgusting, but farmer’s market and the weekends is like heaven because the food around the area is good.</p>
<p>As for the vegan options… They’re limited. Almost every place has a salad bar or has pre-made salads, but that’s about it…</p>
<p>thanks for the advice walwal</p>
<p>My kid is doing just fine. He did mention that the food isn’t as good as at home. But, what college food is? Anyway, he has found a great place for breakfast burritos on campus and now makes them for himself when he comes home. Next year he will be in the campus apartments at Cal Poly Village (where Einstein’s is) and will cook his own food.</p>
<p>^^ Exactly. It’s just one year. You won’t starve. 
My daughter is a sophomore in PCV and has really enjoyed buying food at places like Trader Joe’s and Food Maxx and is learning to cook healthy meals. Sometimes she and her apt. mates will pool their resources and make one meal together. My daughter will occasionally buy a sandwich or something on campus between classes.</p>
<p>^^ Yes, won’t starve is an understatement. My son’s biggest problem with the freshman food plan is that it is actually too much food and he is having problems using up all his credits. So, what may be lacking in perceived quality is made up for with volume. I’ve eaten on campus numerous times and it is basic cafeteria food. Not bad, sometimes a bit heavy, but filling and gets the job done. I can see how it would get monotonous. Yet, what school has gourmet meals every day? On weekends take a free bus ride or take your bike into SLO and enjoy numerous healthy restaurants with food from all over the world (Thai, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Mexican, etc.). One thing that I can say is that Cal Poly food sure beats out the UofA, where I went to undergrad (30 years ago!). My MBA college didn’t even offer decent food.</p>
<p>Don’t eat there!! I did a surprise check in on my son at Cal Poly and when I visited him in his dorm he was sweaty, had bloodshot eyes and was vomiting everywhere! He told me it was because of the bad food at the cafeteria.</p>
<p>^^ I hope you’re being facetious.</p>
<p>As a current freshman, I have to say that the campus food gets a lot of undeserved flak. Yes, the dining locations here aren’t about to get a Michelin star any time soon, but it’s not the end of the world. The problem with campus dining isn’t the quality of the food (which is fine), it’s the variety of it. The menu pretty much does not change year round, and most of my peers have gotten bored of it. The foods here are pretty high calorie, but the choice to gain weight or not is still all your own. There are numerous salad bars and healthy options available, and the chefs will even personally cook a meal for you if you ask them to. Personally, I live in the apartments, so I have the meal plan with 200 plus dollars and 8 meal credits a week, and it is more than enough. I cannot think of a single person who will not have left over plus dollars at the end of the quarter, and most people do not use all of their meal credits before the end of the week. As of right now I have $150 plus dollars left with one week of instruction before break.</p>
<p>So to sum it all up: don’t worry about quantity or quality, worry about variety. Also, the breakfast burritos around campus are probably the tastiest option, and eat the chocolate muffins!</p>
<p>matark – great summation for the OP. You are spot on. 2Leashes – yup “dutroll” is being a ■■■■■. They even chose a name that identifies themselves as one. Funny!</p>
<p>OKAYY. So i got into SLO. I also got into Pomona. I called them both today and they told me to log in and check and surprise! So. even though there aren’t vegan options, i still wanna go!</p>
<p>Congrats!..</p>