Food at Columbia

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>I was wondering what the food was like at Columbia. I’ve heard negative things about John Jay(I think that’s where all first years dine?). Obviously, you can get great food elsewhere in NYC, but how often does a student typically do this? Doesn’t it get expensive? In summary, my questions to current students are:</p>

<li><p>What’s the food like at the dining halls?</p></li>
<li><p>How much food do you eat in the dining halls? How much do you eat in outside venues/ordering in?</p></li>
<li><p>How expensive does it get eating out for everyday meals vs the dining hall?</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>
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1. What's the food like at the dining halls?

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</p>

<p>This has been done so many times. Do a search. For me, JJ was inedible. I never went. What a waste of money to be forced to buy it.</p>

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[quote]
2. How much food do you eat in the dining halls? How much do you eat in outside venues/ordering in?

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</p>

<p>I generally ate lunch at one of the on-campus eatries (Uris Deli, Hartley Deli, etc.) using my dining dollars. Dinner I either ate out or ordered in from a local place, and went to non-local restaurants generally on the weekends.</p>

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[quote]
3. How expensive does it get eating out for everyday meals vs the dining hall?

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</p>

<p>You're forced to buy the meal plan as a frosh, so it's a sunk cost. Thus, any amount you spend eating out is pretty much costing you money.</p>

<p>Is eating out having 2 slices of pizza at $1.50 each? Or Masa for $450+tip/tax? It's kind of a "duh" thing, but eating out is as expensive as the food you buy.</p>

3

<ol>
<li>What's the food like at the dining halls?</li>
</ol>

<p>it's definitely no cornell, but comparable to food at other urban college dining halls, it isn't great, it is however bearable once in a while, many people hate it like C2002, but it really isn't half bad if you're creative and eat different sections of what they offer, lots of variety, little quality, much repetition. compulsory frosh meals are good because eating with people is a great way to make friends and gives everyone a common place to meet/talk.</p>

<p>"2. How much food do you eat in the dining halls? How much do you eat in outside venues/ordering in?"</p>

<p>bigger meal plans make sense if you're an athlete or very physically active and eat a ton, for such people the meal plan is a bargain, i'd say most non athletic freshmen eat at the dining hall 5 times a week - very rough. on campus eateries are good also, because they're tax and tip free. eating out or ordering in for lunch makes a lot of sense because lunch menus at off campus restaurants are a steal. So in my experience the average freshman eats 2 - 2.5 meals a day, during the week one would be at dining hall, the other at a campus eatery, and on the weekends most people eat out. many order in during the week also.</p>

<ol>
<li>How expensive does it get eating out for everyday meals vs the dining hall?</li>
</ol>

<p>the meal plan is around 10-13 dollars a meal, which after tax and tip is about the same as eating lunch and dinner outside, but lunch from a restaurant near campus can be anything from $5 to $10 (or more if you want), dinner is usually $10-20, (or $450 at Masa). Outside food tastes better and you have more options, but it can be more unhealthy. The cheapest option for non athletes (and many athletes) is buying groceries and cooking - this is what many upper classmen do - this requires both time and some skill. cooking yourself can be as cheap as $3-$5 a meal. </p>

<p>So basically there isn't a straightforward formula, there are pros and cons to each, and students find their own balance of eating out, cooking, meal plan, campus restaurant, street food carts.</p>

4

<p>the quality of questions on this board is so low right now i cant even get myself to write something as snide as this post deserves.</p>

<p>i mean really, 151 posts and 32 threads from the OP? I know he knows how to use a search function.... <em>sigh</em></p>

5

<p>Food at Columbia is okay at best. Harvard, Dartmouth, Vassar, and a few others do a much better job. The best food imo is at Faculty house, but its hard to get people to go there. Luckily there's a Chipotle on 110th.</p>

6

<p>I got bored of john jay about a month in - the problem is you're eating the same thing every single meal because the entrees (or whatever it is they change everyday) are usually horrendous. they do offer good meals here and there, but at ~13.50 a meal on plan 4, i can't help but feel horribly ripped off at being forced to buy a meal plan the first year.</p>

7

<p>read the threads about Food that are linked in Skraylor's "Helpful Columbia Threads" thread, stickied at the top of this board. seriously.</p>

8

<p>I second that, it seems everyone posts, including you hundreds of posts that you personally have posted. It's good to ask questions all the time, because threads die out,</p>

<p>the only problem is that your question is not so much general but its like ur just comparing columbia dining to john jay v. eating out. Eating out is almost always better, there are some many restaurants and competition. If you only have a 20 minute lunch break, then that may be a problem.</p>

<p>Just go to Columbia's website and see the dining information you don't need this post or "SKRALOY'S COLUMBIA ADVICE threads" , Im a bit into food a little bit, so if you want to pm me if you found a good place esp neighboorhoods below morningside and harlem, let me know.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
Just go to Columbia's website and see the dining information you don't need this post or "SKRALOY'S COLUMBIA ADVICE threads" , Im a bit into food a little bit, so if you want to pm me if you found a good place esp neighboorhoods below morningside and harlem, let me know.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>this whole post makes no sense.</p>

<p>i somewhat see that you are trying to help this board by offering an outside opinion but when you are wrong, that opinion doesnt contribute to the overall knowledge of the board. </p>

<p>also, please stop with the thread necromancy. thanks.</p>

10

<p>Maybe you can do a poll in the Columbia Forums, maybe here in college confidential and ask students in Columbia what they think of the food.</p>

<p>You can place your questions in the poll, and whoever wants to comment fine, but not everyone has time to comment, but people are willing to take quick polls.</p>