<p>I just read the NY Times article</p>
<p>Latest</a> College Reading Lists: Menus With Pho and Lobster - New York Times</p>
<p>and now I'm wondering what the food quality and selection is like at WC. Any comments welcome. </p>
<p>(I heard there was an alumnae that donated unlimited ice cream and sundaes on Sunday?)</p>
<p>On the whole, the food is quite good. I remember complaining about it often enough, but that had more to do with frustration at not having more control over my weekly menu. Some dining halls are better than others (and the informal rankings change nearly every year), but you'll never be left without some option.</p>
<p>Each dining hall includes a vegetarian option, and there are plenty of carbohydrates (rice, noodles, potatoes, bread, etc.) Additionally, there's a meat-based dish (except in Pom, which is vegetarian and Kosher), at least one cooked vegetable dish, a soup selection, an extensive and typically well-stocked salad bar, a desert (or two), and then an alternative option. In some dining halls, the alternative might be a specially-prepared grill or pasta dish, it might be sushi, it might be build-your-own-soup, it might be something else entirely. But it's different every day and offers nice variety.</p>
<p>Some dining halls have specific restrictions. One is peanut-free. One is veggie/Kosher. One has more health-conscious meals (less frying, more baking). The other three are standard dining halls. You'll get coffee, tea, soy and rice and regular milk, at least three kinds of fruit juice, and a regular assortment of soft drinks in each of the halls. Lunch time always includes a sandwich bar, and ice cream (at least three varieties, including a sherbet or sorbet) is available at all times. Sundae Sundays are, indeed, a real thing. The alum donation part might be urban legend (there was some debate about this when I was a student), but it's fun no matter how the money got there.</p>
<p>Current students can offer insight into the new campus center. It opened after I graduated, but everyone seems to be pleased with its food options.</p>
<p>I think the food is decent/good. It is certainly better than at at least one other college that I visited. I don't think it is in the super-special range, but is better than the vast majority of colleges. As ringer said, there's a decent amount of complaining, but then who doesn't like complaining? :) One thing I REALLY like is that we have an unlimited meal plan--no swiping to get in, no counting of meals, no nothing. You just totter down to the dining hall whenever you like--be it for a meal, or for cereal, or for a cup of Diet Coke, or whatever. Obviously the dining halls only serve hot food at meal times, but you can go down and have a snack whenever you like. Another thing that I like about dining on campus is that the majority of the residence halls have a dining hall in them/connected to them on the inside. So the vast majority of students do not have to go outside to eat if they don't want to. </p>
<p>As far as the campus center goes, it has a coffee bar/small convenience store and also it's own dining hall. The campus center dining options are a little different--you have to "spend" points to eat there. The meal plan comes with 200 points per semester. A point is basically worth one dollar. The food is very reasonably priced--I wouldn't say it is incredibly cheap, but it is not overpriced. I like having the campus center as a dining option; it's open late and always has good normal food (burgers, pizza, stir fry, etc.) if the dining hall food is unappealing. </p>
<p>It is true--we always have Ice Cream in every dining hall. We also have "Sundae Sundays", where they set out special toppings (although, honestly, besides the fudge sauce and caramel sauce that they only put out on Sundays, the other toppings (whipped cream, chocolate chips, M & M's, etc.) are basically always available during the week).</p>
<p>When I visited it was pretty good, but not outstanding. I would avoid the fat free frozen soft served yogurt, though. That wasn't so good. I was very disappointed to recently learn that another college I'm interested in replaced their soft serve ice cream with that stuff. If you're going to have dessert, it needs to be fattening, not fat free!!</p>
<p>But one thing that amazed me was the ice cream. :) That was yummy!</p>
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I would avoid the fat free frozen soft served yogurt
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<p>There's soft-serve on campus? Where?</p>
<p>Isn't there soft serve frozen yogurt in the Lulu? I remember having some when I visited.</p>
<p>Perhaps there is some in the campus center! I haven't been in there enough to know for sure.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don't like the Lulu soft serve that much. It's never hard enough and the machine is perpetually broken. The current flavors involve weird fruits. It was chocolate and vanilla before, but I don't usually get soft serve. Honestly, the hard ice cream in the dining halls is much better. I'm a little sore because the campus center took juice out of the soda dispenser and won't bring it back. Currently, there's oodles of ice cream bars left over from Wednesday's baseball theme lunch in Bates and it's brilliant.</p>
<p>I'm pretty happy with the quality of the food. Some dishes aren't so appealing, and occasionally there will be a string of them for one meal. My friends hate the food and get pasta every night. I'm satisfied with the entree usually. It depends on how much you are willing to be flexible. Life isn't perfect. Sometimes the meat is too tough or the fruit got picked over, but where else do you get to have 21 buffet meals a week? I have also tried an amazing number of new foods in college inside and out of the dining hall and ... I like them.</p>
<p>OMg the food is amazing! I just came back from the Spring Open House and ALANA weekend!! all the did was feed us!!! Thursday night there was a chocolate fountain!!! and it was greatttttt and there is ice in everyyyy dorm building!!! and cookies and tea alllll the time. O0o and might i add that the cookies are soft always!! yup yup if its food u want its food you'll get!! lol </p>
<p>Towers and Bates have some of the best foods. And you can eat at any dorm building you want as long as you have you meal card!!! YAY!!!</p>
<p>Trust me...every Wellesley College student thinks that the food is AMAZING on Spring Open Campus days and when the dining halls are being evaluated. Things go quickly downhill the rest of the time.</p>
<p>I thought the food was okay for Spring Open Campus. I doubt they'll have a chocolate fountain for us every day, haha. But wow, that chocolate fountain was amazing....<em>drools</em></p>
<p>Do many students decide to cook? I didn't get a chance to really look at the dorm kitchens that well so I'm not sure if the kitchens are good or not.</p>
<p>I randomly went to visit in November and we ate at the campus center, I think it was. Coming from disgusting high school plastic cafeteria food, it was like gourmet cooking, basically. I was impressed. </p>
<p>For all the Wellesley students out there--can you elaborate on what's wrong with the food? I certainly didn't see any drawbacks, but I was also only there for one meal and in one place. :-)</p>
<p>I mostly eat in Cazenove, where I live, so I can't speak for the other dining halls, but one problem I have with Caz is that its food seems too... heavy, I guess is the word. Even though they have vegetarian options, the vegetables are usually slathered with some sort of sauce, cheese, or cream (same goes for the meat). I feel that the food choices aren't as healthful as they could be, but whatever; I've had much worse at other colleges. </p>
<p>But the campus center food is awesome. I spent all of my fall points last year by October.. hahaha :)</p>
<p>The Campus Center is not part of the regular dining plan. So unlike the rest of the dining halls, it is not an "all you can eat" option. You get a certain number of flex points per semester to spend on food in the Campus Center dining area and the convenience store. Once your flex points are up, you can either pay to add more or beg your friends to cover meals for you.</p>
<p>Ahh, I see. Too bad I ate at the campus center, I guess that was a bit misleading. I stand corrected! </p>
<p>How many dining halls are there, and do they serve different meals on any given night? Do people usually stick to one place every day or is there some variation?</p>