So my kid has the bad habit of eating a late night meal, around 11pm every night (he sleeps around 2am). At home, he obviously has choices to either cook something, microwave a TV dinner, or drive to Jack in the Box or equivalent. None of these choices will be available in dorm life come the fall. (I doubt if you can fit more than one TV dinner in those small rented refrigerators). The worst part is that all the dorm cafeterias are closed by 9. Ramen noodles I would prefer him not to get used to that too much.
Anyhow, just wanted some suggestions on late night food places not too far from the dorms. I dunno, Foothill to Euclid Ave seems like a bit of a hike, especially climbing back up with food in your hands. Wandering up and down Telegraph on foot late at night doesn’t seem to be a good idea, if he ends up at the Units or Blackwell. Any ideas on delivery places without the $5 or $6 delivery charge?
Haha was just over at Abe’s yesterday! Didn’t know it opened that late. My kid loved the place when it was Blondies. Hate the area though, too many weirdos strolling around there even in the daytime. Not sure what it’s like late at night.
Asian ghetto and everything else is open until midnight or 1. Its college. Everyone goes to sleep late. Businesses are prepared. Some of Caldining is open until 11. Also, you can get a microwave attached to a fridge and freezer (all three, 108$ to rent for academic year). https://caldining.berkeley.edu/locations/semester-hours
Crossroads and Foothill used to have Late Night to 2:00am, but then they cut back to 11:00pm. There were protests (of course). And then I thought I saw some post on UCBMFET that said it’s back, but maybe I misinterpreted it (or it was wishful thinking on someone’s part). There are other on-campus or off-campus venues that take the meal plan, but they are on a 1 point = $1 basis (vs. the all-you-can-eat at the dining halls).
They totally raised the price of housing this year by 1,000-2,000 dollars, but that new meal plan is spot on. It does somewhat force you to eat at the dining halls by using swipes instead of points mostly, but 12 or 19 swipes a day makes it so that people won’t be running out of points at the end of the semester or having too many. If you get 19, no one wakes up for breakfast anyways so you’ll be able to get a third meal at 10:30 pm if you want to, or whatever works. Even with the 12 swipes, those flex points are enough to cover the other 2 meals a week that you’ll need. You don’t know how good you have it. We used to have to actually be careful with how we spent our meal points.
We got the 12 swipes per week standard plan. He’s at Blackwell which means he’ll have to run across the street to Cafe 3, or forage somewhere else. He’ll definitely have the fridge/microwave combo and electronic kettle since he’s handy with his frozen meals and ramen. I guess he’ll figure things out. Hopefully he’s smart enough to drag his friends along if he intends to head down Telegraph or downtown late at night.
Nothing like a midnight Top Dog run. It’s open until 2.am on weeknights and 3 am on weekends. A hike from Foothills, but not so bad from campus, especially the south side.
If you want him to get healthy snacks, I’d suggest to him to stock up on foods like nuts (pistachios, almonds, walnuts), cheese, avocados, fruits, eggs and beef jerky. When you’re on a budget, most deliveries will very likely succeed in extinguishing your hunger, but very few will meet your nutritional needs. I’m a student-parent, so I totally understand your concerns!
We occasionally shipped a package to D with granola bars/bags of trail mix, etc. Saved her a trip to TJ’s. Make sure your kid and roommates rent a fridge/microwave and he stocks up on stuff if the late-night options are minimal. Also, never underestimate the college student’s ability to source free food, be it Caltopia, club meet-n-greets, dorm events, etc. My D is doing a paid internship this summer. What got her excited? They fed the interns twice on their first day! You would have thought she’d won the lottery :))
Parents: Don’t get the tiny boxes that get randomly sent with a few snacks that are really overpriced from Berkeley OCM. Barely anyone else will have them and they’re totally not worth it (though I admit they’re cute and nice to get). Instead, Amazon has basically the same food gift packs/care packs for cheaper, with more food (although you will have to actually go and buy them separately, not just in a big one time bundle). Unexpected snacks are always welcome.
Also, take advantage of all of the cheap stuff that you get with a college email from Amazon Prime to Spotify/Hulu (5$ a month to get them both). Plus, cheap food, movies, etc.