MIT Food

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
21

<p>MIT’s dining webpage will answer many of your questions. You can even find menus at the different dorms, including availability of special menu type foods (e.g. kosher, halal, vegan): [Home</a> page | MIT Campus Dining](<a href=“Dining | Division of Student Life”>http://dining.mit.edu/)</p>

22

<p>Dorms that require you to enroll in a meal plan:
Baker House (W7)
Maseeh Hall (W1) – requires a 19-meal plan (~$5000), has B/L/D and brunch/dinner on weekends. Most others don’t offer lunch, I think?
McCormick Hall (W4)
Next House (W71)
Simmons Hall (W79)</p>

<p>Dorms that don’t require you to enroll in a meal plan:
Bexley Hall (W13)
Burton-Conner House (W51)
East Campus Alumni Memorial Housing (Buildings 62 and 64)
MacGregor House (W61)
New House (W70)
Random Hall (NW61)
Senior House (E2) </p>

<p>In New House, there are some floors with cooking co-ops where you split the cost of groceries/cooking/cleaning schedules with a few other people which comes to something more like $200 a month (rounding up here), which is less than half the price of the meal plan.</p>

23

<p>Maseeh is the only dorm that offers lunch, and all other meals (including weekend brunches) are offered at all dining halls. This menu - <a href=“http://www.cafebonappetit.com/menu/your-cafe/mit/cafes/details/398/the-howard-dining-hall-at-maseeh[/url]”>http://www.cafebonappetit.com/menu/your-cafe/mit/cafes/details/398/the-howard-dining-hall-at-maseeh&lt;/a&gt; - might help in planning where you might want to eat.</p>

<p>Also, I think those who live in the Pi Beta Phi house, which is on campus, are also required to enroll in a meal plan, but the house does not have a dining hall.</p>

24

<p>My daughter is a foodie and her intention is to cook for herself. I’ll probably stock her up on non-perishable foods when we drop her off. Kind of like living in a submarine. Eat your way to the floor.</p>

25

<p>Are the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s within walking distance, or can you get there easily via public transportation?</p>

26

<p>The MIT shuttles run to some locations regularly. I know for some of the further out stores (Target, Somerville area), there are biweekly shuttles on Saturday.</p>

27

<p>I’ll note that, if you’re on the dining plan, you can go to any dining hall.</p>

28

<p>

Trader Joe’s is walking distance from west campus, and Whole Foods is just a little further up. There’s also a Star Market supermarket that’s quite a bit closer to most of campus – within walking distance for everyone. And there’s a Whole Foods near Mass General Hospital, one stop away on the Red Line, that I suspect might be a quicker trip for east campus folks than walking/T-ing to either of the Central Square WFs.</p>

29

<p>So I’m not on a meal plan (East Campus), and here’s what I’ve noticed:

  1. I got a couple of free meals at the dining halls, and the best comparison I can give you quality wise is Golden Coral (alright, but not particularly good) scaled back to 1/5-1/8th of the size (specifically I ate at Masseh, my lettuce was acidic)
  2. It costs like $14 a meal, which is ridiculous for the so-so quality. I know people who eat out for every meal instead for cheaper (lots of food options in the student center).
  3. Every freshman on my floor who was on a meal plan is getting off ASAP.
  4. Cooking is a wonderful destressor and not actually that inconvienient. I like to have easy stuff on hand, but I haven’t touched a ramen yet.
  5. There is a produce market every Tuesday that’s cheaper than everywhere else
  6. There is free food everywhere! Trust me, you will not starve if you’re not on the meal plan.</p>