Overview of Tech and Blacksburg

Colleges and Universities A-Z Virginia Tech
1

<p>We're going to end up with a lot of new people who just got in posting here pretty soon, so I'd like to get this started now so we have time for everybody to contribute. My idea is that everyone who's in the area basically just writes a little about the different food places in the area, different activities to do, etc. Less to do with the academics and more to do with the social scene. At some arbitrary point I'll condense everything into one thread that we can maybe get stickied or something. I'll start, hopefully what I type will be better than my awkward explanation above. Feel free to add anything to any of my or anyone else's comments. Discussion is encouraged too. I suppose whether or not this is a good idea will be decided by how much response we get.</p>

<p>Food-</p>

<p>Fast food in the area- Within walking distance of campus are a Taco Bell, a Subway, a Five Guys, a Jimmy Johns, a Wendys and a McDonalds. They're fast food so they're about the same as everywhere else. The only thing of note here is that if you've never had Five Guys and you like burgers it's great; I thought about not calling it fast food, but its right on the line.</p>

<p>Other food- Within walking distance of campus are several resturaunts. There is a Bogren's Steakhouse but I've never been there, so I can't say whether it is good or not. PK's is a great pizza place and they also have a bar. Mike's Grill is a really good burger joint that also has good pizza. There is a good Greek place down past the student center, along with a Vegetarian place, a Chinese place and a couple other small restaurants. There are also several good italian places including something that starts with a C that I just can't remember that is off at the intersection of Alumni road and Main street.</p>

<p>On Campus Food - VT consistently gets voted at or near the top for on campus food. D2 is a good all you can eat place, while Sultz is a not so good all you can eat place. Hokie Grill has a pizza hut, a Chick-fil-a and a barbecue place. Owens has an excellent sandwich place (get the Fantastic Frank or Blocked Kick, or any other sandwich really, they're all good) and decent mexican and pasta places. Theres more there including philly cheese steaks and General Tso Chicken but thats the places I usually go. The best food on campus, though, is at West End. It's the reason we get all those awards. Pizza and pasta are great, the burgers and quesadillas are great, the sandwiches are pretty good and the meat is pretty good. There's also DX which is basically fast food, and if they're making sandwiches those are usually pretty good. The pizza is ok, but they stay open till around 2:30 on weekends so you can get drunk enough to make the food taste good. DX is where drunk people go when they get back to campus. There are a couple other smaller dining areas I'm forgetting about but thats the bulk of it.</p>

<p>Anyway, thats just an example of what I'm talking about. It obviously doesn't all have to be about food. We can have entertainment, outdoors stuff, bars, whatever. Just anything you think people should know about Blacksburg and VT.</p>

2

<p>Nice idea chuy. Do you know how much a vegetarian meal plan costs?</p>

3

<p>There are two meal plans - the megaflex and the ....darn it, I forgot what it's called, something flex. There's no "veggie" plan, per se, you use the meal plan to pick out whatever you want to eat. The main point is that there are tons of options so you can be a vegan and not starve! The meal plans are listed on the VT site. You can upgrade (for more meals), but the plan doesn't roll over so you need to use it up by the end of the year. The flex plans are for those living on campus. If you live off-campus, you can do the Dining dollars plan, which lets you eat on campus at quite a nice discount.</p>

4

<p>I can say that the food must be pretty good as we has deposited extra money in son's flex account. He is eating well in Blacksburg! He is not a breakfast kid, but he says the dinners are great and many options for lunch. We didn't have to worry about him using up his flex dollars fall semester. Think spring semester we will go with the mega vs. the major flex.<br>
Husband and I ate at Bogen's during orientation and the food was good. They had a 1/2 price coupon in campus newspaper that we took advantage of. During move in, we ate a pizza place on Main Street and it was really good also. I don't remember the name of it, but we walked there from campus.
Had my first Chick-fil-a when moved son in and it was fantastic. We don't have them up north. Can't imagine how many calories are in those sandwiches, but I sure enjoyed it.</p>

5

<p>Do not buy the more expensive meal plan, because you can add money whenever you want to if you run out but it may not roll over to next year if you end up with too much.</p>

<p>They give out coupon books for the first few days, hoard them. Most of it is junk but theres a lot of $1 off subway sandwiches and, more importantly, free applications for apartments.</p>

6

<p>Then again, if you are a big eater like my s, do buy the more expensive meal plan. For fall semester, I think he went down to the pennies. And that was with double-dipping into his Hokie Passport as well. If S hadn't been such a big eater, I would have started with the majorflex (That's the name of the other, slightly smaller plan) instead of the megaflex.</p>

<p>Septmom, you get free and even bonus invisible calories when it comes to kid's college visits. Just one of the very small perks we parents get!!</p>

7

<p>Where are the best burgers? I've had five guys and I love it.</p>

8

<p>I think Mike's has the best burgers. West End's (on campus) are really good too.</p>

9

<p>Zimmer,
Happy New Year to you and the Zimmer family. Thank you for the pass on those Chik calories. You are right though, I burned a ton of calories moving son in during the 90 temps. last August.
Chuy, Hope your break is going well. Will try those burgers next visit-probably when we bring son home in May!</p>

10

<p>Zimmer, did you see where you can add onto the meal plans if you're running out? They have cash-to-card machines in west end as well as being able to do it online from my.vt.edu</p>

11

<p>D couldn't use up all her smaller meal plan (not a big eater). So she invited some friends to use it and they got lobster!</p>

12

<p>Happy New Year to all our VT friends here.</p>

<p>Thanks, Chuy, I did see that. He dipped into Passport funds for goodies to take to his room. We just decided last summer to try the first year on the megaflex and so far it has worked out just fine. Like I said, it helps to know what kind of eater/eating habits kids have. </p>

<p>Best burgers - Mike's</p>

<p>How about good and cheap barber shops in Blacksburg?</p>

13

<p>Hokie Hair or Hokie Cuts or whatever it's called down main street is where I go when I have to get a cut in Bburg. I tried "(Some name)'s Old Fashioned Barber" and I liked Hokie Hair a lot better.</p>