<p>Warning: The information most useful for you in the first paragraph and the last two paragraphs. The rest is a ton of other useful information. I warn you, I could have written more - this is me showing restraint.</p>
<p>Meal swipes are only usable at six locations (I’m pretty sure this is comprehensive, but it’s completely possible there is some obscure exception I am forgetting). Three of them are dining halls (located in the Stetson West and East dorms, and in International Village), one is a restaurant run out of the basement of Churchill Hall (Rebecca’s), another is a restaurant on the bottom floor of the student center (West End), and they can also be spent at Outtakes, which lets you buy a certain number of snacks or microwavable meals with you meal swipes. The dining halls are all buffet style. Rebecca’s is technically a la carte, but if you use meal swipes, you’re limited to picking from certain meals which aren’t terribly flexible. At West End, a meal swipe will get you whatever the entree is that day (I can’t remember if they sometimes have multiple entrees or not, I don’t go here often), a choice of 2 out of around 4-5 sides, and a drink. </p>
<p>Generally, West End is the least busy, but that’s generally because the food isn’t great - not terrible, just average. Rebecca’s is much smaller than any of the three dining halls, and is generally very popular, so it can be very difficult to get a table, though it’s helped that most people just get their food to go. Lines are generally worst when waiting for sandwiches (which are quite good), and for the grill, while entrees (pretty good), chicken finger baskets, and pizza (subpar - it looks better than dining hall pizza, but it just doesn’t taste very good) are all pretty quick to grab and get out if you’re in a hurry. Depending on the time of day, Northeastern’s dining halls can all get quite busy, however, I’ve only seen them get full to the point of it being impossible to find a seat rarely. Dining Halls are probably a better deal for your meal swipes as they’re all you can eat, and if you have an afternoon that you were going to spend studying anyway, it’s possible to eat lunch, then study there till dinner time, and only use one meal swipe (I’ve never actually done this, and it isn’t terribly common, but there are no rules against it). </p>
<p>The Dining Halls vary somewhat in their selection, but generally there is some overlap. All three serve pizza. Stetson East (formally named Levine Marketplace, but nobody calls it that) and International Village have grills which generally turn out Burgers, Chicken, Hotdogs (IV will generally offer some kind of specialty burger). All three have salad bars as well. Stetson East probably has the best salad bar overall, though Stetson West and IV have decent setups, though at IV you have to deal with the annoyance of having someone else assemble is for you. IV (and recently, Stetson East) offer some special kind of salad on a daily basis. All three dining halls offer soup (The Stetsons offer the same two soups on any given day, while IV generally offers Chili, Chicken Noodle, Udon, and some fourth soup which also changes. Also, the chicken noodle soup in IV seems to be made with whatever kinds of noodle and chicken they have extra of, which is kind of nice as it adds a bit of variety to it. For that matter, while it’s less obvious, the vegetables in the chili change too). All three also have sandwich bars, IVs is pretty easily the best, though the line tends to be long, while at the Stetsons, it’s generally nonexistent. IV and Stetson East have Omelette bars which are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and while the cook time is only ~10 minutes, if anyone is ahead of you in line, you might be in for a decent wait. All three also have desert stations, which mostly have cookies, cakes, etc. IV and Stetson East have frozen Yogurt Machines (or is the one in East ice cream? I can’t remember), and fruit bars as well. </p>
<p>Aside from the above, Stetson West’s only other features are it’s cheese/bread/sauce station, which is kind of weird, but if you like bread and cheese… they have bread and cheese, and the stir-fry bar, which is the main reason people eat there. Basically, you pick your vegetables, meat, and sauce, and they’ll prepare you a stir fry. However, generally, the wait is pretty significant if the place is at all busy. If you eat at Stetson West during orientation, you’ll probably want to give it a try, but pay attention to how long the wait is. </p>
<p>Stetson East, has a pasta bar (the pizza is kept here), and a general bar, in addition to the above.</p>
<p>International Village has two general bars (though one is usually partially devoted to pasta, while the other almost always has rotisserie chicken in addition to other things. It also has an Indian food bar, and a Sushi bar. The sushi bar is pretty cool if you like sushi, but the portions are pretty small, and sometimes they run out of one option, which generally leaves the mediocre vegetarian option. There is also a dedicated vegetarian bar, which is one of the few things in IV (along with the french fries and fruit bar) that are serve yourself, though if you want falafel or a veggie burger you have to ask. </p>
<p>Breakfast is about the same wherever you go. Eggs, some kind of breakfast meat, potatoes, french toast, etc. I think everywhere that serves breakfast has waffle makers, but I might be mistaken. Breakfast is generally not very busy, but lines sometimes still form for omelettes. Rebecca’s is open for breakfast, but has a relatively limited selection - the only non-grill option is a parfait. </p>
<p>Stetson West has the shortest hours - it never opens before 11 AM (it doesn’t serve breakfast), and is always closed before 9PM. Both IV and Stetson East are open at 7 AM on weekdays, slightly later on weekends, and both close at around 9-11 depending on the day, though generally Stetson East has longer hours. Rebecca’s is open from 7AM-4PM, but they basically stop serving lunch at 2PM, after which you can only buy pre-made sandwiches. I don’t know West End’s exact hours, but I don’t think it’s open for breakfast. Also note that on weekends, Stetson East and IV don’t really separate breakfast and lunch - they bring out the breakfast food early, and leave it out until dinner time, though they do bring in lunch food at some point (Actually, this may just be at IV… hmm). </p>
<p>Outtakes is an odd case. It’s a good way to use extra meal swipes to grab snack foods (bags of chips, beverages, etc.) and has pretty broad hours - during the week. It’s open quite late on weeknights, but closes at eight Friday night, and doesn’t reopen until around the same time Sunday night (Meal swipes expire at midnight Saturday). Most of the microwavable stuff is alright, but none of it is great. You can buy two big bags of chips for one meal swipe, which can be nice to have on hand, and they have single serving bowls of cereal for cheap, so many people will use outtakes to buy breakfast supplies.</p>
<p>When you eat at any of the dining halls, they’re automatically going to use meal swipes instead of dining dollars. You can technically pay with dining dollars, but the prices are pretty ridiculous, and you’re absolutely better off using meal swipes unless you’ve run out and desperately need a meal (and even then you’re probably better off hitting one of the restaurants that accept dining dollars). At Rebecca’s and the West End, you’ll need to specify that you’re paying with a meal swipes, though most of the time they’ll make the assumption that you are anyway. </p>
<p>Dining Dollars are pretty flexible. The general rule is, if it’s on campus and it sells food, they’ll take dining dollars (the two convenience stores on campus, both Wollaston’s, will let you spend dining dollars on anything they sell). If it’s near campus, there’s still a very good chance that they’ll accept dining dollars. And even when you’re well off campus, there are places that will accept them - one of my favorite restaurants, Chili Duck, accepts dining dollars, and it’s on the opposite side of the Prudential Center from Northeastern. Generally there will be a sign in a window or door indicating that a location accepts dining dollars. </p>
<p>For a freshman, there are three different meal plans, which differ in the number of meal swipes and the amount of dining dollars. You can get a meal plan which offers either 18, 15, or 10 meal swipes per week, though the amount of dining dollars is smaller if you have more meal swipes. Do not get the 18 meal swipe plan. Do not get the 18 meal swipe plan. Do not get the 18 meal swipe plan. You will not need it. You will not realistically be able to use all of it. It is the most expensive meal plan. DO NOT GET IT. Even the fifteen swipe plan will generally be difficult to use entirely unless you buy a lot of stuff from Outtakes. I had a fifteen swipe plan freshman year, and eagerly switched down to a ten swipe plan sophomore year. On that note, once you’re a sophomore, and assuming you’re not living in a meal plan required dining hall, you can buy a five swipe plan (though it has fewer dining dollars than might be expected), in addition to profiler plans, where you basically buy a number of meals in a large quantity that don’t expire at the end of the week, and you have all semester to use them. Also, note that most plans give you eight guest passes a semester to use to pay for a meal for a guest. If you have guests frequently and run out, Rebecca’s and West End will let you use your own meal swipes to pay for your guest’s food, since they aren’t buffet style. </p>
<p>AND ON A FINAL NOTE: The fewer the meal swipes, the cheaper the plan, even though you get more dining dollars. Generally, if you’re only going to eat one item anyway, it might be cheaper to just eat at a restaurant than to buy a meal plan (though they are required for Freshman).</p>