<p>I can understand the need for the Dining Dollars. There’s less incentive for 3rd party vendors to put a venue on campus without some kind of incentive that the students will likely purchase their products, since those venues are not likely visited by those who aren’t on campus.</p>
<p>And, yes, it would be scary to build these Dining Halls if there weren’t some kind of assurance that kids would use them.</p>
<p>not to be negative here, but I have to say we ate at Lakeside on Sat. afternoon last weekend and it was just awful, nothing at all like what we had during Bama Bound. I can totally see where eating daily there would get old quickly. </p>
<p>Think they could put a plaque with my son’s name on it at Jimmy Johns…!</p>
<p>I don’t understand why Lakeside Dining is so “hit and miss”. My sons do not have that problem at Burke or Bryant. I think Bama Dining should receive more complaints about Lakeside. </p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s particular dishes or what. I know that the Asian noodles are blah. When I’ve eaten there, I’ve mostly stuck with the stir-fried veggies and chix (which have been good), baked potatoes, salads, and fruit. I’ve never eaten the pizza, hamburgers, etc.</p>
<p>I think Lakeside (and the higher ups) needs to hear specifics…such as XXXX, YYYY, ZZZZ dishes aren’t very tasty.</p>
<p>And, maybe they need to hear what dishes you like at Burke, Fresh Food, and Bryant.</p>
<p>D is not a big fan of Lakeside although she eats there a few times a week because Fresh Foods (her favorite) is not open at night or on the weekends. If Fresh Foods was open the same hours that Lakeside is, there’d be a lot less meals still on her account.</p>
<p>Having said that, I know that UA’s food service is still better than other school’s that we’ve been at (specifically UT-Knoxville.) And institutional food has it’s limitations no matter what.</p>
<p>My son and a friend had dinner Sunday night at Lakeside. The word “awful” would be kind. Way too much salt in the food. He decided that eating fruit would be his best option.</p>
<p>Perhaps Jamie Oliver needs to do a ‘College Edition’ of Food Revolution…</p>
<p>As a parent of a current varsity athlete, the extra cost for the Athletic Meal Plan is dollars well spent. I have had two lunched at Bryant. Both have been good. My son tells me that Dinner is much better. Bryant has been packed on both occasions. </p>
<p>When our youngest son joins his brother this fall, we will spend the extra money and purchase the smallest Athletic Meal Plan allowed. Our motivation is to allow the brothers to eat dinner together when ever possible and knowing the menu is very healthy. The youngest is a three season athlete in HS but is unsure if he will continue wrestling at BAMA as a Club Sport. Most wrestlers have mastered their nutritional needs by the time they graduate from HS.</p>
<p>I have eaten at Lakeside three times. I can’t say “this is great” but there were plenty of healthy choices to pick from. I have eaten a few lunches at The Ohio State University as well. IMO, Alabama’s food service is much better than OSU’s. Our children are eating much better than the food I was served in college. I might have nightmares tonight if I think much more about those meals. Fortunately, things have improved since graduating.</p>
<p>*Perhaps Jamie Oliver needs to do a ‘College Edition’ of Food Revolution… *</p>
<p>Good suggestion!</p>
<p>Fresh Foods (her favorite)</p>
<p>This is what I don’t understand. My kids like Fresh Food, Burke, and Bryant Dining Halls…so don’t they use some of the same recipes? Or are the cooks at Lakeside just bad at following the directions? </p>
<p>I guess because most of the stuff that I’ve eaten there hasn’t been from a recipe (like baked potatoes, salad bar stuff, sandwiches, stirfry that they cook in front of you), they can’t “mess up” the taste.</p>
<p>I think complaining to Lakeside may not matter since they’re going to do what they’ve always done. I think the complaints have to go “over their head”. After all, if they want people to buy their meal plans then Bama Dining needs to make sure that one of their dining halls serves food that is as good as the other three.</p>
<p>Lakeside has to be better than the Ramen noodles and Spaghetti O’s that I lived off of when I was at UA. Meal plans weren’t required for freshmen then and I didn’t really have the money for one anyway. Kids today don’t realize how good they have it. </p>
<p>Back then there were only two dining halls. Paty & Burke. Everyone always said Burke was good while Paty sucked. I guess they moved the Paty operation a block north to Lakeside and continued the tradition :-).</p>
<p>In defense of UA’s food service, I have to admit that D is not your typical freshman. She cooks all the time at home, has taken classes at Viking Cooking school & collects cookbooks. We don’t eat very much processed food at home and neither of my kids ever ate school food; they pack(ed) their lunches every day. So the very salty, processed stuff is not something that she’s used to. And I don’t think either of my kids has ever had Spaghettios or ramen noodles either. It’s always been way cheaper for me to grocery shop & avoid the already prepared stuff. </p>
<p>She’ll be perfectly happy next year when she can have the 50 meal plan and continue going to Publix for fresh fruits, veggies and cheeses. Oh and all the frozen stuff that she, DH & I make to send back to school with her :)</p>
<p>“Kids today don’t realize how good they have it.”</p>
<p>Ain’t that the truth!</p>
<p>I really think it would be a good idea to identify which dishes are “not good” at Lakeside and which are fine. Also, identify what are the better foods at the other dining halls.</p>
<p>What happened to their very desirable egg rolls at Lakeside?..those used to go like hotcakes. Kids raved about them. Why get rid of a good thing? If the concern was that kids were “hoarding” them and taking them to their dorms for later meals, then limit them to a couple per student.</p>
<p>Why can’t Lakeside put out some kind of survey asking the kids which foods they liked and which they didn’t. I know that some kids will like foods that others don’t, but when there is an overwhelming negative about certain dishes, then improve them or change them.</p>
<p>^ when I said not good, I meant really bad. The salads and fruit were brown, ice cream machine not working, pizza was old and hard, coffee lukewarm… it was pretty bad.</p>
<p>Have you contacted anyone to complain? If not, you should.</p>
<p>Frankly, kids should take camera-phone pics and forward them to Bama Dining if fruit is brown, etc.</p>
<p>Momreads mentioned that there are opportunities for free meals and snacks. For those of us OOS who are coming into this wonderful university for the first time, can anyone fill us in on the opportunities?</p>
<p>We are looking at upgrading from the Silver Plan or possibly purchasing the Athletic plan. Our son is a big guy - he doesn’t snack at all but he eats well at meals! Advice is much appreciated!</p>
<p>From your description, your son will enjoy the all-you-can eat nature of the dining halls. I caution against buying a larger meal plan as from what you’ve mentioned, he doesn’t really need a larger quantity of meals. The athletic dining plan may providing he is willing to go on the other side of campus to eat dinner since regular meal plans holders can eat lunch at Bryant with no upcharge.</p>
<p>Your son can always upgrade his meal plan later in the year, but meal plan downgrades cost an extra fee and he’d loses his unused meals between the fall and spring semesters (they are normally carried over between those two semesters.)</p>
<p>Usually those “free meals or snacks” come in conjunction with various on campus activities/clubs that students join. So, during Get on Board Day in August/early September, have your student check out all the organizations. They will set up for one day and pass out information to students. During my son’s first year, he lived in a dorm that had various socials – pizza, ice cream, game nights with food, etc.</p>
<p>And Sea_tide is right about the meal plan. Start with the smaller one. You can upgrade.</p>
<p>Made a separate thread about this but in case you don’t see it, here is a link to the dining survey where you can voice your opinions:</p>
<p>[DiningStyles</a> Survey](<a href=“http://www.college-survey.com/ualabama/]DiningStyles”>http://www.college-survey.com/ualabama/)</p>