Is it correct that there are just three dining halls on campus?
- Baker on the far north;
- Bartlett, a bit south of Baker and more central; and
- Cathey, south of the Midway?
So where do the kids at I-House and Stoney usually eat? I have seen photos of a large kitchen in I-House. So is there an actual dining hall in I-House, or is that I-House kitchen merely available for self-purchased and self-cooked meals?
May UChicago meal cards be used at any of the commercial vendors, coffee houses or even food trucks around campus? If you are a student, how do you and your friends make use of the school meal plans/cafeterias? Which foods/locations do you like best?
Yeah, there are three dining halls on campus.
I-House has their house tables in South (Cathey). Stony has their house table in Bartlett.
I-House’s huge kitchen was removed over the summer and replaced with a cafe (that takes maroon dollars) when the last grad students moved out. They still have a kitchen, though, but it isn’t stocked by housing. You have to have your own food. I think your house funds might provide some breakfast stuff. Every room in Stony has its own kitchen.
They’re both only 15 minutes away from their respective dining halls, though. I don’t think it’s much of a problem, though people in there tend not to eat breakfast in the dining hall and just have their own cereal or whatever in their dorm.
You can use maroon dollars at most UChicago owned on campus, but not at food trucks. You have unlimited meal swipes that work at any dining hall.
Bartlett (Taco Bar) > South (Cathey) > North (Baker) > Bartlett (the rest of it) imo
@HydeSnark, thanks for that excellent summary. Could you explain the nature of “maroon dollars” and how those tie into the meal plans…or are they merely a direct link to parents’ wallets? lol 
@Sam-I-Am No, the direct link to your parent’s wallet is a co-signed credit card, lol. I would recommend not getting one.
All first years are on the unlimited meal plan which gives you as many meal swipes as you want and $100 maroon dollars per quarter that roll over each quarter (but they expire at the end of the year).
When you’re a second year, you can switch the phoenix meal plan which is the same price but comes with more maroon dollars and a finite number of meal swipes.
More details here: https://dining.uchicago.edu/page/meal-plans
You can buy maroon dollars in bulk at a rate lower than 1-1. So buying $250 worth of maroon dollars gives you 270 maroon dollars. Most people just use what they have on their meal plan and their own money once they run out.
@HydeSnark, my kid was thinking about asking for I-House, though we are not international. However, I now can envision having to spend money for breakfast in the new cafe at I-House when my kid is too lazy/late to make it to a real dining hall. That extra cost does not appeal to me. Do you mind listing other pros/cons of I-House for me to share with my kid in advance of tomorrow’s prospective visit? Thanks!
@Sam-I-Am Ha, the cafe actually isn’t new, it was just moved this year into the old kitchen space and the old cafe space was renovated into a smaller kitchen. No idea why they did that, the Zimmer works in mysterious ways. Your kid would probably be spending maroon dollars there anyways.
Pros:
-Tiffin for convenient food
-Location near transportation to get out of Hyde Park and closer to restaurants than BJ/South
-Really pretty study rooms/common areas on the first floor
-Singles!
-nerds
Cons:
-Tiffin as a maroon dollar magnet
-Location farish from the quad
-Singles if you’re really dead set on getting a double for some unfathomable reason
-nerds
I-House is in the eye of the beholder. I’m a fan, but it isn’t for everyone. Kinda like UChicago actually…
@Sam-I-Am I-House is far from the caf. but the food at I-House was always awful so there are benefits to getting rid of the dining. Also, cereal doesn’t cost too much and he’ll probably want to keep some on hand anyway (handy snack). He can always catch a full meal at Bartlett later on (unlimited swipes, thankfully). Also, he might well be in North or South w/dining right there on hand - and still not schedule in time for B-fast, if he’s at all like my kids . . . I’d budget in personal funds for him to purchase stuff from the cafes or from a local store but encourage him to make maximum use of the dining card due to unlimited swipes.
@HydeSnark, what’s availabe in the big dining room at Reynold’s Club - the one with all the portraits staring down at you? thought I saw a cafe there. Is that Maroon dollars/cash only?
@JBStillFlying That’s Hutchinson Commons aka Hutch. There’s a bunch of little fast food stands. A chipotle-like restaurant, a mini-version of noodles, a little indian place. It’s not amazing but it’s better than dining hall food imo. They take cash, credit and maroon dollars.
I-House originally was created as an international dorm primarily for graduate students and visiting scholars, but for now it is just a nice dorm for undergrads. All of the foreign graduate students have been moved out. When they build the next dorm in a few years, they will convert part of I-House back into graduate housing for foreign students.
@HydeSnark, @JBStillFlying and @TYFH, thanks for all the information! Another question about maroon dollars…may they be used in the bookstore to purchase supplies other than food?
If this coming year is anything like the past 4 years, no dining service on Saturday night. Good reason to go explore Hyde Park/downtown area food-just make sure to budget extra for it. When it gets really cold and windy, Hutch was a close food source on those Saturday nights.
Thai 55!! Had the best thai food 30 years ago 
I understand Postmates is getting very popular among students, specially for those late night deliveries when nothing is open or you are too lazy to walk to the food. Not the cheapest option though it does beat going south of 61st at night to grab a burger or something
@JBStillFlying Thai 55’s still there, but now there’s two other Thai places on 55th, Siam Thai and Snail Thai, and they’re both better IMO.
@denydenzig Yeah ordering is an option. I order Harold’s at midnight an embarrassing amount
Order Harolds? That’s not REAL Harolds. You need to show up there at midnight and have the guy in front of you yell for more hotsauce. Cooks were behind bullet-proof glass in those days.
@JBStillFlying Sadly the Hyde Park Harold’s closest at 11 pm and I’m not about to go all the way down to Chatham when I have a p-set to do.
And the cooks are still behind bullet-proof glass, lol
The first Harold’s I recall was on 53rd around Kenwood (north west corner) and was a real hole-in-the-wall. No place to sit so you had to stand in line and order your chicken then leave. They would close at 4 am or when they ran out of chicken, whichever happened first. So obviously it was a favorite of many a student but also the residents of the neighborhood, many of whom were AA. We were informed that it was considered to be “the worst Harold’s” due to the fact that it was in an integrated neighborhood. Apparently they changed a few things to appeal to the - um - diverse customer base. LOL. As I’ve mentioned a few times, our friends went to get their Harolds down on 68th and Stony.
Then Harold died and his widow shortly aftewards opened up a another Harold’s just west of the old place, kind of near where it is today. It was a strip mall then, too (not sure the same one) and it was decorated in late-80’s “country” motif with seating. Now, this one definitely appealed more to the university crowd because we saw a lot of students in there. The HP residents, however, continued to frequent the original Harold’s and called the other one “the White Harold’s”. So at the time I left, there was Harold’s, and the White Harolds, both in operation in Hyde Park, and both - most likely - vying with each other for the reputation of “Worst Harolds”.
Harold’s was, simply put, the best fried chicken I had ever had. To this day I still insist on BBQ and Hot Sauce on my Fried Chicken.
I lived half a block from the old Harold’s. White half extra hot - so amazingly good. It’s 2 am - just yell out your order through the tiny hole in the bulletproof glass wall, put your money through the slot, and a minute later, the turntable in the wall spun out with your order wrapped in tinfoil. I have never had better chicken in my life.
My roommate loved the gizzards. Not for me thanks.
The gizzards are great! Still, nothing beats the classic wing dinner.
Also, a minute?? I wish. Always takes at least 5.