All About Food

So you’ve just arrived on campus and you realize you’re hungry. Where are you going to eat? Well, I’m happy to say there are a ton of options for any occasion that you can explore throughout your time at Penn State.

First off, there’s the dining halls. As incoming first year students, you are required to live on campus and purchase a meal plan. You’ll find that there are six levels of dining dollars with varying costs. This meal plan level can be changed anytime until the last few weeks of the semester to adjust for too many or too few dining dollars left in your account. Then, at the end of the fall semester, whatever dining dollars that are left in your account will carry over into your meal plan for the spring semester. Be careful, though, because your remaining dining dollars at the end of the spring semester do not carry over into the fall semester. So, remember to manage your spending and adjust your meal plan at the end of each semester to save as much money as possible! That said, you can save money by spending your meal points at any of the five dining commons on campus (North, East, West, South, and - because they ran out of directions - Pollock commons). All the food offered at these locations are discounted 65% off the menu price.

Your meal plans can also be used at other locations on campus such as the HUB dining and Au Bon Pain cafes. However, you don’t get dining dollar discounts at any locations besides the dining commons. So, be careful and watch your spending because the HUB dining and cafes on campus can drain your dining dollars fast. You can also use your meal points to buy items at the mini markets throughout campus, such as Louie’s in South Halls, and the Berkey Creamery. Besides food on campus, there’s some great places downtown for casual lunch and dinners between or after classes.

There are chain restaurants like Chipotle, Panera, Pita Pit, Jersey Mike’s, and - for all of you from Pittsburgh - Primanti Brothers. Some other restaurants in the area include Fiddlehead, Big Bowl, Rotelli’s, and Irving’s. And don’t forget the sandwich shop in the back of Maclanahan’s. But what about for special occasions like showing off your new school to your parents when they come visit? I have some personal favorites in the area. My all-time favorite is The Tavern (hint: awesome food with unlimited sides - try the seafood lasagna). Then there’s The Waffle Shop. I will warn you, though, if you want to eat at The Waffle Shop on a football weekend or pretty much any weekend, you need to get there very early because a line will form as the alumni come back to visit campus. Another great place is The Greek a little off campus with extremely delicious Greek food.

All in all, there are a ton of ways to stop your stomach from growling at Penn State. Whether it’s at the dining commons or downtown, you’ll always find a place with some delicious food. So have fun

exploring all the places to eat during your years in Happy Valley!

Melissa Shallcross is a senior studying Mechanical Engineering and is a Mentor for WEPO'16!