On-Campus Eats: Dining Hall Advice

Living at Salem State, students have the opportunity to get acquainted with several different dining hall experiences. There are the two major dining halls: The Lower Commons at North Campus and Marsh Dining Hall on Central Campus. Additionally, there are smaller cafes located in the Harrington Building at South Campus and the Bertolon Building at Central Campus, as well as the Upper Commons Food Court at North Campus.

This variety is great for those experienced students who know how to manage it. For other residents, it simply creates a confusing dilemma. It's easy to become the kind of person who gets breakfast at Marsh Dining, lunch at Lower Commons, dinner at Central Cafe and gets hungry late at night with no clue where to go. This type of person has clearly made horrible mistakes throughout their day, and it is likely part of a daily routine that can take the pleasure right out of eating on-campus.

Knowing where to go for what meals is essential to enjoying the on-campus dining experience. Every place on campus does certain meals or dishes better than others, and knowing this can help you decide where to eat which meals.

As far as breakfast on-campus goes, there are several options. While Marsh Dining Hall offers the same buffet style breakfast as the Lower Commons, the eggs and pancakes tend to be much better at Lower Commons. Avoiding Marsh Hall before 11:00am is a good strategy for On-Campus Eats. Also, you can grab a greasy but delicious breakfast sandwich from Burger King at the Upper Commons Food Court.

Lunch is the busiest time to be eating on-campus, especially at the Upper Commons Food Court. This is for good reason though: They offer a large variety of wraps, sandwiches, plate-by-plate entrees, take out sushi and freshly made salads. If you don't get stuck repeating the same order everyday, the Upper Commons can keep you satisfied for lunch day in and day out. Marsh Hall and Central Cafe also offer good lunch options: Both have solid sandwich bars that are worth checking out.

For dinner, residents should stick to the two major dining halls. These places are free at night with a meal plan, meaning you save the $7 or $8 at Central Cafe or Upper Commons that would fill you up for a little while but leave you unsatisfied a few hours later. Marsh Hall has become the most popular dinner destination on campus for one major reason: They have made-to-order stir fry every night of the week. If you know what you like, this is a great way to guarantee a good dinner. If you don't, then it's a good chance to experiment and find a new favorite. The salad bar and buffet style of Marsh Hall also help it's reputation as the go-to location for dinner on-campus.

Finally, we come to the major dilemma of the typical college student: Late night food. Many students believe that once the large dining halls close at 7:30pm, fresh food on campus is officially done for the day. This is, in fact, very false. The Harrington Building Cafe on South Campus is open til midnight Monday-Thursday, and serves chicken nuggets, personal pizzas and made-to-order sandwiches until close. They accept dining dollars and flex dollars, meaning that on-campus students can come grab food at South instead of shelling out cash for delivery.

We all know that dining halls aren't anyones favorite part about college, but hopefully, with these suggestions, they can work for you a little better than before. Be sure to check out each of these dining locations at some point during the year to see which you like best and why. If you know of anymore dining hall advice, feel free to comment and add to these guidelines!