For many freshmen, this Fall will be their first introduction to daily dining outside of home-cooked meals and school cafeteria food. Luckily, Northwestern has a variety of dining options, including five dining halls and seven meal exchange locations. Here is a crash course on dining on campus.

First-year meal plan

All first-year students at NU are automatically enrolled in the Open Access Meal Plan. This means students have unlimited meal swipes in any of the all-you-can-eat buffet-style dining halls, where students can freely go to any dining hall for a snack, dessert or a full meal any day of the week. 

This plan also includes five weekly meal exchanges. Meal exchanges are fixed menu items at several different dining locations that students can order without spending dining dollars or their own money. Each week, the meal exchange count resets and does not carry over from one week to the next. Students also receive $125 in dining dollars per quarter on the Open Access Meal Plan. 

Dining halls

Located in four of the different dorms across campus, NU has five different dining halls. On South campus, there are three dining halls, located in Foster-Walker Complex, commonly referred to as Plex, and Allison Hall.

In Plex, there are two dining halls: Plex West and Plex East. Plex West is the one entirely Pure Eats dining hall on campus, meaning everything is gluten-free and made without the top nine allergens. Plex West often features made-to-order options, such as build-your-own stir-fry. On the other side of Foster-Walker, Plex East is one of the smaller dining halls on campus that offers the classic dining hall experience, featuring a hot food area, a salad bar and a dessert selection.

Allison holds one of the larger dining halls on campus, with two floors of seating and ample food selection. In addition to dining hall staples, Allison also includes both a Pure Eats station and a kosher station, which are run by dining hall workers to prevent contamination.  

North Campus has two dining halls, one in Sargent Hall and the other in Elder Hall.

Located right next to Mudd Library, the Technological Institute and many of the other North Campus buildings, Sargent Hall is a popular dining location for many. The dining hall features a robust salad bar and a wide range of food choices. Elder has the northernmost dining hall and is located in the basement of the dorm. Along with Pure Eats and Kosher stations, the dining hall offers a made-to-order section that includes omelets, bubble waffles and other custom items. 

The daily menu for each dining hall can be found on the Dine On Campus website or app. 

Meal exchanges

There are seven different meal exchange locations at NU. Five of them are located in Norris, the student center in the middle of campus. The meal exchanges are MOD Pizza, Buen Dia, Wildcat Deli, 847 Burger and Shake Smart. The other two meal exchanges are located in dorms on campus: Fran’s Cafe in Willard Residential College and Lisa’s Cafe in Slivka Hall, offering late-night snacks and meals past dining hall hours.  

Dining dollars

Dining dollars can be spent at the meal exchange locations as well as other spots across campus. For full-meal options, Tech Express and Chicken and Boba do not take meal exchanges but students can still purchase food and drinks using their dining dollars. 

For coffee drinkers, several different campus cafes take dining dollars, too. Cafe Coralie in Pancoe, Starbucks in Norris, Cafe Bergson in Main Library and Backlot Coffee in Kresge Hall offer a selection of beverages and pastries that students can purchase with dining dollars. 

In the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion, students can enjoy an acai bowl after a workout with dining dollars at Protein Bar & Kitchen.

As for on-campus markets, Plex and Lisa’s Cafe have their own markets where students can  buy snacks and dorm necessities. 

Email: [email protected]

X: @SarahSerota 

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— Dining hall workers vote to authorize a strike late Thursday night