Bard College - Campus Dining

Quick Stats

College Prowler Take

Maybe because Bard students have such a wonderful sense of irony, one of the most persistent topics of dinnertime conversation concerns just how much dinnertime conversation is actually spent discussing how bad dinner tastes. With only three spots for on-campus dining to choose from, most Bardians end up eating at Kline Commons, the school’s central cafeteria facility, and the only truly affordable year-round eatery. Kline offers typical cafeteria fare, as well as vegetarian and vegan alternatives. Come to Kline two days in a row, and you’re sure to see food from the day before, re-prepared and shabbily disguised to look like a new dish.  Wednesday’s roast beef au jus can quickly become Thursday’s roast beef shish kebab, which in turn might reappear slightly transformed as Saturday night’s beef salad.

The Manor House Café on campus provides a well-needed respite from Kline’s processed meat and scrambled-eggs-from-a-box. Down the Road Café is known for its delicious wraps and fresh veggies. Because it stays open late—until midnight, which is well after Kline has closed—the cafés are a popular spot for late-night snacks and study breaks. Down the Road accepts “Bard Bucks,” a type of college currency programmed into your student ID card, like a debit card. While the typical meal plan comes with 150 Bard Bucks per semester, students have the option of choosing a meal plan that substitutes meal frequency with added bucks. Use them wisely, or suffer the penalty—a year of eating nothing but Kline’s!

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Students Speak Out

opalis121 says: Bard College 2010 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies, and Humanities

Unhealthy Quality of Food D+ The quality of food at the campus dining hall is deplorable. While the dining services posits that they provide well rounded meals, the options are often unhealthy and ill prepared. The vegetarian protein options are often fried, and occasionally the protein option will consist of pasta. Although recently there has been an effort to improve dining on campus, Bard still has a long way to go before the quality of food is acceptable. 12345 Campus Dining: March 08, 2010 Report

sw3667 says: Bard College 2013 Undecided

Nourishment? Whats That? D- The food at bard is an abomination. I believe that an academic institution such as this should up hold better standards when it some to nourishment. We live in a place full of farms and ranches. Why not use that? Why institutionalize dinning? I have found moldy food at the dinning hall. I am sure that they use preservatives and I can not eat there without getting a stomach ache. The Cafe at school can be ok, though the only thing I eat there are the soups and fruit. But over all, it is not good. 12345 Campus Dining: March 08, 2010 Report

honeybea says: Bard College 2013 Undecided

Better Eat Off-Campus... C+ Kline, the main dining hall, is sort of hit or miss... you can get more variety there than anywhere else, but it often leaves me unfulfilled. The vegetarian 'meat substitutes' are also usually pretty bad. Food is better at DTR and Manor, but there's often not too many fresh options there and it can get tiring pretty quickly. 12345 Campus Dining: March 06, 2010 Report

Anonymous says:

Somebody has to do something about... Somebody has to do something about the food at Bard—it’s embarrassing. Most people get severe dyspepsia after eating—eat off campus! 12345 Campus Dining Report

Anonymous says:

Living in Manor means eating at... Living in Manor means eating at the Manor Café. They make the best parfaits. Also, their veggie wraps are quite good. The breakfasts are delicious, unlike Kline’s. I’m a fan of real eggs, thank you. 12345 Campus Dining Report

Did You Know?

In order to protest widespread social inequalities, a few students have actually locked themselves inside self-built cages in Kline Commons and refused to eat anything for days.

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