Written by Megan Cloud
While there's a lot of discrepancy among Barnard College students, the overwhelming trend is that the food is alright. Although there aren't too many places that are specifically "Barnard" to eat, there's quite a bit of choice at those few places. On any given day, you can find cereal, bacon, eggs, tofu, and bagels (among other things) for breakfast and sandwiches, stir-fry, pizza, meat, vegetarian, and vegan entrées for lunch and dinner. There's a Kosher section that is set off from the main serving area that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. The comments of some Barnard students indicate that some of them are judging Barnard food against other New York City restaurants, and of course the food isn't as good, but it's less than ten dollars for all-you-can-eat. When judging dining hall food, you should always think back to lunch in high school and then appreciate the step up.
Barnard has pretty good food, which your parents will probably note when they help move you in. They, however, will not have to continue eating in Hewitt Dining Hall for the next eight weeks. The entrées that are offered tend to be pretty good for the first few weeks, but quickly become humdrum. The daily pizza selection and sandwich bar can really save some Barnard students from going hungry when the entrée choices don't look good. One place that dining services loses points is in its lack of choice of places to eat. The two dining areas at Barnard are Hewitt Dining Hall, which is located in the basement of Hewitt Hall in the quad, and then the quasi-cafeteria in the lower level of McIntosh. The cafeteria in McIntosh isn't really a cafeteria, but rather a bunch of different food stations together, which is why there isn't a real name for the area. Don't be fooled by the school's Web site, which lists about six different places to eat. There are really only two.