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McGill University
- Campus Dining

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McGill University - Campus Dining - College ProwlerCollege Prowler2.31

Campus Dining

C
Where does this grade come from?View all Campus Dining rankingsReview this school to add your opinion

Comparable Schools' Campus Dining Grades:

Quick Stats

Average Meal Plan Cost Included in room and board. New Residence (Rez) Students get $1,500 a semester toward their cafeteria, the rest of the residences operate on a three-meals-a-day plan.
Freshman Meal Plan Required? Yes
Required for students living in Upper Rez (Molson, McConnell, and Gardner Halls), Douglas Hall, Royal Victoria College, Presbyterian College, Diocesan College and New Residence
Student Favorites
  • Architecture Café
  • Caferama
  • Gert's
  • Midnight Kitchen in Shattner University Centre
  • Subway in Arts Café
  • Tim Horton's in Oasis Café

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

There are two kinds of on-campus dining at McGill: dining in residences and dining on the main campus. Dining in residences requires a meal plan that is included with the rent of your dorm. Each residence has their own type of meal plan and their own food. Upper Rez, that is Molson, McConnell, and Gardner halls have a three-meal-a-day, limited options (a.k.a. not all-you-can-eat) plan at their cafeteria. This food is pretty rank—mass-produced stuff with the vegetarian option (meaning the cheese option). Royal Victoria College is down the hill on the other side of the campus and has its own cafeteria, although residents there are allowed to dine at upper Rez and vice versa. Their food and meal plan are similarly bad. New Residence is a dorm converted from a hotel, and their meal plan functions on a 1,500 dollars a semester, á la cart cafeteria. The food is slightly better, but it is terribly overpriced. MORE houses, MORE Greenbriar, and Solin Hall are all non-meal plan residences and come with full kitchens for their residents, who are expected to fend for themselves for food.

Main campus dining consists of a bunch of eateries in a food court in the Shatner Building and some scattered throughout other buildings on campus. Students can choose what specific items they want to buy and then pay in cash. Some offer combo specials. The selection ranges from Chinese to pizza to deli sandwiches. It’s about as good as one might expect at a mall food court, sometimes worse. It’s not a bad option if you don’t have time to go off campus between classes, and the prices aren’t terrible. Overall, campus dining is highly mediocre, especially considering the accessibility of the restaurants around the area.

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McGill Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Campus Dining at McGill University

tramh2009

'13

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

2.7
C+

Expensive

Each item has a set price deducted from the meal plan, therefore, dining is not buffet style. Food is mostly good, with each place selling different items from each other.

Aug 24, 2011

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Campus Dining at McGill University

prowler74

'14

Anthropology and Archaeology

3.5
B

Wide Variety in Quality

Most people only have a McGill meal plan for their first year (since first-years live in residence), since the food is pretty standard college fare. Meal plans are declining balance; you pay per item. There's quite a difference in options and quality between the various dorm dining halls. Everyone agrees Royal Victoria College (a dorm, not a separate school) has the best caf, Carrefour-Sherbrooke Residence the worst (though this may be b/c it's the newest residence). In order to keep all first-years from eating at RVC, McGill allots the majority of your money as "home-based" dollars, which must be used at your own dorm's dining hall. The rest is "flex" and can be used at any dining facility run by McGill Food and Dining Services, either in dorms or on-campus.

To be fair, it seems the dining halls are trying to move to more interesting/healthy foods (stir-fry night, grilled vegetables, etc.) but all the same it can be hard for the vegetarians out there (or for those that like chicken not dry beyond edibility). The on-campus places are pretty much exclusively pizza, Tim Hortons, stale soup, and sandwiches.

The food is pretty overpriced, but a standard meal plan will cover you fine.

Jan 24, 2011

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Campus Dining at McGill University

Nolan5689

'11

Wildlife and Fisheries Management

0.0
F

Macdonald Campus Food Service

They closed the only cafeteria on campus so now we have a small cafe that is only open for a few hours in the afternoon and cannot support the number of students who want to eat there.

Nov 07, 2010

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Page 1 of 5

Student Survey Poll ResultsWhat's This?

Rate campus dining on the following topics

Facts

24-Hour Dining None
Off-Campus Places to Use Flex Money None
Special Options There are a few alternatives to McGill owned and run cafés. The Architecture Café used to be entirely student-run but due to financial reasons had to strike a management deal with McGill dining services in order to continue its operations. It still offers fair trade coffee and employs only students. Midnight Kitchen is a student organization that offers vegan food by donation weekdays at noon in Shatner. Shatner also holds a food court with various options, Café Supreme, Al-taib in Gert’s, and Liquid Nutrition for smoothies. There is almost always a bake sale or somosa sale somewhere on campus. Free food is extremely easy to come by at McGill, as departmental events supplemented with refreshments, such as wine and cheese, occur frequently.
Did You Know?

In the Shatner building, you will find an Organic Food Coop where you will find organic, equitable food products. Check out their Web site at: www.ssmu.mcgill.ca/foodcoop.

If you fail a midterm, the café in the McConnell Engineering Building will comfort you with some free ice cream!

Dining Halls & Campus RestaurantsWhat's This?

Al-Taib (take out)
Location: Shatner Student Centre basement (inside Gert’s)
Food: Pizza, falafel
Hours: Monday–Friday 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

Arts Café
Location: Arts Building, basement
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–8 p.m.

Biology Café
Location: Stuart Biology Building
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

Bio-Technology Café
Location: Genome Building, level 3
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–2 p.m.

Bishop Mountain Hall
Location: Between Molson, McConnell, and Gardner Halls
Food: Cafeteria variety
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., 4 p.m.–5 p.m., 5:15 p.m.–7:30 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m.–10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., 4 p.m.–5 p.m., 5:15 p.m.–7 p.m.

Bronfman Bistro
Location: Bronfman Building on McTavish Street side
Food: Coffee, sandwiches, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Caferama
Location: Shatner Student Centre, first floor
Food: Coffee, panini, salads
Hours: Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m.–4 p.m.

Chancellor’s Court Café
Location: Chancellor Day Hall basement
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

Checkpoint Café
Location: Wilson Nursing Hall
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.–2 p.m.

Computer Science Café
Location: Trottier Building
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 8 a.m.–6:30 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Douglas Hall
Location: Next to Molson Stadium
Food: Cafeteria variety
Hours: Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m.–10 a.m., 5 p.m.–6:45 p.m.

Education Café
Location: Education Building basement
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–2 p.m.

Engineering Café
Location: McConnell Engineering Building
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–4 p.m.

The Food Court
Location: Shatner Student Centre second floor
Food: Tiki Ming (Asian), Frank Supreme (breakfast, sandwiches), Cultures (healthy food)
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–1 a.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–2 a.m.

Gert’s
Location: Shatner Student Centre basement
Food: Pub drinks
Hours: Monday–Friday 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Law Café
Location: Chacellor Day Hall
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m.- 8:00 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Link Café
Location: Stewart Building, Macdonald Campus
Food: Cofee, snacks
Hours: Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m., , Friday 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

McGill Bookstore Café
Location: McGill Bookstore, second floor
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Music Café
Location: Music Building
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

New Market Café
Location: Centennial Hall second floor, Macdonald Campus
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

New Residence Hall
Location: New Residence Hall
Food: Breakfast
Hours: Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Nursing Café
Location: Wilson Hall Student Lounge Area
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Oasis Café
Location: Redpath Library
Food: Coffee, snacks
Hours: Monday–Thursday 8 a.m.–10 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m., open 24 hours during exa.m.s

Royal Victoria College
Location: Next to Strathcona Music Building
Food: Cafeteria variety
Hours: Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., 5 p.m.–7:30 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m.–10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., 5 p.m.–6:45 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., 5 p.m.–6:30 p.m.

Sadie’s
Location: Shatner Student Centre, first floor
Food: Convenience store
Hours: Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

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College Prowler guides are in the hands of students throughout the entire process. Because you can't make student-written guides without the students, we have students at each campus who write, edit, and survey their peers for every guide that we publish. Thanks to our most recent student author at McGill

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Major: Sociology

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