Oberlin College - Campus Dining

Quick Stats

College Prowler Take

Campus dining is never a treat exactly, but Oberlin does make a point of offering a wide selection of options for students with varying culinary preferences. All three dining halls, Dascomb, Stevenson, and Lord Saunders, include salad bars, fresh fruit, vegetarian, and fried-food options, as well as cereals and all the ingredients necessary for making sandwiches. Students often complain that the dining hall menus grow repetitive as the semester wears on, and that the food isn’t seasoned with much flavor or pizzazz. Still, for dining hall food, it could be much worse than it is. At least students have the option of drinking local, organic milk, and munching on hummus and pita bread if they don’t feel inclined towards the meat and potatoes baked in caramelized sugar.

Aside from Campus Dining Services (CDS), Oberlin offers an excellent alternative for students who prefer to cook their own food, work communally, and eat healthier: the co-ops. Co-ops are run by the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, and are entirely managed by students. It is cheaper to join a co-op than to eat at CDS, but co-ops do have their downsides. First, you must be prepared to eat at exactly the same time every day, or you run the risk of missing out on all the food. Also, students in co-ops must put a certain number of hours into cooking and cleaning in the co-op every week, so if your schedule is overly busy, CDS might be the more efficient route. In general, even though some students complain co-ops are messy and disorganized, they are a healthier, cheaper, and more self-sufficient means of eating.

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Students Speak Out

ObeCH says: Undecided

Most people don't talk nicely... Most people don't talk nicely about the dining hall food, but it is alright in my opinion. Certain things they do really well, others not so much. For a small school, there seems to be a good selection of food at each meal--maybe not so great for vegans though. There is also a cafe/market on campus with very good and relatively cheap sandwiches, smoothies, and salads. If you want more homey meals, co-ops are good. Food can be on the simple side, but it is more like home than a cafeteria, and healthier as well. 12345 Campus Dining: March 06, 2009 Report

Obess says: Other

The dining halls are consistently... The dining halls are consistently mediocre and fast. On the other hand, OSCA (the co-ops) take five to six hours per week, but foster a great community and usually much better food. 12345 Campus Dining: March 04, 2009 Report

dice says: Oberlin College 2016 Arts, Visual and Performing

The food on campus is decent as... The food on campus is decent as far as dining hall food goes, and the three main dining halls on campus offer enough variety. By far the best food on campus is DeCafe, even though everything is overpriced. Decafe is the only place on campus that is open all day until 1:30 a.m. Co-ops are another option and though the food varies as far as quantity and quality, the community is wonderful. 12345 Campus Dining: March 04, 2009 Report

teenagecavegirl says: Oberlin College 2016 Arts, Visual and Performing

The food in the dining halls is... The food in the dining halls is not bad as far as college food goes, but after about 3 months a lot of people get tired of it. Luckily, Oberlin has the largest cooperative system of any college in the country (considering the size of the student body). Now I eat in a co-op of about 100 people. It can be kind of hit or miss sometimes, but usually it's very good. Much healthier, too. 12345 Campus Dining: February 28, 2009 Report

Anonymous says:

Dining halls are sufficient,... Dining halls are sufficient, although most students dine less as they move up in class. Maybe a good idea to point out is the co-ops where students have more freedom to choose what and how to eat. 12345 Campus Dining Report

Did You Know?

Oberlin’s first co-op, Pyle Inn, was established in 1950 in response to student’s desire for more economical dining options, and improved quality of service. Run by the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA), co-ops are an excellent alternative to Campus Dining Services (CDS). Co-ops tend to offer more organic and vegetarian options and rely entirely upon the cooking abilities of their members. About 20 percent of Oberlin students choose co-ops over CDS.

Since the director of George Jones Memorial Farm, Brad Masi (Class of ’93), worked with fellow students to redirect college dining into Northeastern Ohio, Oberlin College’s dining service now spends around $225,000 of a $2.84 million annual food budget locally.

The “Thinking of You” program allows relatives and friends to send Oberlin students care packages that will brighten their day, or lighten their late-night study sessions. Parents receive an order form in the mail shortly before the beginning of the school year and can pick from a number of different care packages, including ones for vegans and vegetarians!

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