Pomona College
- Campus Dining

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Pomona College - Campus Dining - College ProwlerCollege Prowler4.62

Campus Dining

Quick Stats

Meal Plan Available? Yes
Average Meals/Week 16
Average Meal Plan Cost $5514 per year
Freshman Meal Plan Required? Yes
Student Favorites The Coop Fountain

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

The quality of campus food service is a common target for complaint and ridicule among students, but Pomona actually does a pretty good job. No, it’s not gourmet, nor probably even commensurate with your dear mother’s cooking, but Pomona’s dining halls offer a large variety of dining options. Students particularly laud the design-your-own meals, which range from pizza to stir-fry and have become more and more of a fixture in recent years. The option of attending the other colleges’ dining halls also provides some needed variety. The dining hall staff also goes to great lengths, unfortunately with very mixed results, to meet the needs of those with dietary restrictions.

Pomona dining inspires mixed reviews. There are a staggering amount of options, but you get a nagging feeling that the food just isn’t that fresh. However, preparing meals, day in and day out, for 1,400 hungry students with a whole slew of dietary preferences and restrictions must be a staggering task. There is a good dynamic between Frary and Frank dining halls, the former being an enormous, cathedral-esque hall, the latter being far more modern and varied in design. Vegetarians and vegans certainly won’t starve, though they may end up eating a lot of plain pasta and bagels, and nightly “Snack,” which is a sort of ad-hoc meal each weeknight from 10:30 p.m. to midnight, not only provides late-night sustenance, but serves as a sort of social event, as well. One thing you can definitely say for the dining hall staff is that they try very hard to mix things up. However, they are consistently inconsistent, which can at times be very frustrating for an on-campus diner.

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Pomona Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Campus Dining at Pomona College

FGrady

'14

Spanish Language and Literature

N/A

Campus Dining

Between the five Claremont Colleges, we have seven dining halls and four student-run cafes. All of our dining halls are buffet style, and our meal plans range from 8-16 meals a week. Monday-Friday, there are three meals a day and Saturday/Sunday, there are two meals (brunch and dinner). You get pretty hungry between brunch and dinner, but you can always make something in the kitchen (each dorm has at least one) or eat at one of the cafes. Pomona's, at least, is kind of expensive, though. At the cafe and if you run out of meals for the week, you can use flex dollars (part of your meal plan) or Claremont Cash (kind of like a credit card that can be used anywhere on the 5-Cs and some places in the Village, such as Jamba Juice or 21 Choices).

There is always a great variety of food (although unfortunately sometimes not for dietary vegans like me), and the menus are posted online or on the Dining Services Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pomonacollegediningservices).

Jan 12, 2011

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Campus Dining at Pomona College

tulipa90

'12

Music

4.2
A-

Wide Variety and Usually Pretty Good.

On campus dining is pretty good. You have 2 dining halls on Pomona that you can eat at plus the Coop Fountain. The always have salads, sandwiches, pizzas, the basics... then you get some cool 'exhibitions' like steaks, sushi, and burritos. The best part about the dining is that you can go to any of the other Claremont Colleges if you get tired of Pomona's.

Dec 11, 2009

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Campus Dining at Pomona College

Anonymous

Student

I was pleased with the food on...

I was pleased with the food on campus. The salad bar is always stocked full of fresh and glorious vegetables and fruit.

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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 Eating at other campuses—Collins (the CMC dining hall) and Mallot Commons (the Scripps dining hall) are particular favorites.
Did You Know?

Pomona’s Frary Dining Hall is graced with a giant mural by Jose Orozco of Prometheus. The giant, fire-bringing half-god is pictured writhing amidst all sorts of dark and portentous figures, one of whom resembles a fetal fawn with a baby’s head—just what students want to see when they’re eating. In the ‘50s, when it was painted, the college officials were worried about female students seeing ol’ Prometheus’s package, and so they had it painted over. To this day, Prometheus, without whom none of us would have fire, remains emasculated.

Many students tout the merits of sneaking into Frank Dining Hall, which merely requires scaling a five-foot wall out back. Yes, it’s easy (except when the back door is being guarded), but remember that crime doesn’t pay. Unless you are really, really hungry and have no other options for obtaining sustenance. In that case, a good argument could be made for it paying.

It’s also possible to sneak into Frary Dining Hall during off hours, but it requires scaling buildings and shimmying through ducts, and when you finally get in, all the food is locked away anyway.

Dining Halls & Campus RestaurantsWhat's This?

Frank Dining Hall
Location: South Campus
Food: Varied, vegetarian options
Hours: Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m.–10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m., 5 p.m.–7 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday 11 a.m.–1 p.m., 5:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Frary Dining Hall
Location: North Campus
Food: Varied, vegetarian options
Hours: Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m.–10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.–1 a.m., 5 p.m.–8 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 9 a.m.–1 p.m., 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m.

Oldenborg
Location: Mid-Campus
Food: International
Hours: Monday–Friday 11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.

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