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Swarthmore College
- Off-Campus Dining

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Swarthmore College - Off-Campus Dining - Off-Campus Dining - College ProwlerCollege Prowler2.31

Off-Campus Dining

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

Comparable Schools' Off-Campus Dining Grades:

Quick Stats

Student Favorites
  • Baja Fresh
  • Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria
  • Cheng Hing
  • Renato's Pizza
24-Hour Dining
  • Geno's Steaks
  • Pat's King of Steaks
  • Tom Jones Diner
Best Asian Rangoon
Best Breakfast
  • Dunkin' Donuts
  • Vicky's Place
Best Coffee Hobbs Coffee
Best Dessert Aria
Best Healthy Govinda's Gourmet Vegetarian
Best Late-Night Tom Jones Diner
Best Mexican Qdoba
Best Pizza Renato's Pizza
Best Place to Take a Date Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria
Best Place to Take Your Parents
  • Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria
  • Cuba Libre
Other Places to Check Out
  • Cold Stone Creamery
  • Einstein Bros. Bagels
  • Happy Wok
  • Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
  • Marrakech
  • Nooddi Thai Chef
  • Olive Garden
  • Panera Bread
  • Papa John's Pizza
  • Peace A Pizza
  • Shere-E-Punjab

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

Unless you want to eat pizza or Chinese food 15 times a week, you might want to consider venturing off campus a few days a week. However, eating off campus takes a little planning. The Ville, or downtown Swarthmore, has little in the way of dining that stays open late enough to cater to college students, so usually, students end up eating on campus or ordering pizza or Chinese from places that deliver. On the bright side, there seems to be a million pizza places that compete for Swarthmore’s business, so prices generally stay low, and they are constantly introducing new recipes.

For the more adventurous Swattie, Baltimore Pike is a short 20-minute walk from campus and has a bunch of chain restaurants, including Houlihan’s, Panera Bread, Einstein Bagels, and Outback Steakhouse. Restaurants along the Pike provide students a refreshing break from Sharples and Essie Mae’s, but for true restaurant connoisseurs, Philadelphia provides a huge wide variety of excellent restaurants. The final bill at some of the city’s more established restaurants can be a bit daunting (unless you're with your parents), but with a little searching, particularly in Chinatown and South Philly, you can find an excellent, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with entrées for less than $10. Crawl on in and eat!

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Swarthmore Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Off-Campus Dining at Swarthmore College

pinkrabbit19

English '11

3.8
B+

Not the Best for College Students

There are plenty of excellent restaurants nearby, particularly in Media—not so much in Swarthmore itself—but the delicious food comes with a substantial price tag (maybe $12 to 16/entree). So, if you're looking for a nice place to go with your parents, a date, or just a group of friends, there are a lot of possibilities. My major complaint is that the options for college students are limited. For late(r) night options, there are basically only two pizza places and two Chinese places. While the pizza places are pretty good, I'm not a fan of the Chinese restaurants. If you're willing to shell out a little more money, the Indian restaurant in Media delivers and is delicious (especially the samosas!).

Dec 09, 2010

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Off-Campus Dining at Swarthmore College

m19081

Mathematics & Statistics '14

3.5
B

Somewhat Limited

The selection in the Ville is somewhat limited, but that is to be expected in such a small area. The pizza and Chinese food are just fine when you want something delivered.

Nov 26, 2010

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Off-Campus Dining at Swarthmore College

jlammerts

Physics '14

3.5
B

Off Campus Dining

Pizza is convenient to order, and so is Chinese food. Both come pretty quickly.

Nov 02, 2010

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Page 1 of 5
User rating for Swarthmore College - Off-Campus Dining is 3.5 out of 5 based on 15 user reviews.

Student Survey Poll ResultsWhat's This?

Rate the off-campus restaurants on the following topics

How would you rate the diversity of off-campus dining options?

Facts

Did You Know?
  • Philadelphia cheesesteak experts claim that the most authentic cheesesteaks must include Cheese Whiz. They also say that if you get your cheesesteak more than an hour from South Philly, the sandwich is not authentic.
  • Tastykakes were invented more than 90 years ago in Philadelphia.

Grocery StoresWhat's This?

Genuardi's Family Market
950 Baltimore Pike, Swarthmore
(610) 604-1570
www.genuardis.com
Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–8 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.–7 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Swarthmore Coop
341 Dartmouth Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 543-9805
www.swarthmore.coop
Monday–Saturday 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m.–7 p.m.

Restaurant ListingsWhat's This?

320 Produce Market & Deli
Food: Sandwiches
733 S. Chester Rd., Swarthmore
(610) 328-7211
www.the320marketcafe.com
Price: $5–$10

Aria
Food: Mediterranean
405 Dartmouth Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 543-2701
Price: $5–$10

Bennigan's Grill & Tavern
Food: American
720 Baltimore Pike, Springfield
(610) 328-0612
www.bennigans.com
Price: $8–$15

Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria
Food: Italian
965 Baltimore Pike, Springfield
(610) 543-8079
www.bertuccis.com
Price: $10–$20

Cheng Hing
Food: Asian, Chinese
333 Dartmouth Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 328-2078
Price: $5–$10

Countryside Market
Food: Sandwiches
514 Yale Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 604-4799
Price: $5–$10

Cuba Libre
Food: Cuban
10 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia
(215) 627-0666
www.cubalibrerestaurant.com
Price: $15–$30

Dunkin' Donuts
Food: Coffee, donuts
1 S. Chester Rd.
(610) 690-5153
www.dunkindonuts.com
Price: $3–$8

Geno's Steaks
Food: Cheesesteaks
1219 S. 9th St., Philadelphia
(215) 389-0659
www.genosteaks.com
Price: $5–$10

Govinda's Gourmet Vegetarian
Food: Vegetarian
1408 South St., Philadelphia
(215) 985-9303
www.govindasvegetarian.com
Price: $8–$15

Hobbs Coffee
Food: Breakfast, coffee, sandwiches, salads
1 Park Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 624-1391
www.hobbscoffee.com
Price: $3–$10

Johnny Rockets
Food: American
443 South St., Philadelphia
(215) 829-9222
www.johnnyrockets.com
Price: $5–$10

Occasionally Yours
Food: American
10 Park Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 328-9360
www.occyours.com
Price: $5–$10

Outback Steakhouse
Food: American
1162 Baltimore Pike, Springfield
(610) 544-9889
www.outback.com
Price: $10–$20

Pat's King of Steaks
Food: Cheesesteaks
Ninth Street at Wharton and Passyunk
(215) 468-1546
www.patskingofsteaks.com
Price: $5–$10

Penang
Food: Asian, Malaysian
117 N. 10th St., Philadelphia
(215) 413-2531
www.penangusa.com/location_philly.html
Price: $8–$15

Qdoba Mexican Grill
Food: Mexican fast food
1054 Baltimore Pike, Springfield
(610) 543-4104
www.qdoba.com
Price: $3–$8

Rangoon
Food: Asian, Burmese
112 N. 9th St., Philadelphia
(215) 829-8939
Price: $10–$15

Renato's Pizza
Food: Pizza, subs
8 Park Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 544-2300
Price: $5–$10

Salvucci's Cucina
Food: Italian, subs
417 Dartmouth Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 543-4339
Price: $5–$10

Swarthmore Pizza
Food: Italian, pizza
607 S. Chester Rd., Swarthmore
(610) 543-3474
www.swarthmorepizza.com
Price: $5–$10

Tom Jones Diner
Food: American
4417 Edgmont Ave., Brookhaven
(610) 874-1055
www.tomjones24hours.com
Price: $5–$10

Vicky's Place
Food: American
417 Dartmouth Ave., Swarthmore
(610) 328-2453
Price: $5–$10

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Most Recent Student Author View all

Name
Sudarshan Gopaladesikan
Hometown
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Major
Math and Engineering

College Prowler is seeking talented student authors to assist with writing and updating the College Prowler guides to their schools. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain experience and tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is really like at your college.

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We update this information twice annually, most recently in May 2012, but it may not be the most recent information available for a particular school.
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