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Comparable Schools'
Campus Dining Grades:
Quick StatsFreshman Meal Plan Requirement
Yes
Off-Campus Places to Use Meal Plan
- Some local restaurants will give discounts to UF students (up to 20 percent) on certain days of the week—don’t forget your student ID!
Average Meal Plan Cost
$2,640–$4,000 per year
Student Favorites
- Broward Dining Center
- Moe’s
- Noodle Bar
Other Options
- On weekday afternoons at the Plaza of the Americas, members of Gainesville's large Hare Krishna population serve up a vegan and vegetarian feast, which is very popular. Technically, it's free, but they ask for a $4 donation.
College Prowler Take
There are two kinds of on-campus food: the kind that uses up a meal block (Gator Corner and Fresh Food Company/Broward Dining) and the kind that uses up declining balance (everything else). The meal-block variety is pretty cheap, very filling, and easy to get to, and it’ll prevent you from lying to your mom when you tell her you’ve been eating your veggies. They do try to have a good variety, with hot meals, pizza, pasta, salads, cereal, desserts, sandwich fixin’s, and other stuff available at every meal, and at Broward Dining they have gone the international route, with Mediterranean, Latin, American grill, and deli favorites served up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, after a couple of semesters, you’ll probably get tired of it, and it’s not really anything to write home about to start with. Besides, there’s actually a third kind of on-campus food: the type that comes from the supermarket and is located in your dorm room. To be honest, you can probably get by without a meal plan; granted, you’re more often tempted to go off-campus for meals, but you also have dinner available when you want it without a hike. You can have a microwave and refrigerator in your room, and there are ranges in the dorm lounges, so cooking for yourself isn’t too much of a hardship (well, unless you don’t know how to cook). It really isn’t bad, and sometimes I even feel a little nostalgic for the days when my meal-plan-entrenched friends would take me to Gator Corner for lunch.
Students Speak Out
Love your school more than free food? Hate your school more than term papers?
Somewhere in between? Show the world what YOU think of YOUR school:
Anonymous says:  |
As far as I’m concerned, our...
As far as I’m concerned, our campus food is satisfactory. One thing UF students never have to worry about is available options. Everything you could ever want—within reason—is available somewhere on or off campus. |
Anonymous says: |
Food on campus ranges from decent...
Food on campus ranges from decent to really good. There are several dining halls which are the best bang for your buck on campus, but they do get really old if you eat every meal there for more than two semesters. They usually have ‘themed’ stations and you can eat all you want while you’re there—and more if you can stash it in a bookbag. |
Anonymous says: |
My favorite dining hall is at...
My favorite dining hall is at Broward. The food is more expensive if you don’t have a meal plan, but I love eating there occasionally. Gator Dining near the O’Dome is okay, but not my first choice. The Arredondo Room isn’t bad either. I like making my own salads there. |
Anonymous says: |
The cafeteria-style places on...
The cafeteria-style places on campus are okay, although my roommate claims to have gotten food poisoning from one of them. Besides that, there is Wendy’s, Chick-Fil-A, and other fast food-type places close by. |
Anonymous says: |
To be honest, the on-campus food...
To be honest, the on-campus food isn’t that great. I got a meal plan, but I won’t recommend it unless you really can’t cook. I ended up eating out a lot and cooking although I had a meal plan. There are tons of sweet restaurants around here. |
Dining Halls
Arredondo Room
Cafeteria
Reitz Union
Monday–Friday 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Beaty Market
Assorted snacks, deli
Beaty Towers
Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–4 a.m., Saturday-Sunday 10 a.m.–4 a.m.
Burger King
Burgers, fries
Broward Dining Center
Monday–Thursday 7 a.m.–10 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.–3 p.m.
Camellia Court Café
American
Harn Museum of Art
Daily 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cheeburger Cheeburger
Burgers
Reitz Union
Monday-Thursday 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
Chick-fil-A
Chicken, fries
SunTerrace
Monday–Friday 9:30 a.m.–3 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Chick-fil-A
Chicken, fries
The Hub
Monday–Thursday 8:30 a.m.–8 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m.–6 p.m.
Chili's
Southwestern
Gator Corner Dining Center
Monday–Thursday 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Friday 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Chomp & Go @ Pugh Hall
Grab and go items, salads, sandwiches, snacks
Pugh Hall
Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
Einstein’s Brothers Bagels
Bagels, coffee, pastries
The Hub
Monday–Thursday 7 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.–4 p.m.
Fresh Food Company (Broward Dining)
Assorted
Inner Road, next to Broward Hall and across from the Architecture Building
Monday–Thursday 7 a.m.–10 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.–9 p.m., Saturday 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Sunday 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m.
Freshens
Smoothies
Reitz Union
Saturday–Thursday 10 a.m.–11 p.m., Friday 10 a.m.–12 a.m.
Gator Corner Dining Center
Assorted
Southwest corner of Stadium Road and North-South Drive near the stadium.
Monday–Thursday 7 a.m.–10 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m.
Graham Oasis
Deli, grill
Gator Corner Dining Center
Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–4 a.m., Saturday-Sunday 10 a.m.–4 a.m.
Home Zone
“Home-cooked” meals
Reitz Union
Monday–Thursday 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m., Friday 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Java City
Coffee, pastries
Dental Department, Engineering Building, HPNP, Orthopaedic Building, Reitz Union
Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Little Hall Dining
Cafeteria
Little Hall
Monday–Thursday 7 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.–4 p.m.
Little Hall Express
Convenience store with deli, Freshens, KFC Express, Starbucks
Little Hall
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-12 a.m.
Moe's
Southwestern
Gator Corner Dining Center
Monday–Friday 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
Noodle Bar
Soup, noodles
Reitz Union
Monday–Thursday 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m., Friday 10:30 a.m.–3 p.m.
Orange & Brew
Baked goods, coffee, deli, sandwiches, soup
Reitz Union
Monday–Wednesday 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Thursday 10:30 a.m.–12 a.m., Friday 10:30 a.m.–1 a.m.
Pollo Tropical
Caribbean, Cuban
Reitz Union
Monday-Thursday 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Quiznos
Subs
The Hub
Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Starbucks
Coffee, pastries
The Hub, Law School, Library West, Reitz Union, Shands
The Hub: Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 12 p.m.-3 a.m.
Law School: Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Library West: Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-1 a.m., Friday 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-1 a.m.
Reitz Union: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m.-8 p.m.
Shands: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Subway
Subs, cookies
Reitz Union
Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–12 a.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–12 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.–12 a.m.
Taco Bell
Mexican
Reitz Union
Monday–Friday 9:30 a.m.–12 a.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–12 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-12 a.m.
Did You Know?If you want to split hairs, the “all-you-can-eat” description of Broward Dining and Gator Corner should say “all-you-can-eat-in-this-building,” since you’re really not supposed to take food out of there—althought you can ask for a meal to go, and they’ll box it up and send you on your way. Doing so is not a difficult proposition, and grabbing a couple of those little boxes of cereal provides for an excellent midnight snack.
You can visit Broward Dining and Gator Corner even if you don’t have a meal plan. Although you may not see a good reason for doing this, don’t make up your mind until you’ve tried the fresh omelets at Broward Dining—they make for a fine pre-exam breakfast treat.
Most Recent Contributing Author
Name: Jared Misner
Hometown: Clearwater, FL
Major: Public Relations Jared is a vegan. Contributing Author Internship
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