There are many places to eat on campus, whether it be coffee shops, dining halls, or a large food court with multiple chain restaurant brands. The campus has many standalone food establishments, such as Raising Cane’s in Paty Hall, Subway in Alston Hall, Starbucks in the Ferg and the Corner Supe Store, and Dunkin Donuts in the Lakeside Dining building. In addition, many convenience stores, such as such as Julia’s Market, Lakeside Market, Union Market, and the Presidential Village Market/Deli are available for students to pick up small snacks and other dorm room necessities. A recent addition to the campus food market has been lots of food trucks that are set up in various areas of campus.  Here is my list of the top five places to eat on campus.

5: Lakeside Dining Hall

Lakeside Dining is a meal plan location situated in a very convenient location within   walking distance from the various dorms that are spread across the north side of campus between Jack Warner Parkway and the main areas of campus. Lakeside is also the dining hall that is open the longest: it opens at 7am and closes at midnight most days except Friday and Saturdays, where it closes at 8:30pm. Lunch usually starts at around 11am, and dinner has the same menu lineup as lunch. Some of the things unique to Lakeside is the Crimson Fry, which is sometimes offered and serves chicken fingers with toasted bread and French fries. Their breakfast is decent, and the lunch/dinner is average compared to the other dining halls.

4: Burke Dining Hall

Burke Dining is another meal plan location that is located on the south side of campus between the Burke West and Burke East residence halls. Burke’s lunch has a different menu setup from dinner. The all-day breakfast area has cereal like Lakeside, but also has waffle makers available daily. They have unique meals every day, especially the Exhibition line where they can serve stuff like pancakes for dinner, chocolate quesadillas, and more! The quality and selection of food is slightly better than Lakeside, but Burke isn’t open as often (and closed on Saturdays).

3: Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin Donuts is a nationwide donut/coffee chain that has a location inside the Lakeside dining hall building. They are open late, usually until midnight or even 2am, so it is a great place to go get a quick donut after that late-night exam. There are many tasty donuts to choose from, from plain glazed donuts to decorated cream-filled chocolate glazed donuts, and the donuts do not cost as much. There is coffee available for students to drink and small snacks to eat to go along with their donuts. Dunkin Donuts accepts cash, credit cards, Dining Dollars, and Bama Cash.

2: Fresh Foods

Fresh Foods is the newest of the three regular meal plan locations located across from Rodgers Library, moved to its current location from the Ferguson Center in 2014. In my opinion Fresh Foods is one of the best meal plan locations on the entire campus, with a variety of food options available for students, staff, and visitors. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, with roller garage doors that are open when it’s nice and sunny outside. There is always something different each day, such as home-style meatloaf, fried fish, meat lover’s pizza, and more. The only downside of Fresh Foods is that it’s closed on weekends, and closes at 6pm Monday thru Thursday and closes at 4pm on Fridays.

1: Food Court in the Ferguson Center

The food court at the Ferguson Center tops the list of the top five places to eat on campus. There are multiple food options at the Ferg, including Subway, Panda Express, Chick Fil’ A, Wendy’s, Auntie Anne’s, and Topio’s Pizza. My personal favorite out of the six food options in the food court is Panda Express, which has the popular dish called orange chicken. Orange chicken comprises of fried chicken pieces that are glazed with orange-flavored chili sauce, and served with either rice or fried rice. Another great option in the food court that I recommend is Chick Fil’ A. Chick Fil’ A is open the longest out of the six food options in the food court and also serves breakfast options in the morning. All six food options accept cash, credit cards, dining dollars, and Bama Cash.

Got questions or comments about this list? Post them below in the Comments section.