Eating at the University dining halls is definitely what you make of it. If you take advantage of these outstanding parts of University Dining, you can be certain that your taste buds will be satisfied all year long.

Hashbrowns at 57 North

The single best food item offered by University Dining are the hash browns served at 57 North. While these may be the same hash browns served in every other dining hall across campus, the ones at 57 are special. Rather than being served in a buffet-style pan with heaps of other hashbrowns, causing them to get cold and soggy, the hashbrowns at 57 are single serve, ensuring they maintain optimum fried crispiness. After getting a taste of the hash browns at 57, even McDonald’s hash browns will pale in comparison.

PAR Late night dining

College life doesn’t exactly follow the rules of the rest of the world’s day-to-day activities. One of the main ways life in college varies from off-campus life is when students sleep. To capitalize on this, many campus restaurants are open ‘til the early morning and most libraries stay open to students 24 hours a day, but the dining halls are not quite as accommodating. Fortunately, the Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls’ Dining Hall is open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. This incredible meal timing makes the lengthy trek out to the PAR Dining Hall worth the trip.

Ice cream to go

In the first few sweltering hot weeks of school, most students, especially those in dorms with no air conditioning, are just looking for a way to cool off. Fortunately, the dining halls are always stocked with plenty of soft serve ice cream. The best part? University Dining allows students to take one item with them when leaving the dining hall. This item could be an apple, a banana, or it could be a nice, creamy ice cream cone to help keep away the heat on a hot August afternoon.

Busey-Evans and ISR locations

The University of Illinois isn’t exactly known for having a small campus. The multitude of buses zooming down the streets at all hours of the day is a testament to this. Although having such a large campus can make it difficult to get to your dorm’s dining hall in between classes, there are two centrally-located dining halls that can make grabbing a bite in between classes much easier. The dining halls at Busey-Evans and Illinois Street Residence Halls are only a few short blocks from the Main Quad, making fitting a nutritious meal into a busy day of classes all the more possible.

Hannah is a Sophomore in LAS.

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