If you have dietary restrictions and you’ve chosen to attend the University of Guelph, you’re at the right place! There are tons of options and we’ve been rated #1 for having the best food on campus in Canada for over 10 years! (I think this says a lot!) As a vegetarian, I’ve never struggled to find something to eat on campus whether it was healthy or comfort food that I was searching for.
5. Tim Hortons
Since I’m Canadian, Tim Hortons usually finds a way to be included in my daily activities. It’s a great place to eat if you need something quick. (There are also 4 Tim Horton’s on campus, making them even greater for accessibility). This is not the healthiest of options but it can get you out a pickle when you need to eat something and be on the run. It’s also much more affordable than most other coffee-shop locations, making it student-friendly.
4. UC (University Centre)
The UC has a large variety of options in general. However, the majority of them are chain-restaurants and don’t offer many vegetarian options. You have a salad bar, which is vegetarian but there are also a couple of chains that have a few options that don’t include meat. They also have a Nature’s Best, which is strictly vegetarian. The downside: If you have a meal plan and live on campus, you won’t be able to use it until 2 pm.
3. Residence eateries (LA Pit/Mountain and Prairie dining halls)
Convenience is key when it comes to eating. No one wants to trek across campus simply to go get a grab-and-go dinner so they can eat while working on assignments. These places offer vegetarian options but don’t generally have vegetarian only meals. You can build your own pasta, wraps and salads, meaning that you can select what goes in it. However, there are very few options for the grill section and if you’re lucky, the soups of the day won’t contain any meat.
2. Bullring
The bullring has very tasty food which is relatively inexpensive. (The majority of Gryphons will agree with me here!) They have a black-board menu listing their options along with “veg”, “vegan” and/or “dairy-free” written on magnets which are placed beside the foods that fit these criteria. You can quickly pick out what you want and they have more than just 2 options unlike the eateries found in the residences. The only downside is that the line and wait can get ridiculously long, especially during peak hours
1. Creelman
Creelman is by far the best place to eat in general! They have the largest variety and don’t tend to have long line-ups like the bullring would have. There are many stands to choose from but my go-to is always Nature’s Best. For the majority of the other eating locations in the establishment, you build your own meals. Hence, it’s very easy to simply opt-out of meat options. If they don’t have anything that seems vegetarian friendly, go ahead and ask the chef if they can whip you something up! The same goes for any other eating restriction so it’s the best place if you’re looking for dairy-free or vegan options! The foods that you can build in Creelman aren’t just the typical salad/pasta bar (yes, they also these here) as you can build your own nachos, pitas, pizzas, noodle bowls and much more.