West Chester University offers an interesting array of dining locations on its campus, which has led to varying thoughts and opinions among myself and others. Although I haven’t been able to try all of them yet, I’m going to go into an in-depth breakdown of the dining locations offered and discuss different things about them, as well as mine and others’ opinions, and favorite and least favorite items to order. First, I’m going to dive into my own thoughts.
My Thoughts
Since being at WCU for a little over three months, I have been to almost all of the dining locations on campus. First off, the locations I consider as on-campus include: Commons Dining Hall, Provisions On Demand (POD), Freshens, Chick-Fil-A, Bento Sushi, Food Lab, Starbucks, Chickie’s and Pete’s, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Eco Grounds, SNAP, Burgers + Fries, Power Up, Qdoba, and the multiple food trucks lined up on Church Street. Out of all these, the only ones I haven’t tried yet are SNAP, Qdoba, and all food trucks except for Auntie Anne’s. I feel like WCU could definitely expand the range of cultural/ethnic foods that they offer. For example, the campus features many breakfast and classic American options, but little to no Mexican, Italian, or Chinese-based dining locations. I think a more diverse selection of places to eat is always important at college, and WCU should take into consideration adding more. If I had to pick a restaurant for WCU to add, I would say Taco Bell, because there isn’t another place on campus like it, except for Qdoba, but unfortunately, they don’t accept meal swipes.
Speaking of meal swipes and the concept of a “meal plan,” I think WCU could definitely improve its setup. Something that has really bothered me since being at WCU is that some locations don’t accept meal swipes but only “Flex” or “Rambucks,” which you don’t get as much of, or none at all, depending on what meal plan you pick. I think it’s a very unfair system because I find myself getting the same food every day because only a few places accept meal swipes and are reasonably priced. Because of this, I am already getting sick of half the locations here, and I end up having a lot of meal swipes left at the end of the week. Some hot takes I have are that the dining hall food is either too salty or spicy, the food trucks should accept “Flex”, and Freshens needs to hire more people or open more locations.
Though I have found a few cons to the dining locations at WCU, I will say that there have also been pros. I really like that they use Grubhub on campus because it makes it easier to order, and at most places, you get your order in a timely manner, and very rarely has my order ever been messed up. I also like that the dining locations aren’t all in one place, and they are spread out throughout the whole North campus, because then, depending on where your dorm is, you don’t have to walk twenty minutes just for a quick meal. The food at the locations is also very well prepared at most locations (except for B+F) and tastes and looks like what it’s supposed to be. Some of my personal favorite meals to order are Chickie’s and Pete’s chicken quesadilla, Commons Dining Hall’s pork soft tacos, Power Up’s acai bowl, and Chick-fil-A’s mac and cheese.
ADDITIONAL Thoughts
I talked to three other people and asked them the same questions I asked myself about the dining locations on campus at WCU. A few standout opinions they had were that “Rambucks” are basically useless, a “meal swipe” should equal $10.10 instead of $7.10, Commons Dining Hall needs to offer more food, and the “unlimited meal plan” should allow you to use as many meal swipes as you want to in one day “or else it’s not unlimited babe,” according to one person I spoke to.They also brought up a lot of the points I discussed before, like more diverse locations, meal swipe and flex issues, and their gratitude for Grubhub and its accessibility. Some of their top locations are Chick-fil-A, Chickie’s and Pete’s, and Eco Grounds.
West Chester University’s on-campus dining locations feature many pros and cons when looking at them in depth. After being at WCU for over two months and providing a full breakdown, I have divided opinions on the dining locations offered. Overall, I would have to rate the whole package as a 6.5/10, and my top five locations are Chickie’s and Pete’s, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, P.O.D., and Power Up.