In this joint review, columnists Gabrielle Ray and Jace Perroud review dining locations on the Valley Campus. Ray shares her experience as a fairly new meal-plan holder, while Perroud brings three years of insight in evaluating campus dining options.
Reviews by Gabrielle Ray
As someone who didn’t have a meal plan my freshman year, you could say I didn’t have a traditional first-year experience at Grand Valley State University. I didn’t try any of the dining halls until this year, after I caved and bought a meal plan. Now, I’m taking a closer look at the University’s dining options and what they really offer students. I’ll admit, I was missing out by waiting so long to sign up for a meal plan.
Blue Bistro
Blue Bistro is Blue Connection’s best and only place to receive homestyle, entrée meals. To pay at Blue Bistro, you’re able to use meal swipes, dining dollars or a credit/debit card. There seems to be a familiar food rotation every few weeks at Blue Bistro.
My favorite meals they offer are the stingin’ honey chicken sandwich and the Laker bowl. The Laker bowl consists of mashed potatoes, popcorn chicken, cheese and gravy. Another common dish at Blue Bistro are basic cheeseburgers and fries. The sliced cheese they offer isn’t really to my preference, so I usually pass on the cheeseburger. I also prefer the chicken sandwich’s bun to the cheeseburger buns, as they’re typically a bit softer. Blue Bistro is one of the better spots to eat on campus, although it’s a shame it’s only open for short periods of the day, typically between 4-7 p.m.
Zoca
Zoca is another spot located inside Blue Connection. They serve Americanized, Mexican cuisine similar to Chipotle and Qdoba. Zoca is one of my favorite spots on campus. My love for Zoca mostly comes from convenience rather than the taste of the food. There’s a lot to like about Zoca if you value convenience above all else. Zoca is open several hours a day, every day. It’s always been there for me after a long day without a meal or a snow day when nothing else is open. Unlike its more famous counterpart, Qdoba, you’re able to use a meal swipe at Zoca rather than just dining dollars or a credit card.
Zoca also has quick and kind service. The staff is outstanding and has never gotten my order wrong. My usual order is a burrito, and it never looks like it’s been wrapped in a hurry. The food itself is okay — it reminds me of the food I’d receive in a high school cafeteria, and is almost nostalgic.
Feta
Feta is another restaurant in Blue that serves Mediterranean food. While it’s not one of my all-time favorites, as it’s still relatively new, Feta is definitely a top-tier spot on campus. My favorite meal from Feta is pretty basic, but popular for a reason. I highly recommend trying the pita bread with chicken shawarma as your protein. This wrap, with any toppings you like, is something you’ll never get tired of.
Savory Stack
Savory Stack is a build-your-own sub place similar to Subway, located in Blue Connection. You can also make a salad, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do that. It’s one of the best places to get food on campus if you find yourself on the go. Savory Stack also provides plenty for the price, offering more food than most non-buffet spots. Their sandwiches are filling, and a meal also includes chips and a drink. At Savory Stack, you can use meal swipes, dining dollars or your credit card.
Qdoba
I love Qdoba, but its location in Kirkhof is different than others on this list. Since Qdoba has great food and is different from the usual on-campus options, the line is almost always miles long. At Qdoba, you’re able to purchase a meal with dining dollars or a credit card. At Qdoba, I find myself ordering a bowl, usually alternating between steak and chicken as my proteins. The steak is served much pinker (medium-rare) than the well-done steak I usually get at off-campus Qdoba locations. I find the shredded chicken to be consistently good, and have been getting that more recently.
Reviews by Jace Perroud
Overall, I enjoy the dining options on campus, but I can’t help but notice the selection for students with any sort of dietary restrictions, be it religious, allergy-related or vegetarian and vegan is slim. There is only one place that serves Halal food, and it has some of the least convenient hours possible. Kosher options are minimal to non-existent. The allergy-friendly options in The Dish do not apply after 8 p.m. when late night begins, and the only consistent option for vegan or vegetarian food is basically salad or a salad on a sandwich. While the food quality on campus is pretty good overall, these inadequacies make dining harder for many students.
The Dish
This may strike some as an unpopular opinion, but I like The Dish. As an RA in first year housing, I have spent all three years of my college career on North Campus, and all three of those years, I have heavily frequented the Dish, largely for convenience. Its familiarity served me well during my many 11 p.m. “dinners.” It also has a wide selection of food suited to those with allergy restrictions, as well as vegetarian and vegan options. If I had to pick a favorite food from The Dish, I would have to choose the fried fish served on Fridays. My primary complaint, however, is that they switched to having Blue Connection-esque late-night options only after 9 p.m., instead of keeping the buffet portions open until midnight. The late-night wings served are really good, though.
Fresh Food Company
Fresh has become one of the most controversial dining halls on campus, and for justifiable reasons. Between the two buffet-style dining halls on North Campus, Fresh and The Dish, Fresh has better quality food by far. Everything at Fresh tastes better on a more consistent basis than at The Dish, along with very good weekday breakfast options. However, this year Fresh has been subject to an hours change that makes the delicious food inaccessible for many students. In previous years, Fresh used to be open until 7 p.m., but this year, it closes at 3 p.m. Many students have classes in the afternoon, especially during typical lunch hours. This creates a conundrum for Fresh: some of the best food on campus is served at the most inconvenient times.
Panda Express
Panda is a student favorite and easily the best chain on campus, offering great food and the most reliable hours in the Kirkhof Center. The long lines that gather daily during the week are a testament to how beloved the food is. My personal favorite of Panda’s available options are the Chow Mein and Beijing Beef. The cream cheese rangoons drain my dining dollars practically every semester, and honestly, I’d do it again.
Ciao
Ciao is an Italian pasta restaurant located in the basement of Kirkhof. To be honest, this place is very hit or miss. Some days it’s exactly what I needed, others it tastes like the food came out of a can. This is not a knock on the employees, who have been fantastic every time. It does, however, leave me questioning the freshness of the ingredients. That said, if you’re looking for a place to get pasta, you could do a lot worse than Ciao. Also, word to the wise, proceed with caution if you eat here before a class, because that pasta sits heavy and you may have trouble making it through class without succumbing to a brutal food coma.
