Dining at Penn

First-year students at Penn are required to have the infamous first-year dining plan, until they gain some agency in what dining plan they’d like to have at the end of their second-year. Penn dining has a reputation for taking some time to adjust to after a few weeks, with limited options for those who love Asian food like me. However, I want to say (with the benefit of experience) that Penn dining does not have to be as bad as it’s stereotyped to be. Here are some student-favorite dining options:

 McClelland - Located in the Freshman Quad, this dining hall has a colorful array of daily sushi, pork buns, chicken bowls with teriyaki/spicy sauces, and udon. Although students are only allowed two swipes at McClelland, I’ve found that it is enough to ease your appetite, and with a beautiful outside seating area McClelland is a perfect lunch location to meet up with friends. Most food options are also customizable or have vegetarian/vegan options.

 Houston Hall - Houston has by far the most options amongst grab-and-go dining halls, with customizable pasta bowls, burritos, bento boxes, ramen, salads, and more! While many of the restaurants within Houston Hall accept primarily dining dollars, they also offer great “meal-exchange” programs that allow students to substitute meal swipes for the same food that dining dollars can afford. My personal favorite spot in Houston Hall is Bento, which has a great selection of seating areas and Asian foods (the best on campus imo).

 Lauder - Both a freshman dorm and dining hall, Lauder is a popular option as opposed to Hill dining hall which is right across the street. Although the ‘featured entree’ portions tend to be quite small, Lauder also has a great assortment of fruit, other meals in buffet style, and great desserts every night as well. An advantage to eating at Lauder is that the food cycles daily, so make sure to get there earlier before the line gets too long!

 Quaker Kitchen - My favorite place to eat on campus! Quaker Kitchen is a very restaurant-style dining hall located in Gutmann College House. With the same menu every day for a week, Quaker Kitchen is known for being delicious no matter the menu with its only downside to having very long wait-times in which you need reservations to eat in. However, if you get there at around 5 pm, or at least before 6 pm, you can just swipe in without needing to wait in an egregiously long line. I love the interior of Gutmann and it’s all-in-all a great place to eat with friends after a long day of classes.

It’s up to you to experiment which dining halls you like the most, but I hope you can begin by trying these options which are super popular amongst students!

- Seyoon C.