In Defense of the Dining Hall

By Blake Eaton

I hear a lot of talk about the Dining Hall at UT Dallas. By itself, that’s not surprising. Eating is a pretty big part of anybody’s life—especially a college student’s—and plenty of students eat their meals at the Dining Hall. More surprising to me is the amount of criticism levied at the Dining Hall. I know I’m in the minority, but I think the food offered there is pretty good. No. I think it’s great!

There are plenty of reasons why I defend the Dining Hall, but I’ll start with a small point of criticism. While the food at the Dining Hall is almost always high quality, there are plenty of times when it isn’t there. If you aren’t there at the right time, then there will be nothing but salad and a few pieces of fruit available. As such, you need to build your schedule around the Dining Hall’s. That’s inconvenient, but not terrible.

Aside from that question of availability, I have very little bad to say about the Dining Hall. On a typical day, there’s something for everyone. Pizza is a standby, as is the salad bar and fruit. The main food options are handily split between vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections, and they change nearly every day. This can be unfortunate on the days when none of the selections look appetizing, but it’s a godsend most of the time. In college, one of the primary concerns is that food will get repetitive, and unless you restrict yourself to the basics, that won’t happen at UT Dallas’ Dining Hall.

I admit, any judgment of taste is by definition subjective, so I don’t have any concrete facts to support this, but I think the food at the Dining Hall is generally quite good. In fact, the worst I can say is that sometimes it’s only decent. I’ve heard the food described as “hit-or-miss” by some, but even they admit that a “miss” doesn’t mean the food is horrible. On most days, it’s just decent. There’s nothing special, but it isn’t unpleasant to eat. On good days, though, the food is nothing short of delicious. On those days, everything goes well and all is right in the world.

You could probably get all kinds of reviews of the Dining Hall, and a lot of people would find more to complain about than to praise. I, for one, am a fan of the Dining Hall’s food.