The Best Dining Hall Eats on Campus
Having been recently ranked the number four college with the best food in the country, as per the Princeton Review, Cornell students have high expectations for their day-to-day dining hall experiences. The ten dining halls on campus provide a multitude of offerings, and Cornellians are firm in their opinions about which dining halls serve the best food; they rarely waver from their favorite go-to spots. After almost two months at school, I have developed my own opinions on the best foods to eat at several of the dining halls on campus.
As a freshman, I have gotten to know both of the dining halls on North Campus, North Star in the Appel Commons and Toni Morrison, fairly well, and I have consequently developed strong preferences for my personal favorites at these spots. The best offering at Appel is, by far, the french fries. Arguably some of the best french fries I have ever tasted, Appel’s fries are perfectly golden with a crispy exterior and a fluffy interior. Finding the right balance in a fry’s texture between crunchy and light is not an easy task, but Appel has mastered this art. In addition, the cut of the fries at Appel is, in my opinion, perfect, as they are not too thick like steak fries, but also not too thin and floppy like many fries served at fast-food restaurants. So, while Appel’s other options might not be up to many people’s standards, making the journey to North Campus for dinner at Appel is worth it, simply for their top-notch fries.
Toni Morrison dining hall is the newest spot on North Campus, and it is the most plentiful in terms of its food options. Morrison’s classic and reliable options, such as the stir fry noodle bar and pasta station, never dissapoint, but the pizza is definitely my favorite. Out of all of the dining hall pizza that I have tried, the pizza at Morrison far exceeds the pizza at any other location. Morrison pizza tastes like authentic pizza that I would order from my favorite Italian restaurant, rather than the frozen pizzas I heat up in my oven at home. One reason for this is because Morrison uses state-of-the-art wood-fired pizza ovens instead of more generic ovens like those used at other dining halls. In addition, Morrison pizza is cut into the classic triangular shape rather than the small rectangular shape in which the majority of the pizza served at other dining halls is cut, so that each piece of pizza is larger and thus more filling. Morrison’s pizza is also superior because it tastes fresher than other dining hall pizza that I have had: It is consistently hot, the cheese-to-sauce ratio is spot on, and it doesn’t taste like it has been sitting out for too long, which is always much appreciated!
In addition to eating many of my meals at Appel and Morrison, I also regularly visit Okenshields Dining Hall on Central Campus. While Okenshields seems to have a bad reputation, I personally have enjoyed the majority of the meals that I have eaten there. What stands out the most is their Asian food, specifically their General Tso’s chicken, which is a sweet and spicy fried chicken dish. Okenshields’ General Tso’s chicken is the perfect combination of sweet, savory, spicy, and tangy. It is also fried flawlessly so that it is not overly crunchy, but also not too soggy, making it so that every bite has just the right amount of crisp. General Tso’s chicken has always been one of my favorite meals, so I was eager to try the dish when I first discovered it during the first week of classes. In comparison to other dining halls’ Asian food offerings, such as Appel’s pepper steak and Morrison’s chicken and broccoli, I believe that Okenshields does a particularly good job with its General Tso’s chicken. This also applies to other Asian meals at Okenshields, such as their beef and broccoli, spicy basil chicken, and steak stir fry. If you’re ever in the mood for Asian cuisine, Okenshields is my number one recommendation.
Although I tend to eat the majority of my meals on North Campus or Central Campus, sometimes it is nice to change it up by going to West Campus for dinner. West Campus offers a wide variety of meal options within its six different dining halls. Although I unfortunately have not visited every one of these locations, out of all of the West Campus dining halls that I have been to, including Rose House, Bethe House, and Cook House, my favorite meal is, without a doubt, the tacos, chips, guacamole, and salsa on Rose House’s Taco Tuesdays. This meal is always consistent and tasty. The lack of guacamole in the dining halls on campus was very disappointing at first, but discovering Rose House’s Taco Tuesdays has been a game changer for me. The fish tacos are especially delicious, and even though eating fish at a dining hall may seem risky, the fish tacos at Rose House taste very fresh. Further, when combined with the delicious toppings that Rose House offers and paired with a side of tortilla chips, these tacos are the ultimate dining hall dinner. Therefore, while trekking up and down the slope may seem like a lot of effort for just one meal, give Rose House’s Taco Tuesday dinner a try – it’s definitely worth the hike!
There are still so many dining halls on campus that I have yet to try, but for the ones that I eat at most often, I have luckily found some of my favorite on-campus food options that make dining at Cornell a very satisfying experience.
