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My oh my, how dorm food has changed at the University of Iowa

Tenacious E

Tenacious E

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Dec 4, 2001
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My son will be attending in the fall. Just reviewed today's standard dining options for his residence hall. A far cry from my two favorite nights: tater tot casserole and cheap steak. Today for lunch and dinner, he could have had (or I would have had if I were him):

Lunch: lemon basil salmon and/or a fried spicy chicken filet, roasted asparagus, caesar salad,

Dinner: brisket, greek chicken thighs, rice pilaf, and Mediterranean salad with feta and kalamata olives.

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Tenacious E said:
My son will be attending in the fall. Just reviewed today's standard dining options for his residence hall. A far cry from my two favorite nights: tater tot casserole and cheap steak. Today for lunch and dinner, he could have had (or I would have had if I were him):

Lunch: lemon basil salmon and/or a fried spicy chicken filet, roasted asparagus, caesar salad,

Dinner: brisket, greek chicken thighs, rice pilaf, and Mediterranean salad with feta and kalamata olives.

Nutrislice Menus

Menus, powered by Nutrislice. Nutrislice is the leading provider of digital menus, signage, and ordering software. View menus online or with the Nutrislice app.
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It is amazing how much better the food has gotten at university cafeterias around the country. Heck, I'm amazed by the cafeteria in my son's high school.......much better than I ever had in college.

We're going to do college tours starting next summer. My son and I will be paying close attention to the meals.

I bet your son will be complaining about the food by November :p
 
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Yeah, I had kids in Burge in Catlett. Its light years better than Mid 80's Burge food. Where you waiting in line for the dish and the only alternative if you did not like the dinner was a burger that sat under a light for an hour.

Now they have a full food court with ethnic dishes, etc. Its nuts.

But they dont have the bowling alley or Arcade in the Union lol.
 
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cfbfan23 said:
It is amazing how much better the food has gotten at university cafeterias around the country. Heck, I'm amazed by the cafeteria in my son's high school.......much better than I ever had in college.

We're going to do college tours starting next summer. My son and I will be paying close attention to the meals.

I bet your son will be complaining about the food by November :p
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If that means he wants to come home and visit for no other reason than food, I'll take it!
 
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cfbfan23 said:
It is amazing how much better the food has gotten at university cafeterias around the country. Heck, I'm amazed by the cafeteria in my son's high school.......much better than I ever had in college.

We're going to do college tours starting next summer. My son and I will be paying close attention to the meals.

I bet your son will be complaining about the food by November :p
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Hospital food is the same way. Was at Mercy visiting a friend a couple years ago and the dining options were damn good.
 
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JRHawk2003 said:
Yeah, I had kids in Burge in Catlett. Its light years better than Mid 80's Burge food. Where you waiting in line for the dish and the only alternative if you did not like the dinner was a burger that sat under a light for an hour.

Now they have a full food court with ethnic dishes, etc. Its nuts.

But they dont have the bowling alley or Arcade in the Union lol.
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When we at the the Burge dining hall during his campus visit, all I could think was that it was a very nice all-inclusive resort sans booze.
 
hawkeyetraveler said:
My no pic daughter will be going to Iowa this fall as well. When we did the tour of Burge my two reactions were: (1) the rooms are exactly the same cinder block when I lived in Burge and (2) the food is amazing.

My freshman 15 would have been a freshman 30 if I went to school now.
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I have seen at least one kid come back after his first year with what looked like a freshman 40.
 
Tenacious E said:
When we at the the Burge dining hall during his campus visit, all I could think was that it was a very nice all-inclusive resort sans booze.
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and the rooms are exactly the same as 1986 sans the phones. Lol. At least where my kid was.

The depravity that went on there was......something....back in the day.
 
JRHawk2003 said:
and the rooms are exactly the same as 1986 sans the phones. Lol. At least where my kid was.

The depravity that went on there was......something....back in the day.
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I lived in Currier in the 90s. We toured Currier on my son's visit. Rooms looked similar, except they are now air conditioned. The public spaces are light years better than the 90s. Again, reminded me of some kind of resort, or at least a nice hotel.
 
Tenacious E said:
I lived in Currier in the 90s. We toured Currier on my son's visit. Rooms looked similar, except they are now air conditioned. The public spaces are light years better than the 90s. Again, reminded me of some kind of resort, or at least a nice hotel.
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Burge is steel and concrete. It could take a nuclear explosion.
 
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drew_hawk said:
And Panchero's burritos. In the good ole' days of course, back before they were complete garbage like they are now 😥
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The year was 1993. I had never heard of Panchero's, and it had not sold out yet. The first time I had El Gordo, the 2 pound burrito, I was like:

200.webp


Then the first time I had the quesadilla after the bars let out, I was like:

giphy.gif
 
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hawkeye54545 said:
Hospital food is the same way. Was at Mercy visiting a friend a couple years ago and the dining options were damn good.
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My brother's best friend from high school and college was the food service director at a Mercy hospital. (Not the one in Iowa City. Not sure if it's the same parent company or not). He took great pride in changing the perception of hospital food. He's actually oversees a region of their hospitals now. When my dad was in his hospital about 7 years ago he stopped by his room and bragged about his cafeteria so I decided to check it out. I was quite impressed how different it was vs my perception. Since then I've had cafeteria food at the other hospital here and UIHC and they pale in comparison.
 
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We didnt have Pancheros. We just had that grimy Gyro and Hot Dog Cart on the Ped Mall lol.
 
Tenacious E said:
My son will be attending in the fall. Just reviewed today's standard dining options for his residence hall. A far cry from my two favorite nights: tater tot casserole and cheap steak. Today for lunch and dinner, he could have had (or I would have had if I were him):

Lunch: lemon basil salmon and/or a fried spicy chicken filet, roasted asparagus, caesar salad,

Dinner: brisket, greek chicken thighs, rice pilaf, and Mediterranean salad with feta and kalamata olives.

Nutrislice Menus

Menus, powered by Nutrislice. Nutrislice is the leading provider of digital menus, signage, and ordering software. View menus online or with the Nutrislice app.
dininguiowa.nutrislice.com dininguiowa.nutrislice.com
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There is a reason tuition is so high :)
 
gamedayron01 said:
I lived on Beef Ole at the dinning center at Northern Iowa. Stuff was the ultimate colon cleanser.
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The key at UNI was eating at Bartlett. With all the International students being housed there the select was nothing like the other dining centers. Edit: As in a huge selection.
 
globalhawk said:
Dorm/dining plans are always expensive though. They get you in the first year.
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No doubt. We are erring on the side of caution in the hopes of priming the pump for his best performance: too much food rather than not enough or the fear of not enough; food when it is convenient not necessarily at specific times; food at any facility rather than a limited place; etc. We'll see what happens after his freshman year.
 
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Tenacious E said:
No doubt. We are erring on the side of caution in the hopes of priming the pump for his best performance: too much food rather than not enough or the fear of not enough; food when it is convenient not necessarily at specific times; food at any facility rather than a limited place; etc. We'll see what happens after his freshman year.
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So much cheaper off-campus. I did always sign up for one meal per week day after moving out of the dorms though. I would wear a fanny pack and put a couple of burgers or whatever in it for dinner. College.
 
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JRHawk2003 said:
Burge is steel and concrete. It could take a nuclear explosion.
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Plus the building has probably built up a great immune system from all of the STDs over the years so it should have no problem handling the radiation fallout.

I lived in Rienow for two years starting in 1999. First year we had to eat at Quad dining while Hillcrest was being renovated. We were able to take the tunnel over which we did pretty much every meal since it connected right next to the elevator in Rienow and the dining hall in Quad. It wasn't great but I liked it enough. But then I discovered the upstairs dining room during the second semester that was only open at dinner time. It felt like you were eating in a fancy restaurant with all of the brick, woodwork, and chandeliers. The top picture is the only thing I could find in the University archives of what it looked like, 40+ years before I was there.
download_clip


My second year they opened the new Hillcrest dining and closed the Quad dining. At first it was amazing that they had all of the options. But after a few months you realized that most of the options were just the same thing every day and you missed the surprise of whatever was being served at the Quad. I also felt that the food wasn't quite as good since they had to produce so much variety. When you are only cooking two different meals you can ensure both of them are great. When you're cooking 12 or more different kinds of food it is much harder.

I ate in Burge many times too and it wasn't very good. Nothing quite like freshman year at Quad.
 
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JRHawk2003 said:
Yeah, I had kids in Burge in Catlett. Its light years better than Mid 80's Burge food. Where you waiting in line for the dish and the only alternative if you did not like the dinner was a burger that sat under a light for an hour.

Now they have a full food court with ethnic dishes, etc. Its nuts.

But they dont have the bowling alley or Arcade in the Union lol.
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They never did jack shit to make the Union cool again after the 2008 flooding for as long as I was on campus. They reopened everything above the bottom floor but that's basically a ballroom, a tiny hotel, a tiny computer lab, and some study space and TVs.
 
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ConvenientParking said:
They never did jack shit to make the Union cool again after the 2008 flooding for as long as I was on campus. They reopened everything above the bottom floor but that's basically a ballroom, a tiny hotel, a tiny computer lab, and some study space and TVs.
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Bottom floor is reopened. The IMU bookstore, Wheelroom, and the Union Station are all still there. I just had lunch with my kids in the Wheelroom a year ago, their first time there.
 
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They University fought with FEMA for a long time over the funding to renovate the flooded IMU.
FEMA would only pay to replace things back to their original state. Iowa wanted to upgrade things, and it took a long time to work it all out.
 
ConvenientParking said:
They never did jack shit to make the Union cool again after the 2008 flooding for as long as I was on campus. They reopened everything above the bottom floor but that's basically a ballroom, a tiny hotel, a tiny computer lab, and some study space and TVs.
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The lower level is operational again, but plans have been approved for the overhaul. Basically the entire building will be gutted and rebuilt and the Iowa House will be no more.

There are also plans for the next resident hall are moving forward.
 
globalhawk said:
So much cheaper off-campus. I did always sign up for one meal per week day after moving out of the dorms though. I would wear a fanny pack and put a couple of burgers or whatever in it for dinner. College.
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It is not cheaper off campus if you're eating 3 times a day all week. Black plan meal swipes work out to about $8 a pop for all you care to eat, it would be a struggle to find anything consistently less than that.
 
Jerome Silberman said:
It is not cheaper off campus if you're eating 3 times a day all week. Black plan meal swipes work out to about $8 a pop for all you care to eat, it would be a struggle to find anything consistently less than that.
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What did you eat in college? I went to Aldi's for groceries and could eat a meal for less than 2 bucks. Ramen, mac and cheese, etc.
 
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globalhawk said:
What did you eat in college? I went to Aldi's for groceries and could eat a meal for less than 2 bucks. Ramen, mac and cheese, etc.
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Cheap food like everyone else, but the landscape has changed since I was in school. The value provided by the marketplaces is not that same as it once was, while the price of groceries within walking distance of campus are not going to be in the same ballpark as Aldi's.

Plus, as far as I know a meal plan is required to live in a dorm.
 
Jerome Silberman said:
Cheap food like everyone else, but the landscape has changed since I was in school. The value provided by the marketplaces is not that same as it once was, while the price of groceries within walking distance of campus are not going to be in the same ballpark as Aldi's.

Plus, as far as I know a meal plan is required to live in a dorm.
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That's why I stated off-campus. You can still buy a 10 pack of ramen for less than 2 dollars. Somebody always has a car. Come on. I didn't have a car my freshman year. I went to Aldi's when my roommate, that had a car, did. Mac and cheese is still a dollar. Canned pasta is less than a dollar.
 
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