As a ionate foodie, I’ve learned a thing or two during my past two years at Queen’s, including how to make the most out of the meal plan and how to get a bang for your buck.
Queen’s dining plan offers two options, trade-a-meals (TAMs) and dining hall swipes. Dining halls offer different buffet style options—grill, salad bar, pizza, pasta—and large seating areas where you can enjoy your food with friends. TAMs are offered at various locations across campus such as the Lazy Scholar (Lazy), Location 21 (Loco), and more. They offer specific meals you can ‘buy’ using a TAM.
In my first year, specifically in the first semester, I often found myself overwhelmed due to the abundance of options available. I wanted to grab everything and try everything, and so I did. While doing so, I learned a few things in the process.
Always be sure to use the Queen’s ‘Today’s Menu’ website to look ahead and see what’s being offered. This is a helpful hack to decide whether you should use a TAM or instead have a sit-down dinner at Leonard Hall ‘Lenny’. Some advice, if they’re offering pulled pork mac and cheese, run as fast as you can, grab a tray, and enjoy. If they are offering trout, I would steer clear, as dining hall fish is certainly ‘fishy.’
While it’s no University of Guelph, the dining hall’s omelette bar is consistent. The line is often incredibly long, but worth the wait. They also offer simple fried eggs—an easy source of protein if any of the meat is looking off-putting.
Speaking of eggs, the breakfast at Lenny is one of the best meals offered, especially encouraged on a Sunday morning after a long weekend. Options range from eggs, hash browns, yogurts, and even a make your own waffle bar with whipped cream and sprinkles.
The daily salad bar is another healthy and highly recommended option, taken go-to. Everyone knows eating your greens is good for you and it can be hard to remain healthy while eating off the meal plan. The salad bar is another great place if you’re looking for more protein, offering hard boiled eggs, chickpeas, nuts, and at least five different salad dressings.
Keep your eyes peeled for themed-days, sometimes dining halls plan special events which bring a fun twist to what becomes routine day-after-day. Last year, Jean Royce Dining Hall partnered with student representative for Dumpling Day where all dumplings were handmade.
Lenny can become extremely busy with a seating capacity of 700 people. If you enjoy the rush of bumping into people you know and don’t mind waiting in line, arrive around 7 p.m. If you’re there to eat and get out, try to eat around 5 p.m.
Ban Righ Dining Hall can be a unique alternative to Lenny. It’s less busy and the food quality is often better. With large windows and long wooden tables, it has a Hogwarts-esque atmosphere which helps students romanticize their lives and absorb the magic of campus.
Starbucks TAMs can be very tempting, but they’re a rip off. You can either get a bagel with a small coffee or tea, or a Grande of any drink but I wouldn’t fall for that, as you aren’t getting any nutrition out of it. If you rely on TAMs too often, you’ll be out well before the end of the year.
I hope this serves as a guide to finding yourself full and satisfied during your first year at Queen’s. It can be difficult to find your way around such a large campus and with so much change going on, it’s easy to forget to nourish yourself. To prevent this, I’ll leave you with some important parting words.
Lean in close, make sure nobody else can see this: TAM a Loco sandwich for lunch and you’ll never regret it, dining hall cake is some of the best I’ve ever had, Wally’s in Botterell Hall is an underrated breakfast spot (get the yogurt or warm grain bowl), and finally, in Mackintosh-Corry Hall, go to Flip It! and get a south-west cobb salad, with hard boiled eggs, dressing, cherry tomatoes, and bacon—you won’t regret it.
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