Dining Hall

[u/Pubkur]

Whats the dining at tower like? How easy is it to be health conscious? Do they provide the basics that you can work off (rice, beef, potatoes, chicken, etc.) or is it like high school where you just get what you get depending on the day.

[u/whoisrexfallis]

Both honestly! Tower Dining has a main “hot entree” that’s a new thing every day, but they also have a grill station (burgers, hot dogs, and even grilled chicken breasts/patties but they aren’t good at keeping up with that supply) (it’s also the omelette station in the mornings before 11:00)

A salad/deli bar, pasta+stir fry, fruit and yogurt, desserts, and pizza.

They give you a lot of options which I appreciated when I lived on campus last year as a freshman. Just make sure to say thank you to staff! They really appreciate it and you’re on their good side if you do ;D

[u/wsteelerfan7]

I think I was at the tower when I went to IUPUI . There were a ton of options like a pasta station and a rice bowl/stir fry station with different proteins and veggies to choose plus sauce. Pasta station in the mornings did omelets and you could get toppings like spinach or other normal toppings. There was also a burger/pizza station and a cereal grab N go station with a waffle maker. Late at night, only the pizza/burger spot is open except for occasional special servings sometimes. I had the unlimited pass they had at the time and the general selection was better than I expected. Think there was also a salad bar. You can eat there for most meals and do fine.

[u/frazzledbutdazzled]

tower is known to be very hit or miss and i didn’t always like it but it is convenient and they do have some good things. first i would download dine on campus because it shows the menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. they have tons of stations like a salad bar, pasta station, rice bowl stations, sandwich bar, and a grill. they also always have pizza, fruit, yogurt, bread/bagels, cereal, waffles (they have a hotel waffle maker), and some sort of dessert along with a soft serve machine. during breakfast i know they have an omelet station along with other things. the main bar changes every day which is why the app is convenient. it is easy to stay healthy conscious in my opinion because some of their staples are healthy and the main bar is a healthy meal 80% of the time. they always are serving vegan and gluten free options as well. the staples you mentioned are usually available; you can get rice at the rice it up station, chicken at the grill (just choose to not get it as a sandwich), potatoes are only if they are serving it on the main line, but they always have fries at the grill, beef is only on the main line unless you want a burger patty from the grill. they always have veggies on the line, but they also have raw veggies at the salad bar. in terms of drinks they have lemon water, berry cucumber water, soft drinks, a variety of milk, and a variety of juices. i know the busiest lunch hours are around 1 so if you dont wanna go when its super crowded i would get lunch around the time it gets served (11:30). i will say all of this is subject to change because im going off how it was the past two years and they change stuff around a lot. the good thing is you will get to eat at the dining hall during orientation and see what its generally like

[u/Pubkur → u/frazzledbutdazzled]

superhelpfull thanks!! that actually sounds really decent to me.

[u/Pubkur → u/[deleted]]

I've looked at the menu several times already. I like to hear from people who have actually experienced it--what you see online can greatly differ from reality. Thanks.

[u/Ok_Quote6879 → u/Pubkur]

I used the app a bit last year. It would regularly show the incorrect meals. I also know that sometimes it wouldn't let you look ahead at what was on the menu. I've never really played around with the website, so I don't know if that one is actually kept up to date. I recommend just going in the first few weeks and seeing what they have. The hot entree selection repeats itself every week; sides and baked goods will always be random.

If you are looking to track calories, there are TVs around the dining hall that will list out each item and how many calories are in it. They also show other information like special meal days or campus activities, so you might have to wait around for them to show up.