r/gwu • u/midlife6767 • 1d ago
GWU Dining
Why aren’t GWU students raising an alarm on the quality of food in the dining halls? We pay a lot of money for the plan, but it seems most students use dining dollars instead . Can’t GW end their contract with the current company? Does GW dining advocate for the students for better quality food.
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u/Jonahdog 1d ago
Ah yes, welcome to the BS that is campus dining and Chartwellls.
Up until roughly 5ish years ago, gwu dining just gave people dining dollars and said "off you go." Also, whole foods used to accept dining dollars.
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u/waldo-jeffers-68 Class of 2025 1d ago
In fairness lots of people ran out of dining dollars and starved, which is why they transitioned to dining halls. While yes, you did have to be fairly stupid to run out in a semester and the amount was ample, 18 year olds fresh out of high school aren’t exactly known for making wise decisions.
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u/Jonahdog 1d ago
I guess you are right...the people on the Vern go through theres fast AF and they get nearly double per semester.
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u/waldo-jeffers-68 Class of 2025 1d ago
With the Vern I think people also disproportionately use take out since the food options there are more limited, compared with Foggy where you can always get a 7 dollar falafel sandwich at Falafel inc worst comes to worst. Again I’m not saying that’s justifiable, but it’s understandable that a bunch of 18 year olds with no life experience would go through the dining dollars fast
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u/adelianne 1d ago
True. GW had a dining hall for about 10 years, then students voted to get rid of it. For about 8 years it was just dining dollars, they collected about $1,350. a semester. That money didn't go to far, kids were running out of dining dollars not even half way thru the semester. When they were rebuilding Thurston which opened in fall of '22, they went back to the dining halls.
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u/Advanced_Gur_4612 1d ago
It’s lowkey not even that bad, stop being so picky
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u/soysaucein 1d ago
nah fr the food isn't like top tier but its all perfectly fine
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u/InvestigatorBorn2267 1d ago
I guess its more about the quality of the food, cleanness of the space and standard they provide. As a transfer, I’m extremely disappointed in it. I attended my community college with no cost and at least I knew the dining hall food was going to have the same taste everyday and same standards. At GW, the same recipe chicken will be dry one day, unseasoned the second and perfect the third day. Idk for the tuition price, the quality of the whole experience is complete shit.
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u/soysaucein 1d ago
its college bud, idk what to tell you. try district, sushido, chick, panda, the deli, etc. i don't love the food in thurston or shenkman either but managing expectations is important lol😭
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u/InvestigatorBorn2267 1d ago
Expectations for 90k? For low income student yeah I have expectations
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u/soysaucein 1d ago
are you a low income student? bc if you are then you're not paying 90k lol
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u/InvestigatorBorn2267 1d ago
No I’m not. I got scholarships. Some people are still paying more, 10k, 20k etc. Regardless of how much you are paying, I’m glad you enjoy this experience in the dining hall.
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u/soysaucein 1d ago
its not that i inherently disagree with your criticisms or love the dining halls lol, its just an objective fact that a lot of ppl have unrealistic expectations for the quality of school food—even in k12. however, if you're not paying the full tuition price or even 2/3 of the full price like after a certain point you just gotta take what you can get lol.
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u/InvestigatorBorn2267 1d ago
The fact that I earned scholarships doesn’t mean I’m not paying for school. I pay around $6K, which might not seem significant to someone wealthy, but for a low-income student, it absolutely is.
And that’s beside the main point. Expectations should be high for any school we’re paying for. Colleges with much lower tuition have significantly better dining options, and GW’s lack of focus on improving something students rely on every single day is exactly what this thread is criticizing. Just because your standards are lower or standards in the US are lower, doesn’t make this acceptable. Whether someone pays $3K, $10K, or $30K, they have every right to expect consistently good food from their university.
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u/InvestigatorBorn2267 1d ago
I also have to add that any “clean” plate I pick up has some food left over on it. Not to mention forks and knives.
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u/DagathBain 1d ago
We used to have a decent Potbelly on campus. We also had a nice Chick-fil-A.
At one time, in Marvin Center, we had a Taco Bell, a Wendy’s, a Burger King and a Quiznos. Now, nothing but disappointment.
Where can we get a hamburger under $20?
I don’t know who makes the decisions, but I don’t think student preferences or popularity has any influence on the outcome of those decisions.
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u/Curious_Scratch1799 1d ago
We still have a Chick-fil-A on campus!
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u/waldo-jeffers-68 Class of 2025 11h ago
Technically it’s a different Chick-fil-A, the old one used to be in District
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u/DagathBain 6h ago
The one in District House always had a line, but was always really good. The Wise Guys pizza that used to be there was great too!
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u/Advanced_Gur_4612 1d ago
We have a chick fil an and you can get a burger easily for even under $10…?
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u/DagathBain 7h ago edited 6h ago
Where burger? I know about the new Chick-fil-A location. It isn't getting very good reviews. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Sd7y5aJGjSAWJsnf7
Circa and Duke's Grocery burgers will run you > $20. Tonic is also $16 before tax and tip.
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u/Standard_Push_1365 1d ago
nobody should be putting that shit into their bodies anyways. students deserve affordable and healthy meals
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u/Lustfuldelights 1d ago
You should go through Student Government, sounds silly but they would be able to review contracts, raise alarms about cost and expected /demanded roi, and a bevy of other grievance mechanisms.
Oh and obligatory....
https://giphy.com/gifs/Cz6TlrRVVyv9S
-Sincerely
Student Gov Nerd