Dartmouth Dining Hall

December 2, 2022

By AdmissionSight

Dartmouth Dining Hall

Where Do Students Eat At Dartmouth?

Swipes are required to enter the Class of 1953 Commons, also known to students as “FoCo,” where they have unlimited access to the dining hall’s culinary options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Students can use the swipe to get a numeric meal swipe equivalent to any Dartmouth dining hall. The value of this equivalent depends on the time of day. Like a debit card, dining dollars can be used to pay for items that your swipe’s meal equivalency value does not cover at various dining locations around campus. Now, where do students eat at Dartmouth? Here are some options for students in dining on campus.

‘53 Commons (FoCo)

The all-you-can-eat Dartmouth dining hall is called ’53 Commons (FoCo). Students can select from an omelet station, an oatmeal bar, and continental breakfast products for breakfast. There are also other stations with cereal, yogurts, fruits, and pastries. A salad and soup bar, pizza and pasta station, stir fry station, grilled and fried meals, a daily entree, vegetarian and vegan options, and kosher and halal food are all included in the similar lunch and supper menus.

Due to its size alone, ’53 Commons is undoubtedly the most well-liked restaurant, but it’s also a fantastic choice if you’re seeking dinner in a lively social setting.

Collis Café and Market

The Collis Center for Student Involvement offers a cafe and market in addition to offices and conference spaces. For breakfast and lunch, Collis is a convenient place to grab a bite to eat because it is situated directly between ’53 Commons and Main Street.

If you’re searching for a lighter meal or a quick place to grab and go, Collis Breakfast is the place to go. Students can get breakfast, deli sandwiches, eggs, and smoothies in the morning. Collis’ dinner menu is renowned for its pasta station, which comes with a side of garlic bread, and stir-fries with a variety of protein and vegetable selections. Another popular dish is freshly cooked Collis sushi, which is prepared by a chef. Along with pre-made sandwiches, pastries, fruits, and other quick snacks, there is a coffee and tea station accessible in addition to the fresh food options.

Dartmouth Dining intends to install a bubble tea machine at Collis Cafe this year. Director of Dartmouth Dining Services Jon Plodzik stressed that his staff hopes it becomes a favorite method of utilizing meal swipes and dining bucks.

In addition to selling food and school supplies, Collis Market is a campus convenience store that is housed in the basement of Collis Center. It provides products related to health, beauty, and wellness. The Collis Market accepts DA$H and credit cards for payments.

Novack Café

Novack Cafe, conveniently situated on the first floor of Berry Library, is perfect for students in need of a boost of energy while on campus. With a meal swipe equivalency or DBA, Novack sells a wide range of Starbucks beverages, heated sandwiches, pastries, and bagels in addition to several prepackaged munchies.

Some evenings of the week, Novack is also available for a fourth meal session called late night. The place to go for a coffee or sugar run is Late Night at Novack, which frequently feeds students studying late in the library and offers its whole menu. Normally, after leaving the library, students will go downstairs, have a snack with some buddies, and then go back up to their desks or wherever they are working.

On campus, Novack employs several students. Due to the location’s accommodating hours, substantial salary, and sense of community, a large portion of Novack’s staff consists of first-generation, low-income students.

Courtyard Cafe (The Hop)

Due to its closure throughout the previous academic year, Courtyard Cafe will be new to members of the Class of 2025.

The cafe is housed inside the Hopkins Center for the Arts and specializes in grilled and fried cuisine, as well as a large selection of vegetarian and vegan options. Juniors and seniors refer to it as “The Hop.” Students will be able to sample “Incogmeato” menu items like veggie burgers, vegan soups, and dishes that resemble meat, according to Plodzik as well.

This fall, the Hop, like Novack, will once more provide late-night dining until midnight, serving every fried and grilled snack you could want, including waffle fries, mozzarella sticks, mac and cheese bites, onion rings, and so much more. Since most Dartmouth students arrive with friends, late nights at this Dartmouth dining hall end up being a significant component of their social lives.

Ramekin

According to Plodzik, Ramekin Cafe, which is housed in Anonymous Hall and is close to the Geisel School of Medicine, largely caters to graduate students, while it is also accessible to undergraduates. Sandwiches, soups, salads, and Starbucks coffee are available at the cafe.

At the Irving Institute for Energy and Society, a new eating option is probably going to open this fall. The restaurant, “Renew,” will feature bubble tea and cafe-style selections akin to Ramekin and Collis Cafe. Once the Irving Institute is built, Renew won’t open until the beginning of November.

Residential Snack Bars

Residential snack bars, which were shut down during the epidemic, will reopen in time for the fall semester and serve students from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. The three snack bars may be found at Brace Commons, which is part of the East Wheelock cluster, Goldstein Hall, which is part of the McLaughlin cluster, and House Center B, also known as “The Cube,” which is situated between the Allen and School House clusters. These snack bars will mostly be operated by students and will serve prepared snacks, candy, and treats.

Because Dartmouth students move around a lot, often between different buildings, Plodzik noted, “[The snack bars] were designed to bring people together, because you tend to move so many times when you’re a Dartmouth student, in between buildings, that this is like the one place that you could kind of call your second home.”

He continued by saying that he hoped the longer hours and more relaxed atmosphere of the snack bars would help students as they adapted to college life. When the epidemic hit, all restaurants closed at midnight.

Other Dining Options

Even if the above-mentioned dining establishments are the most well-liked among undergraduates, there are a few alternative options around campus in case you are unsatisfied.

A new eatery dubbed “Back of the Napkin” will be in the Center for Engineering and Computer Science building, which is now under construction but should be accessible to students by the fall. This eatery will provide a variety of grab-and-go dishes and a place where customers can “brew their own espresso” according to Plodzik.

How Many Dining Halls Does Dartmouth Have?

How many dining halls does Dartmouth have? On campus, there are five main dining options: FoCo, Collis, the Hop, Ramekin, and Novack. Dartmouth’s dining scene offers a similarly diverse picture. Everyone can find something to eat at one of the five on-campus restaurants, which offer everything from specialty burgers to stir-fry and smoothies.

There are lots of vegetarian alternatives available, and dessert is renowned on campus; one graduate from 2016 claimed that even a year after graduating, she was still dreaming of FoCo’s chocolate chip cookies.

FoCo (formally known as Class of 1953 Commons) is an all-you-can-eat buffet-style restaurant with a superb selection of desserts as well as a constantly changing menu of soups, salads, stir-fries, pizza, home-style, vegetarian, and kosher dishes. Other options include The Hop, which is renowned for its grill and salads with an international flair; Collis, which serves smoothies, stir-fries, pasta, salads, and a variety of other delicious soups and specials; and KAF, the Dartmouth location of the well-known local bakery King Arthur Flour, which is famous for its pastries, coffee, and sandwiches. With a handy location inside Baker-Berry Library, Novack offers quick lunches and study snacks.

Dartmouth’s dining options provide (deliciously and sustainably) the nutrition necessary for success, whether you want a quick snack on the way to class or a three-hour, four-course dinner discussion with friends.

What Time Do Dining Halls Open At Dartmouth?

It’s important to take note of what time do dining halls open at Dartmouth. The regular hours for Dartmouth dining halls can be reviewed below for Fall 2022.

The Class of 1953 Commons (FoCo)