On Campus Dining Options

As a parent, you may be thinking to yourself, “now how on EARTH will my child survive without my wonderful home cooked meals?” From personal experience, I can promise you they will miss it, and be eternally grateful for every meal you feed them over breaks. Until then, Ole Miss has some awesome on-campus dining options to offer its students.

You may have noticed the newly renovated, gigantic Ole Miss Student Union in the middle of campus when you visited for Orientation. The Union is home to some of students favorite fast food restaurants which include:

• McCallisters

• Panda Express

• Which Wich

• Chick-Fil-A

• Qudoba

If you take a trip throughout the rest of campus, your see that Ole Miss also has these dining options:

• Freshii (a salad and rice bowl place)

• Einstein’s Bagels

• Starbucks

• Papa John’s Pizza

• Steak and Shake

• Raising Canes

• The Grill at 1810

And last, but definitely not least:

• The Rebel Market - The rebel market, formally known as the JC (The Johnson Commons), is where you can find the expected college cafeteria food with a twist. They have your typical burgers and fries but they also have items such as pastas, stir fries and sushi so you can never really run out of options.

It’s easy to jump to conclusions and wonder if these dining options will be healthy enough for your child, and we totally get where you’re coming from. Who wouldn’t want to eat a Chick Fil sandwich with waffle fries for every meal? Luckily, every on campus restaurant provides plenty of healthy alternatives that students can take advantage of to avoid that freshman 15. Almost every dining service has nutritious, high protein options that can keep your student energized throughout the entire day.

Ole Miss students pay for their on campus meals with their Meal Plan, Flex Dollars, or Ole Miss Express. If they plan on rushing they do not need a large meal plan. Most sorority and fraternity houses provide 3 meals a day, 5 days a week.

For you parents with growing college sons, we recommend either getting the unlimited meal plan or the Rebel 100. If he plans on rushing, he should be good with the Rebel 100. For the parents with daughters, they should be good with the Rebel 50 or Rebel 100. I had the Rebel 50 my freshman year. I ate several meals at the sorority house and still managed to have meals from my meal plan left over.

If you haven’t already make sure you purchase one a meal plan for your incoming freshman, as it is a requirement from the University. Your student will miss those home-cooked meals, but in the meantime, they can't go wrong with any of the dining options on campus!

#oncampusdining #nutrition #healthfood