The Grossest College Cafeterias

Before embarking on your four year educational journey, you should consider the quality of your school’s cafeteria. Particularly if you're about to attend college in the middle of nowhere. In that case, you'll have to suffer through some of the worst school cafeteria food in the country with no Pizza Hut or Papa John’s to take respite in. If your school has consecutively failed health inspections for the last two years and the lunch lady with the big hairy mole keeps winking at you while serving you yesterday’s recycled spaghetti, you may have no choice but to invest in a lifetime supply of Easy Mac and Ramen.

Sure, it’s a college cafeteria and not a five star restaurant. But if your cafeteria has a nickname like Mizzou’s “Dirty Dobbs,” we advise getting a limited meal plan so you can eat off campus and saving your meal swipes for severe hunger pangs only.

Until these cafeterias get their act together, get used to the cereal bar. Or, you know, learn to cook. Sometimes, even the salad isn’t safe. And yes, according to some students, you can even mess up salad. Badly. Meet the incredibly inedible: The Grossest College Cafeterias.

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School: Hampton University
Location: Hampton, Va.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4218
Student rant: "Food of Death: The food at Hampton University is DISGUSTING. The food is the complete opposite of 'southern cooking'. Most students come in the cafe and leave directly out because the dishes are not attractive to the stomachs of most. The food is horrible and typically gives out stomach aches. As another minus, the dining staff are ex convicts with the attitudes of prisoners who envy the students." -anonymous [via College Prowler]

Hampton U has what we call a "revolving door" policy: students go in to eat food, they see and/or smell the food, and then walk out. Some of Hampton's specialty dishes include mac 'n cheese with strawberries and baked fish with sliced oranges. To say the cafeteria has room for improvement would be a gross understatement. Pull yourself together, Hampton U.

School: Central State University
Location: Wilberforce, O.H.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4062
Student rant: "Tastes terrible, low quality, limited options. Get a mini fridge, milk, and cereal to get by; ramen noodles are a staple as well."- dcat [via College Prowler]

The limited selections at Central State have students waiting on their coveted Chicken Wednesdays and Fish Fridays. Every other day of the week is dedicated to finding something—anything—else to eat around campus once you've tired of eating Taco Bell Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

School: Mercy College
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $3350
Student rant: "There was no fresh food. Everything was flavorless and they served the same thing everyday."-Danny Mitchell, former Mercy student

Have mercy on Mercy College students who get egg shells in their breakfast burritos and burnt quesadillas for dinner. If consuming the exact same menu over and over again doesn't wear on you, the nausea-inducing food will do the trick.

School: Hunter College
Location: New York, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: Pay as you go
Student rant: "Food Poison. The food here is atrocious. I had numerous friends get food poisoning from the sushi and pizza. Everything is so overpriced, many people just eat outside."-Shahela [via College Prowler]

Hunter is a commuter school, which might explain (at least somewhat) the very small amount of effort put into the school's dining options. Rather than hit the cafeteria, most people just snack from the vending machines. Who says vanilla wafers layered with fritos isn't an acceptable lunch option?

School: Eastern Michigan University
Location: Ypsilanti, Mich.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4334
Student rant: "All of the food is processed, so it is like eating [fast food] all day everyday."-AndreCarterr [via College Prowler]

"Why eat at The Commons when you can get cheaper processed food in a drive-thru window?" said every Easter Mich U. student, ever.

School: Fashion Institute of Technology
Location: New York, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $3976
Student rant: "Too Expensive. With so many food choices available to students within a couple of block radius, I don't undestand why the FIT cafeteria prices their food so ridiculously high. It's a waste of money. The quality of food is definitely not worth the price. I NEVER buy on campus."- nicolecatiee [via College Prowler]

If you're paying top dollar to go to a fashion school in New York City, your cafeteria better be bangin'. Too bad FIT students can't say that about their dining hall. Most students get sick of the bland, overpriced food and quickly vow to never buy a meal plan again. Being that New York City is a mecca for good eats, we'd say that's a smart choice.

School: Morgan State University
Location: Baltimore, Md.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $3190
Student rant: "Not Too Good. The main cafeteria (known as the 'Refac' by students, rumored for 'refactory,' reusing uneaten food over and over again) has food that's typically bland and uninspired. The cafeteria offers few options, much like a high school cafeteria (eat this, or salad, or some cereal or a waffle)."- nuevarine [via College Prowler]

Morgan State is home to "Refac," also known as the "Re-factory" because the food is rumored to be reheated and reused as many times as the kitchen desires. Unfortunately for Morgan State students, that's over and over and over and over.

School: Montclair State University
Location: Monclair, N.J.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4000
Student rant: "The food was really bad and flavorless. There was nothing that tasted fresh and absolutely no variety. And there were dirty utensils all the time."- Debbie Encalada, current Montclair student

One word: laxatives. We suggest a small meal plan and begging mom to send canned goods so you can stock up your dorm's rations for when times get tough. And, oh, they will get tough.

School: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4104
Student rant: "The food was flavorless. It tasted like it was made for a senior citizen's home. We have two dining halls and both were really bad."- LaMonday Baxter, current UNC student

UNC students have all agreed that the meal plan is not worth the money. Here's another school that is barely scraping by, with dissapointingly average scores straight across the board. Most students complain about the utterly bland food and weird seasoning. The real question is: what did Michael Jordan eat?

School: Salem State University
Location: Salem, M.A.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $3240
Student rant: "The food here is horrible. The ingredients have zero nutritional value so when you eat the food you need to run to the bathroom 10 min later.The meat is a terrible quality, and their idea of healthy food is drenched in oil, butter, or cheese. I was one the meal plan for one semester and ate the food for 2 weeks before being refunded."- CristenAnn [via College Prowler]

Just like many of the other school's on our list, Salem State's cafeteria is run by Chartwells a.k.a. "Shartwells" dining service. From that nickname alone, you can only imagine how awful the food can get. Cereal and ramen will be your best friend if you decided to attend Salem. Don't say we didn't warn you.

School: SUNY University at Albany
Location: Albany, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4300
Student rant: "Remember the Plastic Toy Food? That's what the food here tastes like. If you live off campus, save yourself thousands of dollars and opt out of a meal plan. I rather order out everyday than eat this food. It is not healthy by any means and tastes like clay."- blacksabbath92 [via College Prowler]

SUNY Albany is a big school, and as such, has five dining halls. According to our research, out of the five, State Dining Hall is ranked the worst. There always has to be the runt of the group, right? With questionable items such as Lo Mein salad and Spanish Macaroni Casserette pizza on the menu, we trust the ranking to be pretty accurate.

School: Benedict College
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: N/A [Included in room and board]
Student rant: "We were on the news for health code violations, they reheat the same food, and they've been building us a new cafe for forever."- Gtrunkz31 [via College Prowler]

Last year, Benedict's temporary dining facility scored a 52% on their routine inspection—that's a C. Three days later, they scored 75% on their follow-up inspection. The Department of Health and Environmental Control stated that there were no threatening health hazards that would shut them down, but a 75 is still pretty awful. Not to mention, unappetizing.

School: Louisiana College
Location: Pineville, La.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $2880
Student rant: "They have failed their health inspection two years in a row."- dawnbreaker1025 [via College Prowler]

Hattie B's is the staple dining hall at Louisiana College. You can get everything from breakfast waffles, lunch burgers, to dinner salads, which sounds pretty appealing right? Only, the waffles are drenched in butter and the burger meat is slathered in grease. It's all about the details. And the worst part? The dining hall closes at 5:30 p.m. on the weekends. So much for satisfying the late-night munchies...

School: SUNY Buffalo State College
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4564
Student rant: "The Food at Buffalo State College is among the worst food I have ever consumed. The food in Iraq was better and that is no joke!"- cvanvol [via Vcuramnation]

SUNY Buffalo is another school that is guilty of serving the same food over and over again. The main complaint students have is that it's hard to fill their plates since they've grown so sick of having hot dogs...again. One solution students have found to avoid the dining hall is converting their meal plan into campus cash so they can splurge at Burger King when they feel like they've had enough. Whoppers for days are better than slimy hot dogs, right?

School: Fordham University
Location: Bronx, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4640
Student rant: "The food on campus is wretched. We had the distinguished honor of winning most disgusting food last year and believe me it was well deserved."- BowensK [via College Prowler]

Fordham University is notorious for their god awful cafeterias. Most of the complaints stem from the flavorless food, ridiculously overpriced meal plans, and the filthy cafeterias. But this is nothing new for Fordham students. The food has been an ongoing issue at the school for sometime now. After years of failed health inspections, Fordham students have rightfully said that eating the food immediately leads to feeling unwell. Thankfully, Fordham is located in New York City, so off campus food choices are plentiful. The only caveat? First year students are required to purchase a meal plan. We pity you, freshmen.

School: Denison University
Location: Granville, O.H.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4570
Student rant: "To Be Avoided at All Cost!!! Honestly it's pretty unacceptable how awful the dining experience is. Because Denison is isolated and requires all students to live on campus all four years, a good dining experience is a necessity. Students have been complaining since the 80s about the food being so bad, yet nothing has been done about it. If you are into healthy food (like me), you will find options extremely limited and very poor quality. The cafeterias are also dated."- Anonymous [via College Prowler]

An anonymous student on College Prowler wrote, "The best is when the vegans found out that the fries were being cooked in animal lard. Man, were they pissed." We'd be pissed, too. Denison clearly needs to make a better effort to meet students' specific dietary needs. That's the kind of situation that could cause a riot. No more rookie mistakes, Denison.

School: Wesleyan College
Location: Macon, Ga.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: N/A [Included in room and board]
Student rant: "Dining hall food can be disappointing at most times."-hana1, current Wesleyan student [via Cappex]

Anderson Dining Hall's biggest flaw is being just plain average. The women of Wesleyan College claim that there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of the selection. All cheesburgers and no variety makes Wesleyan a dull cafeteria. There are also timing issues. There is only a two hour block for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so if you can't make lunch from 11:15 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., you have to make time for dinner at 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., or you'll be shit out of luck. Trying to get a meal has never been so stressful.

School: Westminster College
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $3344
Student rant: "Shawful... Shaw dinning hall is just bad. The prices are ridiculous, small amount of choices and some rude staff. Not saying all the food is bad, most of it tastes really good. It just sucks when your hungry at 9pm on a Saturday and there is nowhere to buy food on campus." -anonymous [via College Prowler]

Shaw Dining Hall at Westminster College is "Shawful," a term that was coined by the student body to accurately describe the soaring prices of meal plans and the sub par food. Luckily for Shaw's reputation, it's the prices that people are most unhappy about. Students complain that they should be have far better grub considering the price tag of their meal plan. You'll often see students walking around in circles, looping around the caf over and over as they survey the limited choices, desperately searching for something edible. At least they're getting some cardio in!

School: Bard College
Location: Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: N/A [Included in room and board]
Student rant: "If I were to do it again, I would not go here. I really underestimated the importance of food."- Disillusioned [via College Prowler]

Bard College students get ragey when it comes to their cafeteria, and we don't blame them. If we were forced to consume veggies drenched in oil and found hair in our food, we might just blow a fit, too. One of the main issues the cafeteria has is that there is only one main dining facility. Many students have attempted to give the cafeteria constructive feedback on improvements, but it often goes unheeded. The advice most upperclassmen give to freshman at Bard: Don't waste your time. Just buy your own grub. Live and learn.

School: Ohio Northern University
Location: Ada, O.H.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $5220
Student rant: "Extremely Limited With a Repetitive Menu – There are only two eating locations on campus and each has a concrete menu. One is buffet style, so there are some options, although limited. The other location is in the same building and only has a six item menu at a rather high cost for campus cash worth. Freshman year, as well as those living in dorms, have to buy a meal plan to eat at these locations."- aschroeder7 [via College Prowler]

Ohio Northern students can give credit to their upsettingly unappetizing cafeteria for bringing their students together. Want to talk to that girl you've been eyeing in class? Talk about the Tuna Casserole. She'll most definitely know what you're talking about. You can bond over the fact that there are no meal options and how ridiculously expensive your crappy meal plan was. The next thing you know, you'll be thanking the cooks in the kitchen for their bland and overcooked concoctions because you just scored yourself a date. But where will you two eat? OH NOEZ.

School: Shaw University
Location: Raleigh, N.C.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4150
Student rant: "I wouldn't give it a F because it comes in handy when your REALLY hungry. I gave it a D-minus because when your not starving but just regular hungry the food sucks. They don't have variety, it's like the same thing everyday, some of the food is over cooked, undercooked, or just plain nasty. The food just gets boring if their not surprising you with NEW things." - courtlpayne [via College Prowler]

One student on College Prowler wrote, "The food is OK but not something you should eat everyday." We had no idea what they meant by that. But, taken in context with the comment above, you begin to get a sense of what the student might mean. When you have to put up a disclaimer about the food at your school, you might as well be saying the food is inedible. Hey, at least you won't have to worry about gaining the freshman 15. It's all about perspective.

School: Wells College
Location: Aurora, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: N/A [Included in room and board]
Student rant: "It gave me food poisoning."- Sarah, current Wells student. [via Cappex]

If you're attending a small school like Wells College, you better be satisfied with the food selection, because that's all you're going to get. With an undergraduate class of barely 500 students, Wells should be able to keep their student's stomachs satisfied, right? Wrong. Students constantly complain about the poorly prepared food. Like a bad girlfriend, there are days when the food is on, and then there are days when the food is wayyyy off. After experiencing an off day at the dining hall, at least you can tell yourself that Taco Tuesday is right around the corner.

School: New College of Florida
Location: Sarasota, Fla.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $5394
Student rant: "Ham food is the worst. Honestly, the only thing that they do right is the bacon egg and cheese croissants for breakfast. The pizza at late night is okay sometimes. Other than that, it's expensive, greasy, and disgusting."- lauralooloo [via College Prowler]

According to College Prowler, the students of New College of Florida give their school cafeteria a D+. And that's being generous. The Hamilton "Ham" Center Dining Hall operates during strange hours, leaving most students flock to the student-run Four Winds Cafe to get a bite in. Eating at Ham means enduring unhealthy and expensive food, not to mention, a tastebud-dulling routine of the same foods day in and day out. But, hey, at least the cafeteria workers are friendly.

School: College of Mount Saint Vincent
Location: Bronx, N.Y.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $3100
Student rant: "The food service from Chartwell's is sub par but its the kitchen workers that make the whole cafeteria look and feel disgusting."- Eric Sharkey, current student at College of Mount Saint Vincent

After sitting through a full day of classes, the last thing you want to do is head to the cafeteria and find the same food you've been eating every day, all month. What's worse? If you get out of class late, it's unlikely that any of the dining halls will even be open. The unfortunate students of Mount Saint Vincent have to endure these conditions every day. What's a poor college student with no decent grub to do? Hop on the 1 train towards Manhattan and get some real food, that's what.

School: Drew University
Location: Madison, N.J.
Avg. cost of meal plan/year: $4420
Student rant: "Get the Meal Plan with points, NOT Meals. From the moment I arrived at Drew students have been passing around petitions to improve the food, and many others have been developing and sharing creative tricks for putting together an edible meal from what is available. Cereal is always a safe bet, and DIY stir-fry is always a popular option, but it tends to be a long wait." -richelek [via College Prowler]

Trying hard or hardly trying? Drew University students have been complaining about the food for a minute and nothing has been done about it. Students have even went as far as petitioning the horrible quality of the food and unrealistic hours of the dining hall, but have yet to see any changes. What's it going to take? It’s hard out there for a Drew Ranger.