UCSD Dining Part 1 - Revelle, Muir, and Thurgood Marshall

Whether you're an incoming freshman or a transfer student, you gotta eat, right? I doubt Yelp.com has anything about UCSD dining halls either, but have no fear! I am going to provide to you my experiences with the UCSD dining halls:

Revelle - Plaza Cafe and Plaza On The Side (POTS)
When I was a freshman, and this is at the very beginning of my college career, I thought Plaza was the greatest thing ever because it was like eating Hometown Buffet type food for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. Though I rarely made it up for breakfast, their breakfast is pretty damn good. Towards the end of my freshman year, I grew to hate Plaza and found myself only eating the rotisserie chicken and/or chicken strips for every meal. A couple of years later, I realized how much I missed it after I left it lol. After living in Warren College for a year and frequenting other dining halls, I have concluded that Plaza Cafe has the MOST variety out of all of the dining halls at UCSD. The food might not be the best, but the variety is what makes it stand out from the other dining halls. So if you're living in Revelle, you'll probably get sick of Plaza after a while, but don't take it for granted.

Plaza On The Side (POTS) is a late night type convenient store that serves leftovers from Plaza after Plaza has closed. Plaza closes at 8pm and I think POTS closes at 12am. POTS is a great place for a late night snack or coffee if you're up studying late for a midterm that you should have been studying for last week.

My recommendations: From Plaza, I recommend the Rotisserie Chicken (although I've had it for so long, it is still bomb), Spicy Chicken Strips, and the Buffalo Wings. From POTS, Nachos with cheese and jalapenos ftw. Enough said.

Muir - Sierra Summit and El Mercado
Sierra Summit's food is pretty solid. Again I don't think their variety is as wide as Plaza, and the food area is not as big either, but their food is solid. Their stir-fry is good depending on who makes it, because sometimes they make it uber salty and it's just gross after like the first half. Other than that, check out the rotisserie section for the daily specials which are usually pretty good. And if all else fails, you can go to the carvery or deli part where they make sandwiches to order a slice of turkey with two sides or something.

El Mercado is an open-for-lunch-only dining hall that only serves Mexican food. I think they open at like 11am until like 3pm or so. This place is pretty good if you can make it there when their open, and although sometimes there's a huge line, it usually moves pretty quickly so just be patient.

My recommendations: From Sierra Summit, any of the specials at the Rotisserie should be pretty good, or otherwise go to the carvery. Or you can get the stir-fry at your own risk. From El Mercado, the Enchiladas with two sides are awesome. Their Horchata...ehh..not so much.

Thurgood Marshall - Ocean View Terrace (OVT)
This dining hall was perhaps my favorite place to go my first year and second year of college. Mainly because it is the dining hall that stays open the latest (It closes at midnight). The overall variety is alright, not as great as Plaza's. But I would say that the quality of the food is a little better. They usually have a themed meal (Asian, Indian, Italian) depending on what day it is. Their Mexican food is awesome, especially their burritos because of their massive size. Both the breakfast burrito and regular burrito (both of which you can customize yourself when you order), are godly. And if you're really feeling bold, you can try eating the SUPER Quesadilla. Yes, I capitalized AND bolded the super because it's THAT super. For example, one of my friends had to play tricks on his mind to overcome the feat of finishing it. So if you're up to it, get that, but other than that, OVT's wraps (made at the deli) are pretty good and...there's nothing else that is worth noting.

My recommendations: OVT should automatically scream late night Mexican food because of the burritos they have to offer. And the SUPER Quesadilla, if you're up to the challenge. Let me know if you finish one, I would like to shake your hand.

This post is long enough already, so I'll continue with the 3 other dining halls tomorrow. I hope this gives you guys from Revelle, Muir, and TMC an idea of what the food is like at your respective colleges.