Student Reviews

• Manuel Gonzalez

  I’ve only been on campus for a few days and I’m already struggling. There are hardly any vegetarian, let alone vegan options, and the ones that they do have are usually straight carbs with no proteins or fats and half the time aren’t even appetizing, and then just to add to that they contain hardly any calories so you’ll always leave feeling hungry. I was going to start working out at the gym but I don’t get enough calories and protein to live without strenuous exercise, let alone with it. Sometimes there will be a vegan option on the website and in the TVs in the dining halls, but then it’s nowhere in sight and when you ask about it the workers don’t know what you’re talking about.

  I have to disagree that UR is making a genuine effort. In both dining halls they have milk dispensers that say “The only real milk… is milk.” and don’t have any vegan milk in them. At Danforth though there is a fridge that stocks soy and oat milk and non-vegan half and half, and sometimes instead of oat milk there is non-vegan lactose-free milk. They also have lots of signs everywhere advertising cage-free eggs — if there are eggs in something, there is no doubt that instead of just saying eggs it says cage-free eggs. I would not be surprised if the reason for their pro dairy and egg propaganda being there is because of lobbying from the dairy and egg industries, whether indirectly and UR just happened to get caught in it (which I doubt) or directly. There is an all-vegan station at Danforth, and it does have some protein, but it is neither appetizing nor filling.

  The vegan food is so un-filling that I’m starting to feel like I might have to become vegetarian on-campus just to be healthy without wanting to pass out from going on a walk, and maybe even eat occasional meat on the weekends when dining options are even more limited. I’ve been vegan for 3.5 years and have never, EVER had any of these issues, and this is with coming from a low-income background. I’m used to having to go long stretches of time of eating just beans, rice, and home-made pico de gallo for most meals, but now I feel like I’m scavenging for whatever food I can find even though the meal plan is almost $3,500. For this price and this large of a student body (ie. there are sure to be hundreds of vegan and vegetarian students), this is simply unacceptable.

• Melody

  There are lots of great vegan options at the U of R. I love the vegan macaroons and tofutti cream cheese at our mini mart, and the almond milk in Douglass always brings a smile to my face. The Meatless Monday (while sometimes mediocre) are fantastic when done properly. Dining Services even hosts its own Compassionate Thanksgiving (where half of Danforth goes completely vegan), which I think it pretty cool. Who could turn down vegan lentil loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy? Yum!

• Ted C

  Great Vegan menu

• Emily

  It is difficult to eat a balanced diet and maintain a vegan or vegetarian style of eating on this campus. The vegan options often contain common allergens, or are straight simple carbohydrates. A vegan soup is appealing until you look at the ingredients statement and realize that the first ingredient to the soup is margarine… Yes, some more options have been added to Hillside which are vegan snacks, and that’s nice because it’s an easy option for vegans, but they are still processed foods.

• SD

  I’d like to start off on a positive note, by saying that UR is making a genuine effort, and they are miles ahead of most schools. However, there is one vegan station, which is rarely ever appetizing or healthy. In addition, outside of the salad bar most of the vegetarian options are essentially limited to pizza and the vegan station, both of which I emphasize, is not appetizing or healthy. Besides these two stations, most of the other dining hall stations have some kind of meat in them, and you have to wait at least 20 minutes if you would like something customized(without meat) for you.

• Megan Runkle

  I agree the U of R tries. It’s definitely easier for me to eat vegetarian on campus that it is off campus. The vegan station at Danforth gets a little repetitive although I was initially impressed that we even had a vegan station at all. I can always find something to eat, but it’s not always diverse and not always healthy. Compared to other dining halls I’ve seen, U of R has significantly more options and diversity, so I can’t complain too much.

• Simone

  I am always amazed at how the school listens to students feedback on dining options. Each semester there are new options in the POD for vegans and vegetarians. Take this quinoa cup for example. This wasn’t here last semester. Good job UofR!

• Charles Lehner

  There are usually vegan snacks and meals available, and Meatless Mondays are nice. There used to be vegan muffins and cookies from a local bakery but they were replaced this year by doritos and stuff because Pepsi.

• judith

  this rating is a joke. i’m a senior at the university and have been vegetarian/vegan the entire time i’ve been at school here. not only are the options severally limited, they’re pretty much limited to extremely unhealthy food that is prepared poorly or the exact same salad bar every day. if i weren’t paying 55k every year for this school i wouldn’t complain but the way they promote themselves really makes the students here laugh. there is an extreme disconnect between the majority of the students and the administration, as well as the professors and the administration. if you want to attend university of rochester it should be for our academics and professors who care deeply about the students, but the university needs to stop pretending that it’s investing effort into anything other than making sure they’re expanding our campus enough to enroll more students who can pay the full tuition (our application process is no longer need-blind).

• Brittany Flittner

  Not satisfied at all. There really aren’t a lot of options, making it extremely difficult to become vegan.

• Roy Moger-Reischer

  The University of Rochester tries, I’ll give you that. For example, one of the three soups is always vegan-friendly. My complaint is that the vegan food that is offered is usually rather unhealthy. That is the say, the vegan “station” consists of a frying pan. Let’s see, what else is consistently vegan-friendly… Oh, right: There’s always a vegan dessert! If you’re looking for a real meal, look off-campus.

  That said, the salad bar is excellent. Unfortunately, I feel compelled to eat from the salad bar every day of my life.