Whether you’re an extreme foodie, a casual baker, or a popcorn and ramen lover, finding a kitchen on campus that suits your needs can be challenging. And now, I’ve made your lives easier by rating the most accessible residence hall kitchens on campus.
I’ve organized the residence halls in alphabetical order and I’ll be using four types of criteria that were administered at a random day of the week at a random time using a 5-point scale:
Cleanliness (1 – disgusting to 5 – squeaky clean)
How tidy the space is on an average day. Are there dirty dishes? Food left out? Are the counters clean?
Appliances (1 – nothing useful to 5 – everything you’d ever need)
What kinds of appliances are available? Does the oven work? How big is the fridge?
Size (1 – cramped to 5 – very spacious)
Can you move around easily? How many people can fit in the room easily?
Counter Space (1 – nowhere to work to 5 – counters galore)
Are you confined to a small side counter, or is there a table to work at?
Note: Babbit, Milbank, Morris House, Kirkland, and Bundy will not be rated since they’ve either have no kitchen at all, or fancy apartment style kitchens which, in that case, your kitchen is what you make it.
Carnegie (“Carn”)
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 5
This kitchen was spotless. There was only one fork in the sink.
Appliances: 4
The kitchen in Carn had a microwave, fridge, sink, oven and even a blender for all your green smoothie needs.
Size: 5
This kitchen was very spacious with plenty of places to work and cook.
Counter Space: 5
A huge island as well as side counters will give you plenty of places to work.
Dunham
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 4
Surprisingly clean, but the counters were a bit sticky.
Appliances: 4
Oven, microwave, fridge, and sink.
Size: 3
Decently sized, but there was not a lot of room for multiple people to work at the same time.
Counter Space: 3
Not a lot of counter space, but there is a common room table which is helpful.
Eells
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 3
A lot of crumbs on the counter, and there were dishes both in the sink and on the counter.
Appliances: 5
This kitchen had everything: oven, fridge, microwave, big sink, dishwasher, crock pot, and coffee maker.
Size: 4
Pretty spacious with enough room for many people to work at the same time.
Counter Space: 4
Counters on the sides, and a whole room next door with some tables as added work space.
Ferguson (“Ferg”)
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 4
A few crumbs and stickiness on the counters but very clean overall.
Appliances: 4
Fridge, microwave, oven, and sink.
Size: 5
Very spacious, plenty of room to work everywhere.
Counter Space: 5
Nice counters on the sides and a huge table to work on as well.
Keehn
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 4
Clean overall, just a few crumbs on the counter.
Appliances: 4
Sink, fridge, oven, and microwave.
Size: 4
Pretty spacious, enough room for multiple people to work at the same time.
Counter Space: 3
A little bit of space on a side counter, and one table that could also be used as a counter.
Major
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 3
Dirty dishes in the sink, ingredients left out, crumbs on the counter.
Appliances: 3
Fridge, oven, microwave, sink, all relatively clean.
Size: 3
Pretty spacious room, but the actual work area was pretty cramped.
Counter Space: 3
A large table to work on in the middle, but no counter space by the oven and sink which would be a big setback.
McIntosh
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 4
Some counters were a little dirty, but overall very tidy.
Appliances: 3
Fridge, oven, microwave, sink, all relatively clean.
Size: 3
Spacious room, but just like Major, the actual work area was pretty cramped.
Counter Space: 3
A large table to work on in the middle, but again, no counter space by the oven and sink.
Minor
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 3
Dirty dishes in the sink and a bunch of ingredients left out on the table.
Appliances: 3
Fridge, oven, microwave, and sink.
Size: 3
Same setup as Major and McIntosh with a spacious room, but a cramped work area.
Counter Space: 3
A large table in the middle, but no counter space by the oven and sink.
North
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 1
Ew…There were dirty dishes everywhere, and the counters were sticky and gross.
Appliances: 4
Oven, sink, fridge, and microwave.
Size: 2
Shoved in the corner of a common room, pretty cramped.
Counter Space: 1
There really wasn’t anywhere to work beside a super small counter.
Root
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 2
Tons of dirty dishes in the sink and pots on the stove.
Appliances: 3
Fridge, oven, microwave, and sink.
Size: 1
Not really sure if this counts as a kitchen, but rather, kitchen appliances in a common room.
Counter Space: 2
There was one common room table that could be used as a counter.
South
Photo by Kaitlyn Thayer
Cleanliness: 3
Lots of dishes on the counter and in the sink.
Appliances: 4
Oven, microwave, fridge, and sink.
Size: 3
Pretty good size, but would feel cramped with a lot of people.
Counter Space: 3
Good side counters, but cluttered with dishes, and a small side table.
Wallace Johnson (“Wally J”)
Photo by Katherine O’Malley
Cleanliness: 5
Very clean, ingredients were out but neatly stacked/put away.
Appliances: 2
This kitchen doesn’t even have a sink, and sinks are a vital component of kitchens.
Size: 3
Not huge, but not too cramped. Being able to access the counter on both sides is very helpful.
Counter Space: 3
It has a great counter to the side, but is missing space near the oven (and the nonexistent sink).
Wertimer
Photo by Katherine O’Malley
Photo by Katherine O’Malley
Cleanliness: 4
Fairly clean, large table spotless and a few dishes in the sink.
Appliances: 4
Oven, microwave, sink, and fridge.
Size: 3
Decent sized room, but set up and the table in the middle makes it cramped.
Counter Space: 4
There’s a huge table in the middle of the kitchen when gives you plenty to work on.
Concluding Thoughts
All in all, Carnegie and Ferguson had very impressive kitchens, whereas North and Root were both lacking. However, depending on your kitchen requirements, really any kitchen could fit your needs.