"Get the 14 meal per week plan," they said. "You can always switch down," they said. University of Kentucky likes to push their meal plans to unsuspecting freshmen, insisting that it is very likely students will need those 14 meals a week (which they never do, because most restaurants are either closed or have weird hours on the weekends). Silly me for irrationally wanting nourishment on Saturdays.
If you live in a dorm like I do, the meal plan is mandatory, so the meal swipe is my primary source of sustenance. Through this I have learned my way around the dining halls and various restaurants on campus and have formed strong opinions about each.
UK has some pretty solid dining choices, so there was a fair amount of competition in the rankings. I enlisted a few friends and together we made a comprehensive ranking of the restaurants on campus.
So without further ado, here are the worst-to-best restaurants at UK.
15. Blazer Dining
I'd like to preface this by saying that Blazer gets a really bad rap that it doesn't quite deserve. The staff is usually pretty nice and the food is adequate. However, sometimes Blazer is just really, really, really nasty. Like The 90, Blazer sometimes give you food that's just not quite... edible (i.e. under-cooked chicken or food that has clearly been out for hours). However, as a friend once told me "The 90 is better not because the food is better, but because the atmosphere is better." It's a pretty traditional dining hall, so you get what you'd expect from it. I'm always down for their pasta though.
14. Intermezzo
The set-up in here is wonky. You go in looking for where the line starts, but the people who already ordered have started their own confusing line for some reason and you don't know when to order until one of the people working there screams at you. The food is pretty decent and conveniently close to Whitehall, but the service stresses me out.
13. La Madeleine
Let me get this out: we could have had a Panera and the students voted for La Madeleine? Clearly the election was rigged somehow. I'm not accusing UK of voter fraud, but I'm not not accusing them. La Madeleine's food is fine, but it's hella expensive. It doesn't accept meal swipes either so I just feel like I'm blowing a lot of money for mediocre food. And it's not Panera. I just don't think I can move past that.
12. Steak N' Shake
Most campus chain restaurants pale in comparison to the real thing, and Steak N' Shake is a prime example of that: bad service and food that just makes me kinda sad. The real Steak N' Shake is sublime, but the campus restaurant's food is just soggy and gross. On the other hand, you've gotta love being able to get a burger at 1 a.m.
11. Subway
Subway is like one of those nice-yet-forgettable contestants on the Bachelorette: reliable, but pretty bland. Like if you were the Bachelorette, you'd keep this person around for their reliability but ultimately you wouldn't pick them. Subway would be that person. Considering that it's located in Bowman's Den, the one place on campus that is perpetually crowded, the wait is usually not too long and I haven't had any bad experiences.
10. Greens To Go
Okay, is it just me or do the people working here seem like they hate their jobs? I don't think it's just me. It's nice to have a healthy option in Bowman's, but the salads are super expensive. The small salad is just under a meal swipe, and I'd honestly rather go to Blazer for a salad if I were on that side of campus.
9. The 90
Rest in peace to all vegans that enter The 90, I'm sorry nobody fed you. I mean seriously, why have a vegan section if all that's ever put out is bread? I've heard that there are vegan options there sometimes, but I've never seen it. The 90 has all of the same food problems as Blazer, but it is just more aesthetically pleasing. Again, never going to pass up the pasta. I do enjoy going to The 90 though because the selection is enormous. Plus, meal swipe.
8. Aqua Sushi
I finally decided to try Aqua the other day, and it made me super happy. The sushi is pretty mediocre, but I don't really care. I feel like most college students don't know what good sushi is anyways. It's kind of pricey, but it's pretty comparable to Kroger's and I can use flex on it. Most college campuses don't have anything in the way of sushi, so I appreciate Aqua.
7. Taco Bell
Are you looking for a disgusting-yet-delicious way to turn your guts inside out? Look no further than Taco Bell. I love Taco Bell. I know it's trash, but it's my trash (that sentence could be applied to a lot of things in my life including T.V. shows and human beings). It's so cheap. I understand why people hate Taco Bell because it is a perfect mixture of complete garbage and poison, but that's the beauty of it. Taco Bell is my friend.
6. Panda Express
As with all of the restaurants in Bowman's, the line can get aggravatingly long. However, Panda Express can't do wrong in my book. Despite the fact that they are usually out of basically every entree besides orange chicken, I'm cool with it. I'd marry the orange chicken if I could.
5. Common Grounds
When I asked my friends where they thought I should rank Common Grounds, I either got the top of the list or the bottom. While I agree that the service can be incredibly slow at times, it's no worse than Bowman's and it's real food (you know what I mean there). The chicken paninis are pretty good, and it's just a nice place to chill out. I usually do homework while I'm waiting anyways, so I don't mind. Plus it's really close for us North Campus folks.
4. Chick-Fil-A
I've never been to a Chick-Fil-A I didn't like; at the same time, I've never been to a Chick-Fil-A where I didn't have to wait an exorbitant amount of time to get my food. When this Chick-Fil-A runs out of food, it quickly becomes the slowest line in Bowman's. The chicken is just too good though.
3. Rising Roll
Rising Roll's got a pretty solid menu, and it is arguably the best at managing lunch rush out of all the campus restaurants. The food is similar to Common Grounds, but it's just slightly better.
2. Einstein Brothers
Hear me out: I hate both the wait times and the atmosphere of this Einsteins, but I just really love the food. I mean seriously, they have pizza bagels! If pizza bagels don't get you excited, nothing will. I'm also a fan of getting the chocolate chip bagels with Nutella spread. Try doing that at any of these other restaurants, you can't. If I wanted to hang out and do homework, I'd go to Common Grounds. Einstein is serious business to me.
#SpoonTip: The Tapingo app makes ordering on campus waaaay faster.
1. Freshii
I know this is a controversial opinion, and I'm sorry if this hurts you. But Freshii is the bomb. My usual order is the fiesta salad and Freshii Green smoothie, and I use two meal swipes on it. It's worth it. If you'd told me I'd like a smoothie with kale and spinach in it before I'd gone to Freshii, I would have assumed you were high or one of those freaky healthy people that enjoys drinking things with spinach and kale. Don't get me wrong, this place is expensive but it maintains some semblance of health without sacrificing taste. This place has the worst wait times out of all of the campus restaurants, but the staff is super sweet and the food is worth it. If they could add a bench or something for people waiting, it would be perfect.