While on-campus dining services are delayed for the third semester since students returned to in-person classes, students can find many dining options within walking distance of campus.
“Due to the construction in the kitchen area, CRC is delayed in getting our cafeteria back,” said Communications and Public Information Officer Kristie West.
This development hasn’t sat well with some students.
“On-campus dining should be an option for people on campus,” said education major Ilana Holman, 20. “Not everyone wants to leave or go buy something.”
West said grab-and-go options are still available in the cafeteria and that food trucks are in the works.
In the meantime, faculty and students can venture across Bruceville Road where a variety of restaurants are tucked into both the College Square and Strawberry Creek shopping centers.
Chains like Taco Bell, Popeyes, Subway, and Panda Express each offer a reliable lunch menu with combos under $15 and order-ahead apps that offer points and deals. Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks and Jamba Juice also offer app and points convenience with all three selling breakfast options too.
Feel like something fresh and healthy? Mountain Mike’s Pizza has an “All-You-Can-Eat Weekday Lunch Buffet” that includes their salad bar for $10.99, according to their website.
Specialty foods like boba, poke, Hawaiian BBQ and even Cajun crab are also nearby. Some restaurants such as Hinoka Sushi, Falafel Corner and Mr. Fries Man offers students a 10% discount.
“We welcome students,” said Popeyes College Square Assistant Manager Pablo Meza. “If they like to do homework, we have free wifi.”
Meza, 20, a full-time, third-year history major at UC Davis, said he knows that as a student, studying and eating at the same time is something you have to do.
For Popeyes first-timers, he recommends the keto-friendly Blackened Chicken Sandwich or the classic fried Chicken Sandwich.
“At the end of the day, they’re not customers,” Meza said of his diners. “They’re guests.”
No definite date for a return to on-campus dining has been established.
Shopping centers offer walkable dining options during cafeteria renovation
Antonio Shannon is the owner of Mr. Fries Man in the Strawberry Creek Shopping Center. The restaurant offers a variety of loaded fries in addition to a 10% student discount.
About the Contributor
Helen Harlan, News Editor
Helen Harlan is a News Editor for the Connection newspaper. She joined the Connection to see and hear how people feel about the world around them, and her goal is to build her portfolio as a journalist. She has an affinity for animals, conservationism and the classic sitcom Seinfeld.