By Arielle Brechisci
Stony Brook University offers dozens of places to eat, ranging from sit-down restaurants, to Taco Bell and delis.
The most popular locations include the Student Activity Center cafeteria, Jasmine, and the Union Commons. The SAC cafeteria has ground level and upstairs seating, and is surrounded by large windows facing the library. Students can buy everything from pizza, paninis, packaged sushi, soups, chili, and cereal, or make a meal from the salad bar.
Jasmine, located in the newly built Wang Center, offers Chinese, Indian, Thai and Japanese food.
The Union Commons has several different stations for grilled food, Asian cuisine, and Tex Mex. The Union building also has a Starbucks, a deli, and a kosher deli.
There are several small kiosks located on campus to grab a quick cup of coffee or a granola bar. The administration building and the Life Sciences building each have one. Harriman Hall has a small caf? for drinks, packaged sandwiches, ice cream, chips and muffins.
During the 10-minute break between class times, lines to get into the SAC cafeteria can wrap twice around the seating area. The line usually moves quickly, but once you get inside, there are more lines to order hot food and to pay.
Most students on campus say the food is abysmal and expensive. “I don’t think it’s good. It costs too much, it usually is too greasy and I find it hard to get fresh products when I would like to,” said Dan Murray, a senior at Stony Brook. “I think it’s ridiculously high compared to places off campus where you can get the same exact thing and it’s cheaper.”
Murray said the greasiest food includes “burgers, fries, chicken fingers – pretty much anything from the grill.
“It’s usually bland,” Paul Christensen, the newsroom manager at Stony Brook, said about the food in the SAC. “Everything they sell is half as good as it should be, and twice as much as it should be.”
Although much of the food on campus caters to different ethnic tastes, it’s difficult to eat healthy on a budget. A meal-sized salad can cost $9, and the choices for healthy food are limited. Breakfast at the SAC is dominated by white carb-packed bagels, muffins, danishes and cereal. Besides fruit, yogurt and some cereals are the only marginally healthy options.
Fresh fruit like bananas, grapefruit, apples and oranges sell for under a dollar. But a small container of washed grapes or cut pineapple costs just less than $5.
Besides the salad bar, lunch at the SAC offers pizza, fried chicken, french fries, soup, chili, packaged sandwiches, candy, chips and ice cream. The vegetarian chili is an inexpensive, healthier choice than most other food served, but it’s packed with sodium.
Jasmine has fresh sushi, stir-fry, Indian food like curried chicken, Korean food, and standard Chinese cuisine. Six dollars will get you a small portion of rubbery, fatty, dark meat General Tso’s chicken. “It’s hit or miss,” said Christensen about the food at Jasmine. The stir-fry is made fresh while you wait on line, and you can choose from chicken, beef, or fish.
*To see campus dining in photos, click here.
