Yeah, Dining Hall West can be pretty bad. From reports of "medium rare" chicken to moldy buns, it's clear why 63.35% of students were dissatisfied with the dining plan in 2019. Luckily, I'm here to guide you through UT Dallas' very own hell on earth... in the kindest way possible. All of this information is accurate as of Fall 2023, but your mileage may vary.

📒 Dining Plan Rules

There are a few ground rules for using the dining plan, both actual restrictions and some recommended guidelines. Try to follow these so you can get the most out of your meal plan, as there's no worse feeling than going to Papa John's and realizing you can't use that Meal Exchange you used earlier.

💳 Meal Swipes (Dining Hall West)

1. You can only use three meal swipes per day. If you want to swipe in one friend, you can generally only eat two meals that day. Same with two friends and one meal.
2. You can use a meal swipe to swipe in a friend. If you have extra meals, you should definitely consider inviting a friend to get some food or trying to network with someone like a classmate over lunch. Make sure you keep track of how many meals you have.
3. Guest meal swipes bypass the three meal swipe limit. You can use two guest meal swipes per semester. Use one if you need it.
4. You can use Meal Money instead of a meal swipe. If absolutely necessary (generally, you should use Meal Money at a restaurant on-campus), you can buy an extra meal swipe with your meal money.

♻️ Meal Exchanges (Restaurants)

1. You can only use Meal Exchanges on weekdays. Assuming you live on-campus, no late night Papa John's on weekends.
2. You can only use one Meal Exchange a day. Keep this in mind while planning out your day. Got extra meals? You could get that extra Smoothie King, but it'll stop you from an easy Taco Bell run later in the day.
3. Meal Exchanges only work at certain restaurants for certain meals. No, you can't get chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A. Stay updated by using the Meal Exchange website.
4. Meal Exchanges after midnight count for the next day. If you have a bad sleep schedule and already had a meal exchange for lunch, you can technically wait until midnight to get some Papa John's. Be careful, though. This won't work on Friday nights (Saturday mornings).

💵 Meal Money (Both)

1. Meal Money is free with every meal plan. Note that it scales inversely with the number of meals. For example, the Comet 10 will give you less Meal Money than the Comet 14.
2. Meal Money can be used at any on-campus restaurant. This includes restaurants that aren't a part of the meal exchange system. Certain restaurants at Northside also accept Comet Cash and Meal Money.
3. Meal Money is not Comet Cash. Don't confuse the two. Meal Money can only be used at restaurants.

🍽️ Dining Hall West

Now that we've got our terminology down, let's talk turkey. Dining Hall West is notoriously a war zone, between reports of undercooked food to things that taste horrible.

Rule number one is to always trust your gut. If something looks bad, don't eat it. After that, think about the recommended lines to see where you should go. Once there, remember the specific food recommendations and you're good to go.

✅ Recommended Lines

To keep this section brief, it's been broken down into a tier list of sorts. I recommend trying things in the other lines when you can and only going to the reliable lines as necessary.

Reliable Lines

• Breakfast Food - Not really a line but worth a mention. Breakfast is undoubtedly the best meal you can get from the dining hall since everything is kept consistent and easy. Sometimes you'll get greasier bacon than yesterday, but not much changes in terms of quality and the selection is fairly consistent. Pairing this with a Meal Exchange every day is golden.
• Rooted - The best reliable line outside of going for breakfast. Birthed from the ashes of the superior Showcase line after COVID-19, you can make your own vegetarian dishes like fried rice here during weekdays. You pick exactly what goes in and it's made right in front of you. Expect a longer wait, though.
• Salad and Sandwich Bars - There are enough dressing and condiment options to keep things interesting if you have to go here multiple days in a row. Plus, they swap out meats and toppings every day.
• Daily Chef Soups - You can't mess up soup. If you see something you like, it's very likely to taste about how you'd expect. Keep in mind you shouldn't eat (drink?) only soup and should check out some other lines. Pair this with other food when you can't find enough good food to eat.
• Nook (Breakfast) - Can't go wrong with waffles, bagels, fruit, and other breakfast foods. I wouldn't say the quality is great, just that you get what you expect and it's familiar.

Other Lines

• Grill - Most things are either fried or unhealthy in other ways, but the selection here is always changing and the consistency in quality is pretty good. You can find popular food like burgers, chili, and quesadillas here on a pretty good rotation. I recommend avoiding any vegetables, you usually want some from other lines in my experience.
• The Kitchen - Has a lot of variety but can also fall into some of the worse food groups. You'll find many home-style meals from different regions like chicken enchiladas with rice and corn, chimichurri beef with broccoli, and sweet and sour pork with lo mein.
• Cucina (Pizza) - While Cucina always has flavorful and interesting pizzas, it can also fall into some... interesting territory. Their pizzas and calzones are generally pretty good, but the quality of how it was cooked can vary. One of the weirdest things in the dining hall is their desert pizzas, like the s'mores pizza. They're either amazing or foul depending on who you ask.
• The Sweet Shoppe - Only here because the nutritional value isn't the best. Dining Hall West makes some amazing desserts, so definitely have one from time to time. Just be sure not to pack on a lot of extra pounds with that pound cake. Also check for the occasional vegan substitutes, like tofu in place of eggs in pumpkin pie. It may not be what you were expecting, but it'll probably still be good.
• Pure Eats - Basically The Kitchen with food that is accessible to people with food allergies and sensitivities. For example, they offer a lot more vegan food and plain meat than other lines. Pretty hit or miss depending on the day and if you enjoy more accessible foods like tofu and vegetables in place of meat. Sometimes they have good food, I just recommend trying other lines first.

🍔 Food Choices

Okay, you've found a line. Now that you're there, what should you eat and avoid? Note that this section doesn't cover anything in the reliable lines as everything there should be safe to eat.

Good Options

• Potatoes - Breakfast potatoes in the morning and fried potatoes like french fries and tater tots in the afternoon and evening always come out consistent. The dining hall staff usually add seasoning to make them flavorful, too! If not, you can find some by the potato chips.
• Anything from the grill but vegetables - Most of their food is cooked as needed and in smaller batches, so you have a much lower chance of getting anything bad. They have a lot of nice sandwiches and fried foods in rotation, so definitely check them out. The one thing I didn't really like was their chicken fingers, but even then they were okay.
• Dessert every now and then - The desserts at Dining Hall West are the best thing there by far, but they can be addictive if you get them every time you go. Be careful about how many times you get dessert items.

Safe Options

• Diced meats - Any diced meats, like braised beef in a tomato stew, are usually cooked well.
• Sides, condiments, etc. - Anything meant to pair with an entree is pretty hard to screw up. You shouldn't run into things like raw broccoli or undercooked rice. Just avoid grilled vegetables.

Stay Away

• Whole meats - For example, a whole chicken breast or thigh. Most things at Dining Hall West are cooked in mass, including meat. This leads to a lot of uncertainty where some of the food will be undercooked. The worst offenders of this are chicken and turkey, but sometimes beef and pork roasts can fall to this too. If you get a whole meat, make sure you check for signs of it being undercooked like pink chicken.
• Grilled vegetables - Any vegetables from the Grill or other lines that were grilled just end up as a mushy mess in my experience. If you're fine with that, go ahead.