Dining Hall Superlatives
BY ALYSSA ZHANG
Choosing from the numerous dining options available at NYU is daunting, especially for freshmen or transfer students who may have just joined campus. As a judgmental eater with nearly 1.5 years of experience with NYU’s cuisine, I consider myself more than capable of providing a fair judgment on the best and worst of it all. Here are my most notable recommendations for where to go and where to avoid.
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Palladium has the most diverse food selection; you can find smoothies, sushi, Asian food, burgers, and even bubble tea here (would not personally recommend this though). Palladium brunch on Sundays is fun to go to every so often if you feel like indulging in any breakfast item you can think of (the chocolate fondue is a personal favorite). All in all, Palladium is a great way to use up meal swipes, but it is a bit of a hike from campus if you’re living anywhere but in the Union Square area dorms.
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18 below is NYU EATS best-kept secret. They switch up their lunch menu every week, and these lunches are arguably the nicest ones you can get on campus. You order from a kiosk where you are able to customize the meal with numerous toppings and additions. If you haven’t been, definitely give it a visit, but be mindful of their narrower hours of opening.
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On days when you’re running around campus from class to class, Upstein and Kimmel are your go-tos. Even if the ability to pop in and pop out isn’t enticing enough, the food is also pretty great. Do be careful though; if you place an order at Upstein or go to Kimmel during peak rush hours (lunch and dinner hours), it can take a while to get through the hefty lines.
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Out of all the traditional style dining halls, Lipton ranks the highest for me (above Downstein and Third North). I think the vegetable selection is objectively the best here, and I am personally a huge fan of the giant vat of pasta and garlic bread they always keep stocked. The dessert section is notoriously amazing; though the famed cookies are delicious, the ice cream section (when full) topped with whatever fresh pastries are out is what really seals the deal for me.
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Jokingly, but also seriously. I think Downstein is the most traditional college dining hall we have, from the dining setup, to the food, to the large odds that you will see everyone and their mothers there. Nothing has or will ever evoke such a sense of community at our unique university as much as Downstein dinner your freshmen year or brunch on the weekends at 2 pm!
As a disclaimer, this is far from a comprehensive guide to NYU dining. I still learn new quirks about each spot every visit and look forward to doing so for the rest of my academic career at NYU. I would also like to add - remember to appreciate the dining hall staff, who work incredibly hard to feed us. Though it’s easy to hate on dining halls in general, just remember, you only really get four years to try them; in that sense, NYU dining might just be more elusive than any 5-star bougie restaurant you can find in the city!