Food on (and off) Campus

It's definitely a common question, especially considering our location. What is there to eat here? And I cannot possibly begin to give you even an inkling of all the options you have here. So I'm going to attempt to scratch the surface. We'll start with on-campus offerings, and then I will give you a sampling of both my favorite places and places that are popular with students campus-wide.

But maybe I should let you all know how the meal plans work first, shall I? I shall. Meal plans come in a few different flavors for students to choose from (including one for commuter students). There are two parts to each: "meals" and "bonus points." The "meals" are good for eating in the Commons, which we'll get to in a second. The bonus points are good everywhere else on campus for food, and can be spent like cash.

Illinois Tech has five dining options on its campus, including the Commons, which is the primary cafeteria. The Commons is located on the northeast end of the McCormick Tribune Campus Center (MTCC), and it the one place you spend your "meals" for the semester. You swipe your ID when you walk in, and from there you have free reign over all the food options we have in there. There is always pizza, pasta, burgers, and whatever other carbolicious treats you can think of. There's a salad bar, a sandwich bar, an Asian station (you never know which Asian country is represented that day, but it's always good!), a vegetarian station, a meal-of-the-day, and I'm probably forgetting more. There are even options for breakfast, which include to-order omelettes, hard boiled eggs, waffles, toast and jam.

The Commons - That guy on the right looks confused.

All the other options are part of the bonus points half of a meal plan. The most popular of them is Center Court, which is in the lower level of the MTCC. Center Court is more of a grab-and-go type place, and is open for the lunch hours. You can get subs and panini made to order, you can grab a burger or a quesadilla, a salad, or a premade PB&J and get on with your day. It's really convenient, and from Sunday through Wednesday every week, Center Court is open from 7p-11p, meaning it's a great place to go after your night classes early in the week.

Global Grounds - For all your caffeine related needs!

Also in the MTCC is the Pritzker Club, which is our fancy sit-down restaurant on campus. Three course meals, salmon filets, and the fanciest grilled cheese sandwiches this side of 31st Street. In Hermann Hall we also have an Einstein's Bagels which has typical bagel-y fare, and on the south end of campus we have 10 West, which is a little cafe on the first floor of the IIT Tower, and offers chili, to-go sandwiches, bagels, and a special meal of the day every day. Finally, back in the MTCC there is a small coffee shop, Global Grounds, which offers high-quality coffee, tea, smoothies, scones, and meal replacement shakes, to name a few items.

Okay, now to my favorite part. Not to rag on IIT food, but come on. We're living in Chicago, and it'd be a shame not to at least talk about some of the food around town!

You can go to pretty much any Chicago-centric blog and find out the best places to go all around Chicago, absolutely everything there is to know about food here, you'll be Googling for quite a while. My job right now is to give you a taste (ha ha not funny) of what's out there close to IIT. Fortunately, there's a lot!

Across the street from campus there's a Starbucks and there's a Jimmy John's, and they're great in a pinch, but why settle for "meh" chains when you have, you know, anything else.

Probably my number one go-to place is Carbon (pronounced car-BONE), a mexican restaurant under the Dan Ryan, a few minutes from campus. They are as authentic as you can get for a restaurant owned by the Ricobene family (Ricobene's is right next door, and they have some pretty good Chicago-style food), and it's also the closest Mexican place without having to go all the way to Pilsen. Carbon has phenomenal tilapia tacos served with cabbage and chile-lime sauce. And their elote is killer too.

Bridgeport, our neighborhood-next-door, has quite a few things to offer. I've mentioned Ferro's before, but also in the neighborhood is Freddies, another Chicago-food institution, as well as Maxwell Street Depot on 31st street, which is a 24-hour walk-up that has some of the best burgers you can get at 2 am.

Of course, I can't forget about Chinatown. It's only one stop north on the red line (that puts it at maybe three minutes away by train), and almost everywhere I have been to there has been great. Granted, I have no knowledge of proper Asian cuisine, so someone who knows Chinese food or Korean food or Vietnamese food  might have different opinions. But I stand by my statement that Chinatown is awesome.

Well, there you have it. The tip of the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg! I'll probably be posting about more restaurants as time goes on, so you can look forward to that! In the mean time, I'll be freaking out about finals and what the heck I am going to do oh goodness I'm in trouble I hate exams I'm not ready oh noooooooo