Villanova’s campus is split into three subsections: Main, South and West Campus. Each of these subsections has its own dining hall and convenience store, but some argue that the dining halls in certain parts of campus are better than the others. In addition to this, some areas on campus have more dining options than others. Main Campus, for example, offers multiple spots where students can use their MPEs, such as Café Nova or Belle Air Terrace, which give extra incentive for living in this spot.
Students have differing opinions on the best spots to eat. Students, Charlie Kennedy and Anna Baghdassarian, provided some insight into this. Both Kennedy and Baghdassarian currently live on South Campus, so they were quick to comment on Donahue Hall, commonly referred to as Spit. Baghdassarian commented that the stir fry station on South Campus is a really good option for lunch as the food is good and the workers even remember her order. In contrast, Kennedy revealed a negative aspect about Donahue Hall: the Indian station, one of the most popular, isn’t open on the weekends.
Moving on to Main Campus, the two had a lot to say about Dougherty Hall, which houses both Café Nova and Pit. Baghdassarian stated that she hopes to see a better dessert selection at Pit during the week, as she really enjoys the chocolate chip cookies. In addition, Kennedy stated that there needs to be bigger pieces of cake at Pit. He also said that the temperature in Cova is kept quite low. The cold temperature and notoriously long lines may deter students from eating there. Charlie also revealed that in Belle Air Terrace, there is not a good green-bean-to-chicken ratio because students are often given a lot more beans than chicken.
Another prominent dining location on campus is Holy Grounds. There is a Holy Grounds in almost every academic building on Main Campus. There is an official Holy Grounds in Bartley Hall, the Connelly Center, Drosdick Hall, Falvey Library and the Commons. Unofficial Holy Grounds locations include the Recovery Room in the nursing school, Legal Grounds in the law school, the St. Augustine Café in SAC and Ground State in Mendel Hall. While most of these locations offer very similar options and are widely enjoyed by students, two locations have been under fire recently: Holy Grounds Connelly and Holy Grounds Falvey.
At the start of Fall Semester, Villanova announced that Holy Grounds Connelly would begin serving Starbucks drinks, resulting in a switch to a new online ordering process where students can only place orders through online kiosks or the Grubhub app. Although this helps with reducing physical lines, students find themselves waiting much longer for their orders after the switch. This is because students will place orders far in advance through the Grubhub app, causing a back-up as the employees have to spend time making each drink.
Holy Grounds Falvey has been under criticism by students recently, as well, due to the fact that it only accepts meal points and Nova Bucks while rejecting MPEs as a payment option. There is no sign that states this, so many students, including myself, have waited in line to order, placed our order and were then told we couldn’t use a meal to pay. Many students believe that the library is one of the most popular locations on campus, so the Holy Grounds inside of it should accept MPEs, as well, as many students find themselves wanting to grab a bite or a small coffee while studying.
2nd Storey, on West Campus, located on the second floor of St. Mary’s Hall is an interesting topic. Many underclassmen don’t get to truly experience this convenience store due to Villanova’s sectioned campus. Many people have commented that, when first coming onto Villanova’s campus, how sectioned off it is compared to other schools. Since West Campus is located north of Villanova Station, students who don’t live or have class on West Campus might not know the dining hall in St. Mary’s even exists, which can be argued as a con. Overall, after visiting 2nd Storey, the dining hall has a cozier feel to it as opposed to other dining halls on campus as it feels more like a local restaurant than an on-campus dining hall, but the food is rather mediocre and not worth the walk to West Campus.
Overall, Villanova has many great dining options, but there is a lot that can be done to improve the on-campus dining experience for students. However, there is a lot to look forward to on campus in the coming years, which will hopefully include some improvements to on-campus dining options for students.
