By halfway through the semester, the meal plans of many students are more than halfway depleted. If you tend to splurge on pricey Marketplace meals, try Pipe Dream’s substitutions to recreate your faves in the residential dining halls for much less.
Instead of CopperTop …
CopperTop Pizzeria offers a variety of pizza flavors, but so does Hinman Dining Hall. Hinman has slices with toppings like cheese, vegetable, pepperoni and ranch chicken, changing the offerings based on the day. A slice of pizza from Hinman Dining Hall is about $1, compared to a slice of pizza from CopperTop, which is around $3. College-in-the-Woods Dining Hall also offers a cheaper substitute for CopperTop with a twist. It has a flatbread pizza bar where you can make your pizza more personal by choosing your toppings.
CopperTop also has a selection of pasta on its menu, and conveniently, there’s a cheaper substitution for that as well: the Appalachian Collegiate Center has a pay-by-weight pasta bar that will cater to your needs. You get to choose the type of pasta you want, the sauce and you can add as many toppings you want. To keep the price low, you can opt for fewer toppings or a smaller serving size. To recreate CopperTop’s pepperoni chicken pasta, for example, try adding red sauce, pepperoni, peppers, chicken, mushrooms, red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese to your pasta.
Instead of Mein Bowl …
Mein Bowl offers a variety of Southeast Asian foods, but so does Hinman Dining Hall’s Pacific Rim food station. This station in the Dining Hall provides Southeast Asian food every day, for lunch and dinner. Pacific Rim always has egg rolls, dumplings and fried or white rice, and the main course changes every day. While a meal at Mein Bowl with rice and a protein is around $8 to $10, a meal from Hinman’s Pacific Rim is closer to $3 to $5.
Instead of Tully’s …
Rather than going to Tully’s University for chicken tenders, try visiting the dining halls to check out their grill stations. College-in-the-Woods Dining Hall offers a barbecue station with grilled options, in addition to chicken tenders and fries. It has a build-your-own burger station with pulled pork, hamburger patties, macaroni and cheese and warm corn muffins. Getting your chicken tender or burger fix at the residential dining halls is about $2 to $5, compared to a meal at Tully’s, which can range anywhere from $6 for four chicken tenders to $10 for seven chicken tenders.
Instead of Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks …
If you hate waiting in line and you don’t want to pay more than $3 for your daily caffeine fix, try going to the dining halls instead of Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks. All of the dining halls have caffeinated teas, iced coffee and hot coffee for a fraction of the chains’ costs. A small iced coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks on campus ranges from $3 to $5, compared to paying, at most, a dollar at the dining halls. At the dining halls, you can customize your drinks by picking the flavor of coffee, from regular roast to hazelnut, and adding sugar, Coffee-Mate or milk to taste.