With so many great dining options in residence and around campus, it’s helpful to know where and how to use your meal plan (with discounts!).
Here are the basics for dining in first-year residence:
Residence dining halls
Totem Park, Place Vanier, and Orchard Commons each have their own unique dining halls: Feast, Gather, and Open Kitchen. All 3 feature a wide variety of menu options for different tastes and dietary needs. So whether you’re looking for vegan, lactose-free, or Halal choices, UBC Food Services has you covered.
Meal options range from avocado toast to a hot bowl of phở. Looking for a quick snack? Grab some fresh fruit for your walk to class.
All 3 dining halls are open 7:00 am to 10:00 pm daily. Peak times (that means more food options, but also more people and longer lines) are 11:45 am to 12:45 pm for lunch and 5:45 pm to 7:00 pm for dinner, so budget your time accordingly!
There are also more hot food options available Monday to Thursday, as many students will opt to eat elsewhere on weekends. You can also find additional food options after hours at Hero Coffee & Market at Orchard Commons, Magda's Night Market in Totem Park and Hubbard's Global Market in Place Vanier.
What is a meal plan?
If you live in Totem Park, Place Vanier, or Orchard Commons, the Residence Meal Plan is required.
All Access Dining enables first-year students living in residence to pay once, and enjoy as much as they care to eat while at Open Kitchen, Gather and Feast! Choose between a variety of hot and self-serve stations, which feature a daily and weekly rotation of delicious chef-prepared food, including made-without-gluten and plant-based dishes.
Your meal plan comes with two types of Dining Dollars: Residence Dollars and Flex Dollars. Here’s a list of where you can use each type of Dining Dollars (and the discounts you can get):
Where to use Residence Dollars
Residence dining rooms: Feast, Gather, Open Kitchen
Where to use Flex Dollars
Cafes: Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Harvest, Stir It Up Café, Law Café, Booster Juice and Subway at the UBC Life building
Restaurants: The Point
Quick meals: Triple O’s, Mercante, Bento Sushi, Perugia Italian Caffè, Pacific Poke, Ike’s Café
AMS food services: Blue Chip Cookies, Grand Noodle Emporium, Honour Roll, the Delly, Grocery Checkout, Porch, TEADOT
Campus partners: Domino’s Pizza, Great Dane Coffee, Browns Socialhouse, Jamjar
Markets: Hero Coffee & Market, Harvest, Hubbards Global Market, Magda’s Night Market
Printing stations and vending machines
Discounts: 5% off at UBC Food Services locations, none at AMS/campus partner locations
What if you run out of Dining Dollars?
You can top up Flex Dollars anytime. That means you still get all the benefits, like 5% savings at Food Services locations!
Happy eating!
Follow @ubcfoodie on Instagram and Facebook for food features and events on campus!
