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 rooms

Totem Park, Place Vanier, and Orchard Commons each have their own unique dining rooms: Feast, Gather, and Open Kitchen. All three 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 a smoothie or fresh fruit for your walk to class.

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 some hot food options after hours at 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, you have to get the Residence Meal Plan.

Think of your meal plan like a debit account: you put money on it at the beginning of the year, and Dining Dollars come out of your total whenever you pay with your UBCcard.

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

Restaurants: The Point, Sage Restaurant, Ideas Lunch & Wine Bar

Quick meals: The Loop Café, Triple O’s, Mercante, Bento Sushi, Perugia Italian Caffè, Pacific Poke, Ike’s Café, The Dog House

Discounts: 25% residence dining, 5% everywhere else, no 5% tax

Where to use Flex Dollars

Cafes: Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Harvest, Stir It Up Café, Sauder Exchange Café, Law Café, Neville’s Café

AMS food services: Pie R Squared, Blue Chip Cookies, Ph Tea, Grand Noodle Emporium, Honour Roll

Campus partners: Domino’s Pizza, Booster Juice, Great Dane Coffee, Mahony & Sons, Brown’s Socialhouse, Vera’s Burger Shack, The Pita Pit, Subway

Residence markets: Hero Coffee & Market, Gage Market, Hubbards Global Market, Magda’s Night Market

Printing stations and vending machines

Discounts: 5% 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, and they’ll automatically transfer to Residence Dollars when you buy food in the dining rooms. That means you still get all the benefits, like no tax and the 25% discount.

Happy eating!

Follow @ubcfoodie on Instagram and Facebook for food features and events on campus!