I'm a Harvard student. Our freshman dining hall looks amazing, but some of our meals lack seasoning and variety.

Tue, 12/05/2023 - 10:47

Ezekiel Wells with his lunch in Annenberg at Harvard — The dining-hall food at Harvard isn't great.
Courtesy of Ezekiel Wells & Rick Friedman/Getty Images

Harvard is known for its prestige and luxury — not for its food.
As a freshman, I had some pretty bad meals, which proved the rumors true.
I've also had some great meals that show the school is making improvements.

When I first thought of Harvard, I imagined the food would be great. A private university with a multibillion-dollar endowment —how could it not have a great selection of dining options?

However, after I was admitted to Harvard's class of 2027, upperclassmen at the university warned me about how bad the food would be.

Now I'm a freshman living in Harvard Yard, and I've found most of the meals aren't terrible, just lackluster.

Freshmen typically eat in Annenberg, a large, churchlike hall next to Harvard Yard.

freshman dining hall at harvard — Annenberg Hall.
Ezekiel Wells

Annenberg Hall — or "Berg," as the students affectionately call it —was built in 1874. It looks like a building straight out of "Harry Potter."

According to the Harvard Gazette, it's been the freshman dining hall since 1994. It's still a gathering place that all first-year students share. Each day, Annenberg serves about 3,400 meals to freshmen.

On weekday evenings, we also stop by for Brain Break to eat food, study, and socialize in the post-dinner hours.

Students at the university get unlimited meal swipes, making things much simpler and more convenient.

card swiper at harvard — Students have unlimited meal swipes.
Courtesy of Ezekiel Wells

One of my favorite, and maybe most underrated, parts of Harvard dining is that we do not have to keep track of our swipes or manage meal plans.

It makes it so that students can easily grab food with their friends, meet people in their dining halls, and stop by for a quick snack. Students also don't need to spend extra time managing matters of food — providing us with greater flexibility with our time.

Within my first few months at Harvard, I noticed the breakfast menu had a lot of room for improvement.

trays of breakfast foods at harvard — The breakfast options.
Courtesy of Ezekiel Wells

One of the biggest downsides of Harvard's food is that the breakfast is not great. Each day, I have the option of eggs, sausages, waffles, or breakfast potatoes.

It's not all terrible, but the lack of seasoning and variety makes breakfast one of Annenberg's worst offerings.

Most meals at the Berg are fairly average.

trays of food at harvard dining hall — Dinner at Harvard.
Courtesy of Ezekiel Wells

Recently, Annenberg offered shrimp fettuccini, vegan Parmesan, and cheese pizza — among other smaller options, including a chocolate-chip-cookie bar.

The quality of these dishes, as well as the variety of options, represents a typical meal at Harvard. Compared with other schools I've visited, the variety in each meal is below average, but from one meal to the next, Harvard does a decent job of keeping things interesting.

The quality of food seems to have improved over recent months because of a revamp program.

Ezekiel Wells sitting in front of his harvard meal — Here's me enjoying a meal at the Berg.
Courtesy of Ezekiel Wells

When I arrived at Harvard, I heard a lot of students complain about Harvard's dining-hall food.

In spring, however, Harvard University Dining Services began an effort to revamp the dining options throughout the college, The Harvard Crimson reported.

It seems to have paid off, as I've heard fewer complaints, and the food is passable. But as a freshman, I don't have much to compare it with.

One of the biggest hits recently was Taco Tuesday.

three tacos and fries at harvard — Taco dinner at Harvard.
Courtesy of Ezekiel Wells

Every Tuesday, the dining hall serves a selection of both vegan and meat tacos on the grill. I took the vegan option, which came with a nice sauce in addition to the veggie crumbles.

It also served yuca fries, which were new to me. I'd rate them a solid seven or eight out of 10.

After my freshman year, I'll move to the upperclassman dining halls.

a common space with carpet and chairs in harvard dorms — A Dunster House common area.
Ezekiel Wells

Once we begin our sophomore year, we move out of Harvard Yard and into upperclassman housing, which consists of 12 houses across campus.

These 12 houses each offer a dining hall, and the food in these halls is generally regarded as better than Annenberg's. This makes sense, too, because Annenberg has to prepare for an entire first-year class, while each house has to provide for a significantly smaller number of people on a daily basis. While they're not as pretty as the freshman hall, most people are relatively happy about the switch.

Overall, Harvard's food for first-year students isn't perfect, but it's decent. I'm trying to make the best of it.

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I'm a Harvard student. Our freshman dining hall looks amazing, but some of our …