A Buckeye’s guide to campus dining: Fan-favorite locations for incoming freshmen to go to

Audrey Coleman
Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:39:25 +0000
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Students have voted for their favorite dining locations across campus. Traditions at Scott was voted the best Traditions location, as well as the location with the most variety. Credit: Shangquan Shi | Lantern File Photo

When arriving on a new campus, stress can stem from navigating the walk between classes, surviving communal bathrooms, and most importantly, where to get the best food from Ohio State Dining.?

With over 30 locations across campus, including regional locations, the decision of where to eat first can feel overwhelming. To narrow down some of the options, The Lantern polled current students on some of the best places to go to grab a bite to eat. The polls were collected via Instagram stories, with an average of 415 votes per category.?

Best Coffee:?

Starting the day, the campus-favorite coffee can be found at Connecting Grounds, located close to the North Rec Center. Pulling away with 42% of the vote, students can find many customizable coffees, pastries and some grab-and-go options. Terra Byte at 18th Ave Library, Express-OH in the Union and Berry Café at Thompson also are popular.?

Most Underrated:?

If students are in the market for a quieter spot, or a location that doesn’t have the same hustle and bustle of mainstream restaurants, polling agreed that Oxley’s by the Numbers and 12th Ave Bread Co. fit the category, tying with 34% each. While underrated is more subjective, there are plenty of smaller cafés across campus.?

For an underrated meal, Lesa Holford, Ohio State’s corporate executive chef, said her pick is in Traditions at Morrill.?

“The action station at Morrill, because it’s [a] station that’s extremely customizable and has lots of fresh, bright options,” Holford said. “You can build these big, fresh, bright, beautiful bowls over there, and to me, it’s underrated. I don’t think that students realize what a great option [it] is.”?

Best Healthy Eating:?

For those searching for lighter, healthy options, there are different ways to approach the search. In terms of ordering from GrubHub, the platform Ohio State uses for campus dining, students voted that Grains and Greens, one of the stations inside Traditions at Scott, is one of the best, taking 31% of the vote.?

“滨t took us years to figure out Grains and Greens,” Holford said. “To make it a spot that students outside of having peanut tree nut or gluten allergies wanted to go to, and I think that two years ago, we really nailed it.”

Students also have the ability to build their own meals, mainly at buffet-style locations like the Traditions.?

“滨t’s important to be a little creative in your menu planning, which takes some thought, right?” Holford said. “A lot of people don’t necessarily think of simple things like getting the grilled chicken at the grill and then building yourself a grilled chicken Caesar salad from the salad bar.”

What’s for Dinner

Once dinner time rolls around, the possibilities are as endless as ever. For a casual pizza night, students voted Marketplace at Neil to the top, with 43% of the vote. Woody’s, Curl Market, Traditions at Morrill and Donato’s at Oxley’s all have different options too, each varying from the other.?

“滨 think the Morrill pizza is really, really good,” Holford said. “They’re using a fresh crust over there, and they’re putting it into these little special pans that we [have].”

In terms of comfort food, Sloopy’s Diner was the winner, with 44%. While returning students are familiar with the classic pancakes, burgers and sandwiches at the diner, Sloopy’s will undergo a menu change before the semester begins, according to previous Lantern reporting.?

“There’s going to be the smoothie concept, the core burgers, fries, chicken tenders and then the Mediterranean bowl concept,” Holford said. “That’s going to be the biggest change that students are going to see when they come back.”

At the Traditions locations, Scott is the largest, and easy crowd favorite, with 84% of the vote. Kennedy comes in second with 13%, and Morrill trailing behind with 3%.?

Lastly, with groups in which students each want something different, Scott also prevailed at the location with the most variety at 34%, though Union Market takes a close second at 29%.?

In short, Ohio State Dining has hundreds of options for students to choose from. Taking time to explore the different locations can lead to finding new favorites, Holford said.?

“滨t’s important to understand all of the locations that we have, so I would suggest spending time on the dining services website and opening up those locations and looking at the menus, or going to GrubHub and seeing that while there are similarities, there are a lot of differences as well,” Holford said. “You just have to find them.”