Within Dining Options, you will find information on:

At Stanford, students will find that many of their most memorable conversations and social activities will take place at their dining hall. Eating with housemates is an essential part of Stanford's Residential Education program; eating together helps to build a sense of community among residents, faculty, and guests within a house. Many residential academic programs, such as faculty night and dinner lectures, are centered around meal time. All students assigned to Student Housing on campus, with the exception of those in apartments, are required to purchase a meal plan.  Dependant on your assignment, this will take the form of a Student Dining meal plan, a house-managed board plan or a Dining Society.

All students living in Branner, Crothers, Florence Moore, Lagunita, Manzanita, Murray, Roble, Sterling Quadrangle, Stern, Toyon, Wilbur, and Yost must purchase a Stanford Dining meal plan. Stanford Dining plans give students all-you-care-to-eat access in any of the dining halls on campus.

Residence Halls with Dining Facilities
Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE), offers students a range of all-you-care-to-eat meal plans through its Stanford Dining division. Stanford Dining is one of the most celebrated programs in the country; it is the first certified Green Business university food-service program in the nation and has earned both regional and national recognition for outstanding chefs, menus, and sustainability programs.

All students living in Branner, Crothers, Florence Moore, Lagunita, Manzanita, Murray, Roble, Sterling Quadrangle, Stern, Toyon, Wilbur, and Yost must purchase a Stanford Dining meal plan. Stanford Dining plans also give students all-you-care-to-eat access in any of the dining halls on campus.

Under Stanford Dining plans, students may choose from a variety of fresh, nutritious menu options that include organic produce, hormone-free meats, vegan, and vegetarian foods. Whenever possible, food is prepared using healthy cooking methods such as steaming and grilling.

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Meal plans are nutritious and of the highest quality, provide maximum flexibility of eating locations across campus, and are designed for every appetite: Light, Medium, and Athlete.

All-You-Care-to-Eat Meal Plans
Considering the three different meal plans – all at one price – if you are unsure about your selection, you can change your meal plan (at no cost) within the first two weeks of every quarter.

Students can choose from all menu selections in the dining hall. All of the food you select must be consumed in the dining halls (please eat what you take). Choose a plan that best suits your lifestyle and schedule:

• The 14 meals/week plan allows you to carry over a maximum of two unused meals week to week,
• the 10 meals/week plan allows for a maximum of 1 unused meal to carry over from week to week.
• At the end of the day on Saturday, the following week's meal allotment and carry-over meals (19, 14, or 10) are added to your card.

Guest Meals
The 10 and 14 meals/week meal plans provides 5 guest meals every quarter. The 19 meals/week meal plan provides 8 guest meals every quarter. Guest meals allow you to take a friend, relative or professor to dine with you at no additional cost.

Cardinal Dollars
Cardinal Dollars (14/week or 10/week) add flexibility to your All-You-Care-to-Eat meal plan, providing dining choices outside of your residence. You can meet friends at Stanford Dining's late night eateries, dine at Stanford Dining-operated cafés around campus, or purchase meals for your guests after the quarterly allotment of guest meals has been used. Up to 75 unused Cardinal Dollars can carry over from quarter-to-quarter. Your Cardinal Dollars do not expire until the end of the quarter. (Meal Plan Cardinal Dollars are unavailable for use during interim periods between quarters.)

Changing Your Meal Plan
At no cost, you can decide on a different meal plan at any time up until the last two weeks of any quarter. Once you're on campus and understand your schedule better, you can switch to a meal plan that best suits your needs.

Note: After the second meal-plan change during any quarter, a $25 fee will be charged for any additional changes.

Special Needs? Stanford Dining Accommodates!

• Can't make a meal time? How about a late plate?
• Not feeling well? Sick trays are available.
• A pre-made lunch can also be ready for you to pick up in the morning before class.

Stanford Dining offers a wide range of creative dining options to best fit your busy schedules. Contact your Stanford Dining manager to discuss your schedule. Visit our website (http://dining.stanford.edu) for more information.

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We can accommodate other special needs, too!

Religious Food Practices
Stanford Dining values the cultural and religious diversity that is intrinsic to the Stanford community. If you live in a residence with a required meal plan, you may request an exemption if there are concerns about meeting religious dietary requirements.

Depending on where you live, exemption requests must be submitted to and approved by Stanford Dining, a Dining Society manager, or the house staff in Row and EAST houses. There may be a fee associated with such an exemption. Please verify your eligibility for an exemption prior to applying for a residence. Questions regarding this policy should be addressed to the Assistant Director for Student Management at (650) 723-0778 or Stanford Dining at (650) 723-4751.

Each exemption request must be accompanied by acceptable written documentation from an independent (non-relative) clergy. Religious exemption applications are processed by the Stanford Office of Religious Life: http://religiouslife.stanford.edu.

On Friday nights, approximately 70 students come together at Hillel's home, the Ziff Center for Jewish Life, for free Kosher catered meals. Information on any specific Friday night is available at http://hillel.stanford.edu. Most weeks, Saturday lunch is available as well. In addition, Chabad at Stanford serves meals on Shabbat. More information is available at http://chabadstanford.org.

First in the Nation: A "Peanut Sensitive" University Dining Hall
Peanuts are quickly becoming one of the world's foremost food allergens, and 3 million Americans currently suffer from all levels of nut and peanut allergies. Here at Stanford, some students have such severe peanut allergies that they had to avoid eating in our dining halls for fear of contact with peanut material residue on countertops, breathing in vapors from peanut shell fumes, or ingesting as little as one-five thousandth of a teaspoon of food containing peanuts.

In response to a clear need for peanut allergy awareness in university dining services nationwide, Stanford Dining has made Ricker Dining the first on-campus dining facility in the country to designate itself a peanut-sensitive environment. Stanford Dining is paving the way for other institutions to follow in our footsteps, and we are proud to be able to meet such a pressing health need of our students.

For more information on our Peanut Sensitive program, please call Stanford Dining's central office at (650) 725-1508.

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Meal Cards
Your Stanford ID Card is also your dining card. Carry it with you always!  Remember to bring your card to all meals or be prepared to pay cash. We cannot make exceptions.

Losing Your Stanford ID Card (It is your dining meal card)
Protect your meal and/or Cardinal Dollars balance!
If you lose your Stanford ID Card, you must:

1. Report it as lost as soon as possible in person at the ID Card Office in the Student Services Center (2nd floor Tresidder).
2. When you report your lost card, you will be issued a replacement card immediately for a small fee.

Meal Plan Office & Contact Information
To conveniently serve our customers, Stanford Dining operates a centrally-located, meal plan office on the second floor of Tresidder Memorial Union. Here, students, faculty and staff may change meal plan options, purchase Cardinal Dollars, or simply ask questions of our knowledgeable staff.

Visit our office or feel free to contact us at (650) 723-4751, (650) 725-1508 or diningplans@stanford.edu.

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Campus Cafes
Stanford Hospitality and Auxiliaries, a division of Residential & Dining Enterprises, operates unique cafes and restaurants across campus:

• Union Square, Tresidder Memorial Union
• Subway, Tresidder Memorial Union
• Express Lunch, Tresidder Memorial Union
• Fraiche Yogurt, Tresidder Memorial Union
• The Axe & Palm Cafe at Old Union
• The Cafe at the Arrillaga Alumni Center
• Olives@Bldg. 160
• 750 Pub & Eatery at the Graduate Community Center

Dining Societies
Students living in the Suites are required to join one of four Dining Societies. (There are no exceptions to this requirement.)

The Dining Societies are student-run organizations that offer a variety of eating plans and sponsor social activities as well. In 2009-10, the cost of standard meal plans are approximately $1230 to $1500 per quarter in the Dining Societies.

For more information contact the Dining Societies (near the Governor's Corner Suites), (650) 497-7731.

Self-ops and Fraternities/Sororities
Self-ops and fraternities/sororities are undergraduate houses in which student residents, and non-resident eating associates, manage the operation of the house's meal service and hire a house cook.
International meals are often featured at:

• La Casa Italiana
• La Maison Française
• Haus Mitteleuropa
• EAST House

Other self-ops include: 557 Mayfield, 680 Lomita, 717 Dolores, BOB, Durand, Grove, Lambda Nu, MARS, Muwekma-tah-ruk, Narnia, Phi Sig, Roth, Slavianskii Dom, Storey, Xanadu, and ZAP.

Rates for eating associate plans range from approximately $1100 to $1300 per quarter. Information about eating associate plans may be obtained from houses' kitchen managers.

Co-ops
Co-ops are student residences in which residents, and nonresident eating associates, manage the house meal service and prepare all meals themselves. Eating associates at co-ops are required to work two to five hours per week planning, preparing, and serving meals. Because students prepare all meals, co-op board plans cost less than other meal plans at Stanford.

The seven co-ops are: Chi Theta Chi, Columbae, Hammarskjöld, Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Kairos, Synergy, and Terra.  

Students interested in becoming an eating associate at a co-op should contact the houses' kitchen manager. Rates for eating associate plans range from approximately $500 to $800 per quarter.

Cooking
Students living in Mirrielees have private kitchens in their apartments. Generally, students in these apartments cook for themselves or with their roommates. Mirrielees residents may also

1. take advantage of a specially-priced meal plan through Stanford Dining
2. or become eating associates in a student-managed house or organization. 

Though meal plans are required in all other residences, students in most houses also have access to a small, communal kitchen. In many student-managed residences, the house kitchen is open to residents at all times.

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