By Ellie Schulman, Film and Television student, College of Communication

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Welcome! If you’re reading this post I’m assuming you’re new to BU, whether you’re a freshman or a transfer student. I’d like to ease your fear of the dining halls by giving you all some tips to make your transfer into college dining less awkward. Consider me your Dining Tour Guide. I’ll also post tips for Warren and West next week.

First of all, I’m sure that during your visit to campus for orientation, you were given a glance of Marciano Commons. Yes, we like to show off, but can you blame us? The place has a fresh pasta maker, for goodness sake! (first floor, next to the pizza station). But be careful if you’re on a time crunch between classes, because it’s usually a pretty long line during peak hours (about 11:30-2:15pm and 5:30-7:30pm).

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And yes, as mentioned, we have a never-ending pizza station. For those of you who just want to chill out with a slice of pizza for dinner but are worried that your mother might magically appear and scold you, make sure you swing for the Sargent Choice pizza. We promise—it’s both mother- and college student-appropriate!

If you head upstairs you’ll open yourself onto a whole new territory of deliciousness. We’ve got international, vegan, and gluten-free stations, among other more traditional American dishes, and at least one of them is always Sargent Choice.

Then there’s the salad bar. Now, the funny thing about the salad bar at Marciano is that they give you small, square bowls to use, which is only strange in comparison to the other two dining halls, Warren and West, which give you very large red bowls. I think they’re trying to maintain the fancy-ness throughout Marciano. And at first it used to make me mad that I could hardly fit anything into my salad, but after using the little white bowls for all of last year, I realized that it was actually a pretty fair size. I think it keeps our salad fantasies in touch with reality—because half the time I’m like, “Look at all these awesome toppings I’m going to get and smother in dressing!!” and then end up not being able to finish it in addition to an entrée. So the small bowls keep me honest.

There’s a microwave on the first floor on the left hand side just past the burger station, and coffee both upstairs (directly left of the stairs) and downstairs (right in the front near the enterances next to the bagel station).

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Cut up fruit is upstairs at the end of the salad bar (and during breakfast it’s on the first floor in around the muffins), and whole fruits are on the long table upstairs directly next to the stairs. There’s also usually whole fruit around the burger station. And hey, since the only thing you’re allowed to take from any of the dining halls is one piece of fruit, you should definitely utilize the opportunity.

For those of you who have dairy concerns, you can find Lactaid milk, Soy milk, and Rice milk down stairs in the mini fridge underneath the coffee station. But sorry, there is no Almond milk option because the dining hall has a strict “No Nuts” policy, with the exception of the peanut butter by the bagel station.

So, to wrap up tips for Marciano, that’s:

–Click the Marciano link to check out hours and the daily menu!

–Microwave (first floor)

–Coffee (both floors)

–Specialty Milks (first floor under coffee)

–Sargent Choice Pizza (at lunch and dinner!)

–Vegan and Gluten-Free stations upstairs (and the gluten free pantry!!! For those who have swipe access only!)

–Fresh Pasta

–Most Busy Hours: 8:30-9:30am (breakfast), 11:30-2:15pm (lunch), and 5:30-7:30pm (dinner). That’s not to say that you should not ever go to the dining halls at these times, just keep it in mind if you’re in a rush.

–Fruuuuit (second floor)

–And ALWAYS look for the Sargent Choice option! Find us by our logo of a heart wearing a chef’s hat

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