Syracuse University dining hall power rankings

As many of you know, TNIAAM utilizes Slack to organize the editorial product around here, while also tossing around copious amounts of #jokesandgarbage. At times, the #jokesandgarbage can actually become content, however. This is one of those instances.

On Wednesday, we got to talking about Syracuse University’s dining hall experiences, and a small group of us -- Dan Lyons, Andy Pregler, Kevin Wall and myself -- all felt the need to weigh in. I’m a Brockway loyalist from my two-year sentence at BBB to start college, but the rest seemed to think that Ernie Davis Hall comes out on top.

The rankings we ended up with, keeping in mind these are just the standard meal plan dining halls, and not the SUpercard ones like Schine and Kimmel:

1. Ernie Davis Hall

It opened while I was a student, but honestly, I never ate there (I’d already moved off-campus by that point). Prevailing opinions seem to celebrate healthier options, nicer seating arrangements and a wider selection. Could’ve conceivably given it a shot when I was back on campus this past March. Kevin’s a real adult (unlike myself) and he rides with Ernie, so I’ll take his word for it.

2. Brockway Hall

#BROCKWAY4LYFE. Despite spending two years in Brewster, the highlight was being able to eat at Brockway -- the best dining hall at the time -- every day. Taco Tuesdays, chicken nuggets on Wednesday, Chinese food on Thursdays, the omelette bar on weekends. It was great to have such an array of food available. I gained my freshman 15 without much issue from 2006-07.

3. Graham Hall

I’d bounce this lower because it’s on the Mount, but Andy’s all about that awful trek for some reason. I purposefully avoided friendships with kids that lived on the Mount, if only so that I’d never really have to walk up there. That also means I never ate at Graham once in four years. So Andy’s word that it’s passable is fine, I suppose.

4. Sadler Hall

I’d have actually placed Sadler third, since I liked popping over there every so often for variety’s sake and their selection always seemed pretty significant. Maybe others rank it lower because of its distance from everything else (Lawrinson isn’t close)? Would love to hear more pro-Sadler points since mine are pretty weak.

5. Shaw Hall

Shaw was fine back in my day, and I always liked their lunch selection above most other dining options. Living on Ostrom for the last two years at SU, I ate there every so often, and never really had a bad experience. Recent feedback says it’s a bit outdated, which makes sense since I last shadowed the door over seven years ago. Former TNIAAM football recruiting editor Ben Norowski says it’s the best dining hall, though.

6. Goldstein Student Center

Ate here once after hanging out with former Syracuse punter Niko Rechul (yes, that Niko), and left fairly unimpressed with the selection. Seemed like it was driven by late-night munchies more than actual food needs. I avoided South during the daytime, though (was literally there like three times during the day in my entire time at Syracuse).

These may or may not be definitive rankings, so yeah, feel free to yell at us in the comments below. And sorry in advance for the “inside baseball” nature here for non-alums/locals who frequent campus.