Eating at Purdue
By Jay Wood
jay@thepurduereview.com
As a Purdue student, you’ll never have an excuse not to enjoy great food. There are numerous dining courts on campus and there are many restaurants both on campus and in the surrounding Lafayette/West Lafayette area. As someone who loves to eat, I was quick to explore the many available options.
During my freshman year, I ate most of my meals in the dining courts. All of the dining courts offer relatively similar food, but each one stands out in its own special way. Earhart has Make Your Own Italian where you can customize your very own pizza or pasta. They also have great biscuits and gravy every morning, which I highly recommend.
Hillenbrand is famous for its Steak nights. Every Thursday, Hillenbrand serves steak and baked potatoes—a real treat.
The Windsor dining court has great Make Your Own sub sandwiches and chili dogs.
Ford has whacky flavors of ice cream. It rotates every day, but throughout the year you’re bound to see flavors varying from Peanut Butter and Jelly to Bubblegum to Cake Batter. It sounds crazy, but they’re worth a try, especially the Cake Batter flavor.
The Wiley dining court is new this year, but I’m sure it will be just as good as the rest.
A new dining court has opened up this year at Wiley. The Wiley dining court will feature a “Churrascaria” section which will serve a Brazilian menu. Highlights from this section include Pork Ribs on Monday and Garlic Beef and Garlic Smashed Potatoes on Tuesday nights. Be sure to check out this great new addition to the Purdue dining services.
Because I was living in McCutcheon Hall my first year, it didn’t take me long to wander over to the Purdue West Shopping Center. Purdue West, aside from its book store and tanning salon, has a number of great restaurants. It has a Dairy Queen, Subway, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, and China Dragon.
I’m sure you’ve all eaten at many of the restaurant chains before, but the China Dragon might be new to you. I recommend their BBQ ribs. I know Chinese restaurants aren’t known for that dish, but this place has decent ribs for the price. It’s nice too, because they come in a plastic bowl, so if you have leftovers, you can easily stick them in your fridge.
There are a handful of restaurants near Ross-Ade Stadium, including McDonalds, Insomnia Cookies (delicious cookies delivered until 2 a.m.), Mad Mushroom Pizza, and Jimmy John’s. Jimmy John’s is fantastic because they also deliver in to the wee hours of the morning.
Then there’s Mad Mushroom. God Bless Mad Mushroom. Their cheese sticks are actually better than their pizza, but everything is extremely inexpensive. As a poor college student, you’ll quickly learn to appreciate cheap pizza.
The large bulk of the restaurants will be found on east side of campus. Just east of the Krannert Building, you’ll find Chauncey - a food and commercial area. Chauncey has several restaurants, including Taco Bell, Arby’s, Fazolis, Hot Box Pizza, Pita Pit, The Love Shack, Subway, Qdoba, Chipotle (my personal favorite), and the Triple X.
The Love Shack has pretty decent calzones and bread sticks, but it’s most famous for the atmosphere. The Love Shack’s walls and menu are full of sexual innuendo - a truly great dining experience. Bruno’s is a family restaurant that is literally covered with Purdue sports memorabilia. Their food is pretty good, but like the Love Shack, you go there for the atmosphere.
At the bottom of Chauncey Hill Mall is the Levee, where you’ll find Potbelly’s (sandwiches), Bruno’s & Puccini’s (both serve pizza), El Rodeo, Long John Silver’s/AW, Wendy’s, Starbucks, Moe’s, Panera, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Scotty’s Brewhouse.
Lastly, the Triple X. You aren’t a true Boilermaker until you’ve eaten at this fine establishment. The Triple X is a historic diner in West Lafayette. I recommend the Bert Burger and the biscuits and gravy. This is the place to go to get rid of a hangover or eat breakfast any time of the day (they’re open 24hrs, Mon-Sat and during the day on Sunday), Their food and their service are great, but more than anything, you’re taking part in a time-honored Boilermaker tradition.
I hope my recommendations will come in handy. I’ve never been disappointed with the food selection both on and off campus. For more choices, you can easily search online for restaurants in this area - there are tons. So get out there Boilermakers. Explore the area and eat to your heart’s content!