Undergraduate Meal Plans

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2015-2016 Academic Year Meal Plans

Stanford University’s Residential Education program promotes the philosophy that living and learning are integrated and that formal teaching, informal learning, and personal support in residences are integral to a Stanford education. Meals play a key role in this mission of community building, leading, and learning. Therefore, residents of specially designated University residence halls (Branner, Crothers/ Crothers Memorial, Florence Moore, Lakeside, Manzanita, Ricker, Stern, Toyon, Wilbur, Yost, Murray, and EAST) are required to participate in a R&DE Stanford Dining meal plan. R&DE Stanford Dining is Committed to Excellence by providing Meal Plans that offer significant value, the highest quality, and maximum flexibility of dining across campus.

R&DE Stanford Dining serves 19 meals each week: breakfast, lunch and dinner, Monday through Friday, and brunch and dinner on the weekends. There are several meal plans to choose from: 19 meals/week, 14 meals/week plus Meal Plan Dollars, 10 meals/week plus Meal Plan Dollars, Yost/Murray/EAST 11 meals/week plus open kitchen and Meal Plan Dollars, and Apartment, 5 meals/week plus Meal Plan Dollars. The most popular meal plan is the 14 meals/week plu meal Plan Dollars.

Up to fifty (50) total unused Meal Plan Dollars will transfer from quarter to quarter. All unused Meal Plan Dollars above 50 will expire at the close of each quarter. ALL accrued and unused points expire at the end of each academic year. (*Students enrolled in summer session can roll over up to 50 dollars into fall).

Meal plans are billed on a quarterly basis, and the cost is determined by the number of service days in each quarter. Meal Plan Dollars provided as part of the 14 meal/week and 10 meal/week plans also vary, depending on the number of days in each quarter.

2015-2016 Academic Year

Meal Plan Description

Autumn
85 days

Winter
76 days

Spring
74 days

Total
235 days

19 meals per week

$2,091

$1,870

$1,800

$5,761

14 meals per week plus
Meal Plan Dollars

$2,091
155

$1,870
135

$1,800
130

$5,761
420

10 meals per week plus
Meal Plan Dollars

$2,091
270

$1,870
245

$1,800
235

$5,761
750

Meal Plan at Yost, Murray & EAST Houses:
11 meals per week plus
Open Kitchen & Meal Plan Dollars

 

$2,091

125

 

$1,870

115

 

$1,800

105

 

$5,761

345

Apartment Meal Plan:
5 meals per week plus
Meal Plan Dollars

$635

50

$568

50

$546

50

$1,749

150

 

Summer Meal Plans

All undergraduates living on campus, residents of Branner, Crothers, Governor Corners, and Suites (with the exception of Mirrielees residents) are required to purchase a meal plan. Undergraduate students who do not select a meal plan will be assigned to the default plan, 14 meals per week. All meals during the summer will be served at Arrillaga Family Dining Commons or Lakeside Dining Hall. Residents of Mirrielees have the option of purchasing an Apartment Meal Plan, an R&DE Stanford Dining meal plan or Cardinal Dollars. During Summer Quarter, Arrillaga Family Dining Commons and Lakeside Dining serve 21 meals per week: breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Meal plans re-set every Sunday morning, refreshing the "meals/week" provided with your meal plan. Each meal plan provides five guest meals; additional meals may be purchased with Cardinal Dollars or cash. The summer residential dining schedule begins Saturday, June 21, with dinner. Your dining contract is concurrent with the length of your housing contract.

 

2015 Summer Meal Plan Rates

Summer Meal Plan Description

10 Week Session

8 Week Session

5 Week Session

9 Week Session

19 meals per week

Guest Passes

$1,894

5

$1,484

5

$921

5

$1638

5

14 meals per week

Guest Passes

$1,815

5

$1,422

5

$883

5

$1,570

5

12 meals per week

Plus Meal Plan Dollars

Guest Passes

$1,894

$112

5

$1,484

$86

5

$921

$52

5

$1,638

$96

5

7 meals per week

Plus Meal Plan Dollars

Guest Passes

$1,689

$330

5

$1,324

$254

5

$822

$156

5

$1,461

$282

5

Apartment Plan - Mirrielees

$547

$429

$266

$473

Meal Plan Dates

Season

Dates

Autumn

September 18, 2015 - December 11, 2015

Winter

January 2, 2016 - March 18, 2016

Spring

March 26, 2016 - June 8, 2016

Summer

June 20, 2015 - August 16, 2015 (8-week session)
or September 1, 2015 (10-week session)

Meal Plans and Meal Plan Dollars will be unavailable for use during the academic break between Autumn and Winter quarters. 

Meal Plans

Students enter the dining hall and swipe their ID cards once. During each meal, students may make unlimited trips through the food service lines, and eat as much as they desire while eating in the dining halls. Meal Plan Dollars may be used at select R&DE Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries retail cafés or any R&DE Stanford Dining location, including all late-night operations.

19 Meals/week Meal Plan - Students on this meal plan are able to partake of every meal that R&DE Stanford Dining serves.

14 Meals/week plus Meal Plan Dollars - Students begin each week on Sunday with 14 all-you-care-to-eat meals available to them. Each quarter, a set amount of Meal Plan Dollars are added to their ID card. Unused meals expire at the end of each week.

10 Meals/week plus Meal Plan Dollars - Students begin each week on Sunday with 10 all-you-care-to-eat meals available to them. Each quarter, a set amount of Meal Plan Dollars are added to their ID card. Unused meals expire at the end of each week.

Row House Meal Plan at Yost, Murray, and EAST Houses - Yost, Murray, and EAST House are Row Houses that have an enhanced agreement with R&DE Stanford Dining; these residents have 11 meals/week served to them in their houses, and each resident is given a set amount of Meal Plan Dollars for every quarter. Each house has a discretionary budget to purchase snacks or other food supplies as agreed upon by the House and provided by the House student kitchen manager. These items are available only to House residents in the open kitchen. Students at Yost, Murray, and East houses are responsible for the cleanliness of the kitchen, dining room and servery outside of R&DE Stanford Dining’s hours of operation.

Apartment Meal Plan - The Apartment Meal Plan is a voluntary meal plan designed for substantial flexibility and convenience for those students living in apartments. Students begin each week on Sunday with five all-you-care-to-eat meals which may be used at any R&DE Stanford Dining hall. Each quarter, 50 Meal Plan Dollars are added to their ID card which may be used in their entirety at any R&DE Stanford Dining location, including late night operations and designated R&DE Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries cafés. Students living in apartments may also purchase one of the R&DE Stanford Dining full meal plans (listed above, except Yost/Murray/East).

Meal Plan Dollars

Meal Plan Dollars are R&DE Stanford Dining meal plan dollars added to your Stanford ID card, to provide flexibility for the R&DE Stanford Dining Meal Plan. Up to fifty (50) total unused Meal Plan Dollars will transfer from quarter to quarter. All unused Meal Plan Dollars above 50 will expire at the close of each quarter. ALL accrued and unused points expire at the end of each academic year. (*Students enrolled in summer session can roll over up to 50 dollars into fall).

Meal Plan Dollars can be used at these locations:

Dining Halls Stanford-owned retail cafes (SHA)
Arrillaga Family Dining Commons
Arrillaga Nights at Arrillaga Family Dining Commons
The Café at Arrillaga Alumni Center
Branner Dining The Axe & Palm
Florence Moore Dining Olives @ Bldg. 160
Lakeside Dining
Late Night Kitchen at Lakeside
Basils and Heirlooms at Union Square
at Tresidder Memorial Union
Manzanita Dining Subway at Tresidder Memorial Union
Ricker Dining Decadence
Stern Dining The Market at Munger
Wilbur Dining  

Meal Plan Dollars are not accepted at Fraiche at Tresidder, Panda Express at Tresidder. Starbucks at Tresidder, Russo Cafe, Med Cafe or any retail cafes not operated by R&DE Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries.

Cardinal Dollars

Cardinal Dollars are R&DE Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries dollars that can be purchased by students, faculty, staff, or guests and are added to your ID card. A 10% bonus is added at the time of purchase. Cardinal Dollars can be used to purchase meals at ANY R&DE Stanford Dining location, and ANY R&DE Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries retail café, including The Market at Munger.

Cardinal Dollars carry over from quarter to quarter, and from year to year. They do not have an expiration date.

Enrolled students can purchase Cardinal Dollars by logging into their account using the My Account option. On-line orders are charged to your University bill.

Students can also submit an order via email. Send the email from your SUNet account to diningplans@stanford.edu. Be sure to include your SUID number and how much you wish to purchase. Email orders are billed to your University bill.

Anyone may purchase Cardinal Dollars with check or credit card by visiting the Meal Plan Office on the first floor of Arrillaga Family Dining Commons at 489 Arguello Way.

For additional information, contact us at diningplans@stanford.edu, or by phone at 650-723-4751.

Cardinal Dollars can be used at these locations:

Dining Halls Stanford-owned retail cafes (SHA)
Arrillaga Family Dining Commons The Café at Arrillaga Alumni Center
Arrillaga Nights at Arrillaga Family Dining  Commons The Axe & Palm
Branner Dining Olives @Bldg. 160
Florence Moore Dining Basils and Heirlooms at Union Square at Tresidder Memorial Union
Lakeside Dining Subway at Tresidder Memorial Union
Late Night Kitchen at Lakeside Fraiche at Tresidder Memorial Union
Manzanita Dining Panda Express at Tresidder Memorial Union
Ricker Dining Starbucks at Tresidder Memorial Union
Stern Dining Russo Café
Wilbur Dining The Market at Munger
  Med Cafe
  Harvest Cafe at SLAC

Cardinal Dollars are only accepted at R&DE Stanford Dining locations and campus cafes operated by R&DE Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries.

How Does the R&DE Stanford Dining Meal Plan Compare?

  Meal Plan Cost  
Row (Self Operated) $6,096 R&DE Stanford Dining Meal Plan Dollars can also be used at select SHA cafés on campus.
R&DE Stanford Dining $5,637 R&DE Stanford Dining Meal Plan is accepted at all Stanford home stadium football games.
Savings $459  

R&DE Stanford Dining Meal Plan Dollars can also be used at select SHA cafés on campus. R&DE Stanford Dining Meal Plan is accepted at all Stanford home stadium football games.

Administrative Details

R&DE Stanford Dining is a non-profit University-managed auxiliary service that receives no subsidy from Stanford University. We obtain all of our revenue through our university dining halls, executive dining, and conference clients. R&DE Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries provide additional revenue to R&DE Stanford Dining to keep the increases for the room and board rate as low as possible.

Where does your meal plan money go? Aside from the large portion devoted to the high-quality food we serve, the wide array of dining facilities we offer for your convenience, the extensive hours of service and the trained staff we employ at each location, there are fixed general and administrative overhead costs that need to be covered for each student, each quarter. The overhead expense covers necessary expenses such as like equipment, maintenance and repair, buildings and grounds, asset renewal, building renovations, utilities, labor and insurance for our locations, administrative office and residential education programs.

Meal Cards

Your Stanford ID Card is also your dining card. Remember to bring your card to all meals or be prepared to pay with a major credit card. We cannot make exceptions.

Changing Your Meal Plan

You can change your meal plan anytime online, except for the last two weeks of any quarter. Select or change a meal plan, buy Cardinal Dollars, or check transactions by logging into your account using the My Account option.

Meal Plan Services

For Meal Plan services, including changing your meal plan options, purchasing Cardinal Dollars, Department Meal Plans, Grad/Faculty/Staff Meal Plans, or asking questions of our knowledgeable staff, visit the Meal Plan Office at Arrillaga Family Dining Commons or by calling the Meal Plan Customer Service line at (650) 723-4751, or by email at diningplans@stanford.edu.

Losing Your Stanford ID Card

For your own protection, if you lose your Stanford ID Card, report it lost as soon as possible. Report your lost card in person, at the ID Card Office (459 Lagunita Drive, Tresidder Memorial Union, Student Services Center on the second floor), where you will be issued a replacement card.

Guest Meals

Invite a faculty member, friend or family member to a meal. Your meal plan includes five guest meals per quarter.

Walk-in Rates

R&DE Stanford Dining's All-You-Care-To-Eat meal service is also available to you! Pay with Cardinal Dollars or Credit Card and indulge yourself with unlimited trips through the serving lines.

Walk-ins Breakfast Lunch Dinner
Student (no-tax) $9.00 $15.00 $18.00
Non-Student (includes tax) $9.00 $15.00 $18.00

*All prices, terms and conditions subject to change.
Rates listed above are for the 2015/2016 Academic Year.

Frequently Asked Questions

For more information, see our FAQ page.