Rating the Top 3 Dining Locations On Campus at JMU

This blog is going to be a bit different, instead of focusing on Harrisonburg restaurants, I wanted to review the food on JMU’s campus! I relied on JMU’s dining all throughout my freshman year, being stuck on campus all the time allowed me to try just about each dining location. So if you’re planning to visit JMU’s campus, here’s a list of places you should check out!

1. Oath Pizza: Dukes Dining

Oath Pizza has been a favorite of mine since my freshman year! I always enjoyed being able to get a half pizza, salad, and soft drink for one punch. I would either get the regular cheese pizza or the “Bella” which came with ricotta cheese, basil, cherry tomatoes, and a balsamic glaze. I really enjoyed the crispy crust of Oath’s pizzas; the taste and crunch were the perfect combination. Even the regular cheese pizza was a great choice, the mozzarella and tomato sauce were also a great combination. The rating that I would give Oath Pizza is an 8/10, the pizzas are very good 99% of the time, I believe I only had one time where it was bad. I would give it a perfect rating but the lettuce in the salads is not always super fresh, lots of red coloring on them. Overall, Oath Pizza is a great option for on campus dining!

2. Blue Ridge Bowls: Dukes Dining

My second favorite place to eat on campus is Blue Ridge Bowls, which is also located in Dukes Dining. Blue Ridge Bowls offers a variety of healthy rice bowl options as well as salads and even ramen too! You also have the option to build your own bowl however, I prefer their premade bowls. My personal favorite is the Santa Fe bowl which comes with lettuce, choice of protein (I choose carne asada), corn, black beans, tortilla strips, cheese, as well as choice of dressing (I choose avocado lime ranch). As delicious as this may sound, it sadly is not always the most consistent. I had to personally ban Blue Ridge Bowl for a semester after finding a bug in my food during my freshman however, it did have a comeback. After my sophomore year, Blue Ridge Bowl increased their quality, and I never had an issue again. For their rating, I would give them a 7/10, taking off a few points for the bug obviously, but their bowls have been great and filling ever since.

3. E Hall

I could not finish this list without including my favorite dining hall on campus, E Hall. To me, E Hall feels like fine dining, the lighting, the atmosphere, the food, it is so much better than D Hall in my opinion. E Hall offers a wide selection of food ranging from pizzas, pastas, burger, salads, sandwiches, hibachi, and more! My favorite thing to get at E Hall is their chicken nuggets on Chicken Nugget Thursdays. This is by far the most popular weekly dining event on campus, plenty of students always look forward to it. I also really like the build your own pasta bowl station, you can choose from a variety of vegetables to add as well as your choice of sauce (usually marinara or alfredo). Then your dish will be cooked right there in front of you and served within five minutes! I would give E Hall a 7/10, the food here is mainly good but I have had some uncooked meats before. Compared to D Hall, E Hall is the much better dining hall.

Thanks for following along with Mighty Meals with Meredith! I hope that this was insightful for those who plan on visiting the beautiful campus of JMU, go dukes! Until next time, keep exploring, keep eating, and keep sharing the love for local food!