The Kitchens serves as the primary dining facility for Sonoma State University students, offering six different meal plan options.
The Seawolves all access meal plan provides unlimited meals and snacks seven days of the week. All first-year students living on campus must enroll in this plan for their entire first academic year, regardless of their room assignment.
The weekday all access meal plan offers unlimited meals and snacks Monday through Friday. The daily seven meal plan gives students access to the kitchens once per day, seven days a week. The daily five meal plan permits access once per day, Monday through Friday. Premier blue 50 includes 50 all-access visits per academic year while prime blue 20 includes 20 visits.
The Kitchens operates on a four-week menu cycle, repeating the same food choices after each full cycle.
Julia Morris, a third-year communications major, opted for the weekday all access meal plan. Morris visits The Kitchens four to five times weekly and finds the food satisfactory but notes repetitive options and challenges with gluten-free choices.
Sophia Dallman, a first-year psychology major, is required to have the all access meal plan for her entire first year at Sonoma State and express dissatisfaction, believing it is unfair for all first years to be required to purchase the meal plan for the entire year. She says, “I haven’t gone at all this semester, I didn’t go most of last semester…it’s not worth it.”
Dallman says there is definitely variety within the food provided, but the choices don’t change enough and after a while she would result in just eating at the salad bar.
Shyanne Klamm, a third-year psychology major, selected the premier blue food 20 plan but faces limitations due to food allergies, often relying on limited options like plain burger patties or fruits and vegetables. Klamm also highlights staff knowledge gaps regarding dietary restrictions as a challenge.
Suggestions from Morris and Dallman include mid-semester the menu cycle changes and increased use of alternative ingredients to accommodate dietary needs.
