Finding what to eat on campus at Indiana University Bloomington can be intimidating at first. With students’ busy schedules and a large campus, students need dining options that are both convenient and affordable.
Luckily, IU has plenty of dining options whether you are on a meal plan or paying as you go.
If you have a student meal plan, it comes with three key components: Meal scans, combo meals and dining dollars.
Meal scans let you enter any of IU Bloomington’s all-you-care-to-eat dining halls any time they are open. Combo meals, sometimes called meal exchanges, are limited each week and let you use a swipe at select pay-as-you-go locations or cover a guest at a dining hall. Dining dollars are like campus cash you can spend at cafés, C-stores, dining halls and other retail locations across campus. Everything works through your CrimsonCard.
Students without a meal plan can still load money onto their CrimsonCards and use it much like a debit card around campus.
All-you-care-to-eat dining halls are great for full meals. Forest Dining Hall, McNutt Dining Hall, Collins Living Learning Center, Goodbody Hall and Wright Dining Hall all offer diverse menus, including plant-based and international options that change daily. You can use meal scans there for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
IU also has many places for quick bites or snacks. Campus convenience stores, known as C-stores, are located near dorms and across buildings on campus and stock everything from frozen meals and snacks to toiletries and drinks. These places accept dining dollars, CrimsonCash and credit or debit cards.
Food courts and restaurants across campus provide even more choices. The Bookmarket Eatery in the lower level of Wells Library has a variety of spots like Hubbard and Cravens for breakfast items, The Meltdown for sandwiches, King’s Hawaiian chicken, The Greenhouse salad bar, BlenzBowlz smoothies and bowls and rotating international food from The Globe. Combo meals, dining dollars, CrimsonCash and credit cards are also all accepted at these locations.
The Indiana Memorial Union is another central dining hub with many options. You can grab sweet treats and coffee at Sugar and Spice Bakery, try rotating global dishes at The Globe, get burgers and fries at Whitfield Grill or enjoy a sit-down meal at The Vault Pub.
Academic buildings also house dining spots, such as Hodge Hall in the Kelley School of Business. Hodge Café offers everything from quick snacks and coffee to sushi and poke bowls.
Once you know where to scan, swipe or spend, eating well on campus becomes one less thing to worry about during your busy day.
This story was originally published in the Indiana Daily Student’s spring 2026 Housing and Living Guide.
