I have had a meal plan for all four years as a student. My freshman year I had the 21 meal plan for every meal, but every year after I have had either the flex or ten meal plan so I also do some cooking at home.

One advantage of a meal plan is that it feels free because it is already paid for. Another is that it is usually much faster to acquire food than other means. Since everybody loves rankings, why don’t we look at the best food locations and dish of choice?

Personally, I am a huge fan of Asian food. My favorite restaurant in town is a Thai restaurant in West Columbia called Mai Thai. I am thus inclined to include USC’s only option for Asian food Mein Bowl which provides variations of classic Americanized Chinese options. It’s not as good as any caliber that you would get at a normal Chinese to-go place or buffet, but it’s still Asian food so I will continue to enjoy it.

Best Meal: Sweet and Sour Chicken, Fried Rice

#4 Horseshoe Deli
This is another case of one of my favorite foods not done as well as it should, but it still deserves to be included. I love subs. Groucho’s, Firehouse and Beezer’s are some of my go-to eat off campus spots. Horseshoe Deli is more of a subway type place where you pick your ingredients and honestly it would be really good but there’s one small issue I have with it. THEY GIVE YOU NO MEAT. If you ever want to have a good laugh get only meat and compare a Publix sub to a Horseshoe Deli sub. The saddest part is if you don’t have meal plan they cost the same. Add some meat to these subs and I am shooting Horseshoe to the top two at least.

Best Meal: Italian with everything I can get on it,

#3 Chik-Fil-A
This delicious establishment is one of the greatest fast food chains hands down and can only be competed with by the likes of Zaxby’s, but that’s not on campus. There is a love-hate relationship that I have with Chik-Fil-A because it is the quickest and easiest on campus option, but is also the foundation of the Freshman 15 (outside of the booze). If Chik-Fil-A was magically somehow really healthy I would probably eat it every meal.

Best Meal: Chicken Mini Breakfast

#2 Pandini’s
Many people aren’t fans of Pandini’s due to the fact basically nothing fits on meal plan in there. I have plenty of bonus bucks so its not too much of an issue for me and it’s so worth it. Brick oven pizza even though it’s a little thin is so good, arguably better than some of the major pizza delivery companies like Papa Johns for example. There’s also some pretty good pasta options here.

Best Meal: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

#1 Grand Market Place 
It may seem strange especially for a guy, but the salad bar in the Grand Market Place of Russell House is by far the best food option. The first reason is that it actually fills you up. The Salads are huge and every meal I listed above does not fill me up like the fresh salads they have. Also, unlike most of the options in Russell, I do not feel guilty for eating it. The reason I put Grand Market Place #1 though is for a guilty pleasure, which is of course every Wednesday. There’s no debate Chicken Finger Wednesday destroys all competition.

Best Meal: Chicken Finger Wednesday