Everything from smoked meats, authentic Indian cuisine to an entire station designed for our Vegetarian and Vegan students with delicious handcrafted entrees consisting of plant based proteins to a taste of Italy with a pizza and pasta station.
Dining Services at PennWest California
Do you enjoy food from around the world? Gourmet burgers? Made-to-order wraps and salads? Vegetarian or gluten-free options? We have it all. PennWest California dining locations include our all-you-care-to-eat Gold Rush dining center, plus food court and coffeehouse options, Sycamore Bistro, and Chick-fil-A Express. Our campus dining locations are open to all PennWest California students, employees, and visitors.
Resident and commuter students may choose from a variety of dining memberships and meal plans. All students who live in main-campus residence halls must participate in the meal plan program. Decisions about menus, hours of operation, and serving policies are based on student input. We're committed to serving fresh food prepared the way you like it!
AVI Services at PennWest California
Something for Everyone
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Gold Rush Culinary Center
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Umami
Now conveniently located in the center of campus in Herron Hall, come and enjoy freshly prepared gourmet sushi rolls, and build your own Fusion and Poke Bowls at our Umami location.
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Flatz
Natali Student Center is where you’ll fine convenient grab and go meals and beverages, donuts from our local partner Padiddle Donuts, paninis and sandwiches, salads, and more. We Proudly Serve Starbucks for all of your caffeine needs.
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Vulcan Market
Vulcan Market micro market is located in the Vulcan Village Clubhouse at our upper campus VulcanVillage apartments and is open to any student with a valid student ID.
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Vulcan Express
Vulcan Express micro market is located in the heart of campus on the second floorof the Natali Student Center. With self-checkout kiosk and vending machines, students with ID are able to stop by the market at any time.
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Chick-fil-A Express
Chick-fil-A Express located on level 1 of the Natali Student Centere is a prime location for our Vulcan community. Pick up a classic Chick-fil-a sandwich, market salad or gallon of our house-made lemonade.
Sign up for a meal plan
Choose the category that best fits your lifestyle.
Meal Plans
With so many things on your mind, you may not have given much thought to how you will be eating when you are on campus- but we have! It is our goal to keep students happy and healthy by providing meals that are nutritious, quick, convenient, and delicious. The best way to eat on campus is with a meal plan tailored to fit your needs.
A Meal Plan unlocks delicious meals, beverages, snacks, and more, at the dining locations across campus. Your Meal Plan includes meal swipes and dine dollars, conveniently loaded onto your PennWest One Card. No need to carry additional cards or cash!
With your meal plan, you receive many benefits and perks, including:
- A variety of nutritious and delicious foods made fresh by our culinary team
- Healthy choices available all across campus
- Special events with themed meals and exclusive offers for meal plan members
- Casual atmosphere —perfect for studying or hanging out with friends
- Conveniently loaded onto your PennWest One Card-- no need to carry additional cards or cash
Choose a PennWest meal plan today and leave the cooking to us!
The following weekly meal plans are available to all students. Students residing in on-campus housing are required to contract for one of the weekly plans listed below.
| Meal Plan Options | Semester Rate* | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Meal Plan | 19 meals per week with $225 dine dollars | $2,395 |
| 14 Meal Plan | 14 meals per week with $225 dine dollars | $2,295 |
| 10 Meal Plan | 10 meals per week with $225 dine dollars | $2,195 |
The following block meal plans are available only to commuters and students living at Reinhard Village or Vulcan Village:
| Meal Plan Options | Semester Rate* | |
|---|---|---|
| 75 Block Plan | 75 meals per semester with $125 dine dollars | $795 |
| 40 Block Plan | 40 meals per semester with $125 dine dollars | $495 |
*Note: Meal plan charges are subject to change without prior notice and such changes shall take precedence over existing charges. All charges are subject to Council of Trustee approval.
Meal plans include two components: meal swipes and dine dollars.
- Meal Swipes give you access to the all-you-care-to-eat dining hall, along with the ability to
use meal exchange or meal equivalency at the dining locations across campus. For all
meals plans, there is a 15-minute buffer between allowable meal swipes.
- Meal Exchange lets you convert a swipe for a designated meal combo at select retail locations.
- Meal Equivalency allows you to use your meal swipes at retail dining locations in exchange for a $7.40 credit toward the cost of your purchase.
- Meal plans offer meal swipes in either a weekly amount or a semester block.
- For the weekly plans, the count of meals resets every Monday morning.
- For a block plan, it is up to the student to budget the number of meals over the entire semester. All meals expire at the end of the semester.
- Dine Dollars is declining balance account designed to purchase items ala carte or pay for purchases exceeding the meal equivalency amount at campus dining locations. Dine dollars may be used at any PennWest dining location. Unused dine dollars roll over from the fall semester to the spring semester. Any remaining dine dollars balance at the end of the spring semester is non- refundable and cannot be transferred.
- Guest Meals let you swipe someone into the dining hall as a guest. If you run out of meals, you can also use guest meals on yourself. All student meal plans come with five (5) guest meals per semester for use in the all-you-care-to-eat dining hall.
- The meal week runs Monday to Sunday. Participants on a weekly plan can use up to 4 meals per day. Participants on a block plan can use up to 3 meals per day. No credit shall be given to students for meals missed on any meal plan.
Meal plan adjustments can be made without financial penalty up to the close of business on the Friday immediately preceding the start of the semester. All meal plan reductions or/and cancellation (cancellation option only available those not required to participate in the meal plan program by the housing contract) requests must be completed by the close of business on the Friday immediately preceding the start of the semester. Meal plan increases or additions occurring after the close of business on the Friday immediately preceding the start of the semester thru 4:00 pm on the first Friday of semester may be assessed a fee based on the adjustment. Log into the my.pennwest.edu portal and select the Housing and Dining tab to complete a contract or change request during the applicable contracting and adjustment periods. After the adjustment period ends, changes decreasing the meal plan will no longer be accepted for the current term. Changes increasing or adding a meal plan after the start of the semester may require prepayment of the additional charges.
Sign up for a meal plan by completing the following steps:
(note: students are notified via email as to when the meal plan contract is available via the portal for plan enrollment)
- Log into myPennWest
- Click on the “Housing and Dining Portal”
- Click on the drop-down arrow for “Contracts” and select the appropriate Dining Services contract.
- Review the information then type your name or use the pad to sign (note: if you are under 18, an email will be sent to your parent/guardian, with a link for that person to co-sign)
- Click on the "Continue" button
- Select your desired meal plan and click on the “Submit” button
No payment is necessary to add a meal plan prior to the semester start. The charge will be added to your student account. Students are responsible for checking the Student Accounts Portal in myPennWest for their updated student account balance.