Parkside Dining Hall

Awful food, employees don’t care, the whole structure of the place is awful. Also, they don’t serve food after 8:30 but rather put out leftovers. Absolutely disgusting especially for the listed price of around $ 12.

Parkside is one of the two main dining halls for freshman. It was always preferable to EVK. There was a better selection of food, more space, and generally less disgusting options. The place was also generally kept cleaner.
There were also decent options for vegetarians — like grilled cheese and pasta. It was fun and convenient how they prepared little dishes of pasta and the like so you could grab them without having to scoop them out yourself.
I lived in Pardee (on the east side of campus), which meant a considerable walk to Parkside — but it was often worth it.
Parkside is also a fun place to hang out and chat with friends, or to run into them. It has a bit more of a lounge-​y feel than EVK, so it’s a good place to sit around for an hour or two, or to work on some homework.

The food is generally pretty good but it is not always the cleanliness place. As well, the desert choices at night can be pretty lame (I mean where are the cookies!?). All in all its pretty good for college campus food.

Let’s start with an interesting story:
I was sitting with a friend for lunch before class. That day, they had philly cheese stake at the bar. Shortly after we began to eat, my friend looked at me with a sheer look of disgust. He slowly opened his mouth and pulled out a hair from which dangled a chunk of food. We almost vomited. We left immediately, still hungry. And scarred.
Eaters beware. This place is truly disgusting, especially if you have to eat there daily. The food is served in bulk, so it rarely tastes fresh. The pasta and rice are either over-​cooked or under-​cooked, normally under-​cooked. The juices are either too sweet (with artificial sweeteners) or taste like water. The only thing edible there are the cereals and the vegetables. While people expect to gain 15 at most universities, expect to lose 15 pounds at usc. Because, Parkside is the best USC has to offer. And that is just sad.
Bön appetit.

Edible… sometimes.
But… I guess hardships make you more fit to survive in the wild.

No.
Trust.
Just head over to EVK.

Parkside is either a hit or miss… mostly a miss. It is ridiculous how low the quality is or that their tzatziki sauce is actual sweet yogurt… disgusting. Not to mention their refried beans was pure non-​viscous liquid. I’d like to see any of the USC faculty eat here… it’s ridiculous how much money I spend to go here and the food is worse than it was in high school.

Parkside was a godsend freshman/​sophomore year.
Although it’s only convenient for the Parkside/​International students living in the area, Parkside is definitely worth the walk from the quad since the food is much better than EVK. The pasta and pizza is always better quality, and they have a much better selection in general since it is supposed to be «international» cuisine. I’m not sure how «international» it really is… BUT EVK can’t even measure up to Parkside’s awesomeness.
I really liked the fruit/​dessert area; they always tell you that you are allowed a single piece of fruit but I would always pilfer bananas and oranges to save at my dorm and eat later. The pies and cakes were always pretty yummy too, and they have an ice cream machine that doesn’t break down nearly as much as EVK’s. The salad bar also has a bunch more options, they even have peanut butter, jam and bread in that area so you can make sandwiches. They include sliced cold cuts as well for you meat eaters. The grill always churned out decent burgers and fries but the best thing about Parkside when I ate there were the THEME NIGHTS! The food was always so good on these special occasions, because they would choose a theme (Mexican, Mardi Gras etc) and create awesome dishes that were delish! This only happened once a month I believe, and I’m not sure if they are still doing this but it was a lot of fun! They even brought in performers and had some awesome music =D

Not gonna lie, this is the better dining hall of USC. The salads are fresher and the set up is more accessible. Space is also wider and I usually never have trouble finding a seat unlike EVK.
Living at Arts and Humanities last year led me to eating at Parkside for almost every single meal given that I had the Cardinal Meal plan, which was unlimited swipes at EVK or Parkside and no dining dollars. Thinking back, I really appreciated the buffet style dining hall. I could grab a hot tea or coffee downstairs if I wanted a break from studying or make myself a tuna sandwich if I had the munchies at 9 pm. However, this also led to overstuffing my face and gaining a couple pounds. While all unlimited, don’t forget that this will show up in your weight if you don’t exercise.
I’ll definitely miss this when I have my limited meal plan in the fall.

It SOUNDS and LOOKS healthy, but definitely contributes to your worst nightmare… the freshman 15. Or should I say 25?

Not the greatest, but pretty good for a dining hall. Gets to be mundane after a while, which makes the Dining Dollars with a Meal Plan opens up other options on campus. Best part about PSC is being able to custom-​order eggs and/​or make fresh waffles (they provide the batter) for breakfast.

This food at this dining hall is better than EVK, but not by much. The food lacks flavor, but at least it’s SOMEWHAT fresh. The ambiance is more up to date and cleaner too.

Good The first time. A little pricy but it’s all you can eat. The normal person will balloon up if they eat like this everyday. Wish they would change up the menu a tiny bit.

I LOVE THEIR MADE-​TO-​ORDER OMELETS! It’s what makes me get up early in the morning during the weekdays and enjoy my weekend stay at the dorm. It also contributed to the reason why I gave Parkside dining hall 5 stars. They also upgraded the eggs to caged free eggs! Service/​Chefs are always friendly and professional. I usually get the «all veggies» omelet with cheese. All veggies include tomato, onion, spinach, mushroom. The egg whites are delicious as well.
I felt they upgraded and made a lot of effort to improve and change the food offered each day this semester (Fall 2011). I appreciate their efforts and let’s just say everything tastes a whole lot better these days. Even the pizzas have upgraded because the toppings change daily! I have ate «BBQ Chicken», «Meat Lovers», and my favorite «MARGHARITA — SLICED TOMATOES, CHOPPED GARLIC, FRESH BASIL, OLIVE OIL». Had to copy and paste that from the menu, but it’s a delicious burst of flavor!
Check out the weekly menu here if you are interested in seeing what they offer before going into Parkside:
I think Parkside is definitely the place you want to eat when you have meal plan swipes. :-) Otherwise you’ll have to fork over $ 10 or so. Overall, Parkside Dining Hall is great! :-)

As a college grad, this place gets too many complaints from USC students.
The food actually is pretty good, and they do have quite a few options. The only thing I dislike is how over-​priced it is for a non-​student to get in. It works great though if you can get swiped in from a student!
USC students: you don’t have to cook — you have options — and you can eat as much as you want. Stop complaining and enjoy it!

I was a bit surprised to find the rating for Parkside Dining Hall so low. Compared to Everybody’s Kitchen, Parkside is absolutely wonderful! This cafeteria always has soup and a great selection of gourmet salads including caesar, shrimp, vinaigrette, and more. Yes, I have to admit that their heated foods need some work, but if you stay with healthier and homier things, you’ll be just fine here!

I learned fast to not get fish here, it always tasted like Gordon’s microwaveable stuff. The rest tends to be a step up from EVil Kitchen across campus, pre-​portioned into smaller portions so people can manage their appetite accordingly. Pizza crusts always seemed to be turning stale already. Pretty common for students to snag a piece of fruit on the way out.

After eating here for about a semester or two, I would find myself saying, «I’m so hungry that I could eat Parkside!»
It really isn’t that great. People who are closer to EVK and eat that more regularly flock over here saying that Parkside is amazing, but I think they say that because it’s only relatively good. Parkside is still gross. Soups are way too salty, and the rice they serve here is a disgrace — clumpy and nasty. This also goes for the «Korean» brisket or «BBQ» they would sometimes serve. Taking some meat and soaking it in soy sauce does not make it Korean. I’d find myself eating cereal and frui for lunch/​dinner because they were some of the few things that Parkside didn’t make.
I remember when my parents actually paid in cash to eat Parkside. I wanted to tell them, «Are you guys out of your minds? Why in the world would you pay to eat something that’s probably more or less equal to prison food?» Parkside is all-​you-​can-​eat, but that refers more to a test of tolerance for disgusting food than anything else, really.
Also, service isn’t exactly the friendliest. A certain rude chef here got mad at me for choosing one hot dog over another (made it obvious by glaring at me and shaking his head, then telling how ridiculous I was to another guy). He got mad at me because I didn’t take the hot dog that was in the very front. Are you serious? Wow, who shoved a broom up your ass? Sigh… I’ve heard that he also yelled at a friend of a friend for asking the chef to give her only the beef patty. Ridiculous.
Thank God I don’t have to eat this crap anymore.

Quality is going downhill.
Service isn’t that great (esp from certain workers); I really hate how some will yell at you for taking out food… & why the heck do they run out of utensils/​plates/​bowls so often? why are the soup bowls almost always dirty? it’s disgusting!!! why is their pad thai so plain now? why the heck did my friend find a SPIDER crawling out of his «FRESH» salad!!!
what happened to their vegetarian friendly reputation? i’m so disappointed by how they’ve been setting their lunches. They used to be quite vegetarian friendly, but now it’s like they’ve forgotten us vegs. Oh dear, EVK is climbing up my ladder.

Choices for food…
Quick bite from TroGro, $ 5?
Burger combo from Carl’s Jr in the Lot, at least $ 5?
Sub from Submarina, $ 6?
Panini of the day from the law school café, $ 7?
Salad from the Lot, $ 7?
Or how about paying $ 10 at Parkside for a buffet?
Pasta’s in small containers
Pizzas and garlic bread
Assortment of dishes that goes with rice, potatoes, sometimes vegetables too
Soups
Salad bar and condiments bar (build your own burger kind of thing)
Tossed salad, curry, and that flat bread that I can never seem to remember the name
Fries, burgers, hotdogs, and sometimes quesadillas
At least 3 kinds of pies, some fresh fruits
Muffins, cookies, brownies
Jell-​o in assorted colors, puddings
Frozen yogurt with syrup and sprinkles
Standard soda station plus some juices, milk, and even hot drinks
Cereals, bagels, etc.
Almost each of the dishes has an accompanying nutritional information beside the name of the dish. And if you’re curious about the nutritional contents of the desserts, they also have a binder where you can look it up. The variety of food is not that bad and it sure beats having to pay the same amount for fast food on campus.
Less 1 star for location. If you’re new on campus and you don’t live near it, you probably would not choose this dining option.
Less 1 star for only accepting USC card and CASH.