It has recently come to our attention that the Galen Dining Center, also known as “where the football team eats” to campus tour guides, has gone unnoticed for many during their time at USC. What is the Galen Dining Center, you ask? That’s exactly what Steve Flanders, a graduating senior, asked too.
“I just never knew,” he told us. “Seriously, wtf. There’s a magical place, with great food, and television screens, and giant pictures of football heroes on the walls…”
Steve told us the story of how he accidentally discovered Galen: “I got lost in the awkward construction behind the cinema school, went up this strange tiny staircase, and found myself in a lost world behind some place called ‘Heritage Hall’… it had trophies in it! I was like, ‘woaaaah. Seriously?’ But I kept going, onto this patio, and there it was. The smell of barbecue chicken and macaroni wafted through my nose. God, it smelled so good. I pushed open the doors to reveal the greatest sight I’d ever seen in my four years at USC. The lost dining hall.”
By the end of the story, there were tears in his eyes. We dabbed at our own.
As Steve figured out, the Galen Dining Center is located behind Heritage Hall near Cromwell Field. This is not to be confused with “The Galen Center” indoor arena on Figueroa Street — unsurprisingly enough, where athletes also hang out and do athletic-y type things.
Our sources investigated the dining hall after hearing Steve’s story and discovered that the dining hall offers significantly better food to student athletes under the mysterious “Galen Dining Plan,” a much cheaper, more-awesome version of the current meal plans available to regular, mediocre students. However, the Galen Dining Center prides itself on opening its doors to the public for lunch weekdays from 11am-2pm for cash or discretionary dollars only. We are so damn lucky.
Two snarky students make snarky faces after telling them of the "Galen Meal Plan" they can't have.
Unfortunately, this dissuades many freshmen who even know about Galen to stray from EVK or Parkside, but upperclassmen may be missing out on a Trojan-spirit themed meal in favor of Cafe ’84 or the Tutor Campus Center. “Why waste your money on a strangely flavored lemonade when you can eat with the water polo team?” Steve went on. “Okay, not with them. But near them. Mainly while they whisper and point at you and wonder what you’re doing there, but whatever.”
The USC water polo team walking somewhere at some point.
Steve swears the food alone is worth it. We confirmed this fact upon eating mountains of macaroni and cheese, ice cream sandwiches, and french fries.
If you’re not an athlete already, try the Galen Dining Center for yourself. You might even get to see Matt Barkley DJ. “That would be something,” Steve told us, and proceeded to swoon.
