Best places on the URI campus to get food and what food to get.
As the new semester begins, 14,000 undergraduate students will once again descend upon the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus, of which many will stop for a bite at one of URI’s two main dining halls, Hope and Butterfield.
Each building has a rotating menu that has featured some truly dynamite offerings in the past, and others that I would rather choose to forget. This is a ranking of some of the best foods I have had the pleasure of enjoying, and will hopefully give you the chance to try them too. With that being said, let’s dig in:
10: Orange Chicken (Dinner)
Kicking off the list strong, we have everyone’s favorite URI Welcome Day/Orientation meal. There’s really nothing to complain about here, it’s a solid meal through and through and you know what you’re getting each time you have it. The sides don’t do much to enhance the eating experience, like the fried rice, but the entree is strong enough to carry both; and that’s why it still makes the list.
9. Butterfield Burrito Station (Lunch)
With the competition for Mexican food on campus being as strong as it is – Caliente in the Emporium is a popular favorite of students – the offerings here are good enough to warrant a return. Both burrito and bowl varieties are available, as well as a plethora of meat, veggie and salsa options, it makes a great choice for lunch even better when considering it is basically free for students with an unlimited meal plan.
8. Ramen (Dinner)
Ramen night at Butterfield is sort of a fickle thing because it comes with a caveat: due to a lack of other food options and the build-your-own nature of the item in question, it is not uncommon for lines to extend past the hand scanners to enter the dining hall. So if you plan on getting Ramen, try to get there early before the line gets too long. Pro tip: the broth they serve it with is “low-sodium,” so add in a shake or two of table salt. Trust me, it helps.
7. Cuban Chicken (Lunch)
Much like “Thor: Love and Thunder” or the 2022 Minnesota Vikings, Cuban Chicken received a little too much hype during the Fall semester and eventually met its untimely demise. This is largely due to the dish’s inconsistency when served at dining halls. Recent samplings have found that the chicken is good but the accompanying yellow rice is too dry, or the rice is perfectly cooked but the chicken has a weird stringy texture; but the times when both elements are cooked well? It becomes a dish that in normal circumstances would be top-3.
6. Meatball Grinder (Lunch)
In the same boat as orange chicken, the meatball grinder is pretty straightforward. Props to Butterfield for their take on the sandwich by putting a layer of cheese on top and throwing it under the broiler to crisp. Absolutely worth it.
5. Roasted Pork Shoulder with Onion Demi-Glace (Dinner):
Like Bigfoot, or Taylor Swift in public, this one is a rare find. It is a true example of a dish being more than a sum of its parts, with the fatty pork shoulder being complemented by the rich demi-glace sauce that it comes with. It makes for a surprisingly gourmet-feeling meal and I wish that the dining halls served it more.
4. Shaved Steak (Lunch)
In my opinion, a shaved steak sandwich is one of the best sandwiches out there, and URI’s take on this beloved classic certainly does it justice. Nothing more to say here.
3. Pot Roast (Dinner)
I feel like most people may not be a fan of this menu item, or have never even had it to begin with. But it’s absolutely worth a try. Definitely one of the most underrated foods you can have in the dining hall.
2. Roast Turkey (Dinner)
This one is probably controversial. A surprising amount of people I talked to are not big fans of Thanksgiving Dinner, which is exactly what you are getting with this meal. The turkey is pretty solid, but it’s the mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing that have this meal so high up on this list for me.
1. Silk Rhode (Lunch/Dinner)
A Rams Den menu item tops the list that up until now has been dominated by Hope and Butterfield. For those who don’t know, Silk Rhode is part of a rotating food station that is available every other week, when the underwhelming Greek knockoff “Isle of Rhodes” takes its place. However, the weeks when Silk Rhode is available makes for a dining experience that stands out from its competition.
You have plenty of options to choose from, ranging from the spicy-sweet General Tso’s chicken, complemented with some exquisite lo mein or plain white rice. The only downside of this offering is like everything else available in the Rams Den, it operates off of the Dining Dollars system, so it does not quite have the same accessibility that the previously listed items have.
If you’re ever hungry though and find yourself near the Memorial Union with some Dining Dollars in your account, then you should definitely check out one of the culinary hidden gems that this campus has to offer.