2014 College Power Players: Stanford

Arrillaga Family Dining Commons at Stanford University.

13. Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Students Living on Campus: 11,387
Dining Head: Eric Montell, executive director
Total Enrollment: 18,136
No. of Meal Plans Sold: 4,081
Annual Dining Program Revenues: $38.2 million
Cost of Residential Meal Plan: $5,637/year
No. of Residential Dining Halls/Commons: 9
No. of Retail Outlets: 12
Management: self-operated
Website: dining.stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 724-3077

The private U.S. university with the largest number of students living on campus, Stanford operates an onsite foodservice operation that emphasizes residential dining with nine such facilities dotting a campus footprint of over 8,000 acres.

The showcase is Arrillaga Family Dining Commons, which opened in fall 2011 as the first new dining facility in 20 years. The 26,000-sq.ft. dining pavilion has a Culinary Studio where guests can enjoy cooking classes/demos from the culinary team and which hosts a Performance Dining program developed with Stanford Athletics, School of Medicine and the CIA that promotes healthful eating by combining flavor and optimum nutrition to help students reach and perform at their mental and physical peaks.

Also notable among Stanford’s residential dining facilities is Ricker Dining with its peanut-sensitive environment, the first facility of its kind in the nation.

Retail dining is anchored by Tresidder Memorial Union and its exotic array of concepts ranging from Heirlooms (salads tossed to order with farmers market ingredients), Kikka Sushi and Fraiche (homemade, organic European style fresh and frozen yogurts).

Since early 2014, the dining mix has been supplemented in sparsely served areas of campus at lunchtime by independent food trucks.

Also notable is that Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises has responsibilities at the school’s conference and athletic facilities, including the 50,000-seat campus stadium, where it manages both general concessions and suite catering.

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