SUB – Student Union Building at University of Alberta

Renovations over the past three years have made this a difficult place to gain access to l, and it can still be hard to navigate as a new or non-​student. Good mix of shops, services, and restaurants; easy place to grab a bit between classes.

Came here for a show at the Horowitz Theater and was impressed with the food court and how well everything was marked. I was afraid I wouldn’t find the theater because I haven’t been here before.
A clean, well maintained area that added to the enjoyment of my show.
Thank you.

The Student Union Building is a place where I’ve spent a lot of time over the course of the many years where I have been either a student at or needing to visit the University of Alberta. There are a number of services offered here but the building has changed as time has gone on and the needs of the growing student body have changed. There is a lot of open space here and some decent food options. Upstairs there are offices, rooms one can book for meetings and the well known campus bar: Room At The Top (RATT). There is also the Alumni Lounge, Dinwoodie Lounge and Myer Horowitz Theatre in which events and activities are often held.
I rather like the stage, the couches and the SUB flame. The study space and water fountains as well as the food options including L’Express are quite good as well. Finally the Health Centre and other student-​oriented services are much appreciated here. The Bookstore is often a great place for finding University of Alberta giftware as well as books and textbooks.

I’m a fan because of the ²⁴⁄₇ study space during midterms and finals. If you have to stay late on campus you know SUB is always open. There are a few places to get food here my favourite is Java Jive, but they also have the best bagels. SUB has lots to offer many different services and there is even a theatre on the second floor. I’ve had many of dance competitions and shows on that very stage and I have to say that it is a pretty good auditorium, and it also holds a lot of memories. SUB is great because there are always couches and tables for you to study or sleep at, there is a connivence store with a post office in it and the bookstore few steps down. Sometimes SUB can be loud, but there are also designated silent areas!

Awww, the Students Union Building at the U of A, more affectionately known as SUB. I visited SUB last night when I attended Pecha Kucha 11 at the Myer Horowitz theatre, just one of the many fabulous treasures inside this mysterious building.
As a grown-​up (although not really), I don’t really come to SUB often, nor do I have reason to, except for the great concerts that come through the Horowitz (but that’s a whole ‘nother review).
As a student, this is your one-​stop-​shop and more. For actually shopping, there’s the Bookstore (all of your textbooks, plus hoodies, gifts, and even crappy drugstore brand makeup!) and SubMart, which carries mostly corner store type items like chocolate bars and soup-​to-​go.
Need to eat? Check out Cram Dunk for coffee, donuts, and Flirt Cupcakes (yeah!), L’Express for green onion cakes, salad, pasta and wraps, and Marco’s for the famous Wildcat.
If you need to study, you can hang out by the huge fireplace, in front of the stage (where a myriad of activities go on, usually over the lunch hour), over on the couches, or in the quiet room. During exam season (or what I like to call Strestival), the building and Cram Dunk are open 24 hours for your coffee-​fueled study madness convenience.
If you need to meet up with your student group, the upper levels are full of meeting rooms so you can discuss things like pub crawls and bylaw changes.
The basement is all services — things like the Campus Food Bank, the sustainability office, and the campus chaplain office. Upstairs, too, is the Ombuds service.
And last but most certainly not least is RATT! You can check out my RATT review, too, but simply put, it’s awesome. Definitely a room with a view!

The Student Union houses a lot of things apart from just a food court and a Flight Centre. Let’s start with the basement. Here we have the SUB Print Centre which is terrific when it comes to getting things printed, scanned, photocopied and at a great price (I believe large scale printing is as cheap as 5¢ a page, duplex). I’ve had entire theses and online reviews clubbed together, printed and bound out here for very affordable prices.
Then there’s the book shop that’s also pretty useful for people who want to buy books and other things on campus. This stretches through the first and basement floors and also has the electronics/​computer shop where one can satisfy some basic needs. The second floor has a lot of small offices related to undergraduate organizations, minority groups etc. and also the health centre which is a useful place to check in-​to if you’re sick or need an STD panel (yikes!) or what you will.
The food court is the most disappointing aspect of the SUB. I guess Java Jive and Cram Dunk are a little above average for coffee, but the food options here are in serious need of a revamp. Just because students can’t afford expensive food, that doesn’t mean that the food here needs to be so sub-​par.
I don’t usually compare places in Edmonton with places elsewhere in the world, but when it comes to the quality of the food court at U of A (both the SUB and the HUB) one has to notice how ordinary it is compared to what I’ve been to before (UBC, McGill, UT, USC, UCLA, Caltech all are far better). At least during warm months, I’d much rather hop into the LRT and go to one of the numerous and awesome food options near Corona Station (Drift food truck comes to mind).

As someone who didn’t attend U of A, the SUB seemed like a decent place to hang out. Lots of neat food spots and tons of couches. I went here today to get a printing job done at SUBprint.
I was completely lost but luckily the info desk lady was helpful and gave me directions. SUBprint got my printing job done in only 15 minutes, which was great. I stopped by the electronics store because I need to buy some blank CDs, and the store clerk went out of his way to help me find what I was looking for.
I then stopped at the postal office to get something mailed, but that experience wasn’t great (I have a separate review for that).

SUB is an OK place but I wasn’t blown away by it.
I think it has potential to be a great place to socialize and study.
There are so many tables and chairs in this building and they all fill up at lunch time. All of them. It gets pretty hectic for lunch. They have some great places to eat though — Subway, Coffee & Bagel, L’Express, and a whole lot more.
I like that they have a lot of couches here. They are comfortable and they make studying or socializing a lot more enjoyable.
I didn’t like the extremely loud drums that started playing out of nowhere though. A group came in, not sure who, and was playing during lunch. They were so loud that no matter where you went in SUB, you could here the drums. I couldn’t even here myself think!
It’s a nice building, as long as there aren’t loud drums being pounded into your skull.

This building definitely stands out. It reminds me of a shopping mall. It has a convenience store, a book store and a cafeteria with some pretty good places to choose from (donairs, subway, EDO, etc.).
The rest of this huge building is filled with couches, tables and chairs. It is good for studying but if you need complete quiet you won’t get it here. Mostly people come here to hang out and eat or sleep. It also has a big projection screen and a stage, but I have never seen them used. I would guess they are for presentations. It’s also pretty common to see small kiosk’s here selling necklaces and earrings or other cool things.
SUB is pretty much set up to assist students needs and does that pretty well.

This was one of my frequent hang out places during my time at the U of A, and I still occasionally wander back here for one reason or another when I am on campus. SUB is home to CJSR Radio, The Gateway student newspaper, the U of A Bookstore, and various fast food and coffee places. There is a lot of seating, with a renovated area featuring many comfy chairs. You can often find students here relaxing, studying, eating, or working on laptops. The Myer Horowitz Theatre is also in SUB and is host to a variety of concerts and speakers. You can find out anything U of A related at the information table, and buy bus passes and other items at a small convenience store. A post office, juice bar, and lots of washrooms can also be found here. Office for student clubs are in the basement and if I recall correctly, on another floor in the building. This is a very multi-​functional building that still serves several important purposes.

I love this building at the U of A. I wish that we had one as good when I was going to school in Montréal. It’s a big, comfortable place with a food court, bank machines, stores that sell student essentials and a book shop. What a great centralized hub so students don’t have to run around all over the city in between classes to get food or supplies. It’s also a great meeting place.
There is a giant section of sofas and tables where people meet, study or sleep. It’s all naturally lit with sky lights and it’s quite cozy. I’ve gone there to read a few times, and during exams students are stretched out catching cat naps on the sofas.
The only thing that sucks is a lot of the fast food restaurants here are cash only, so there’s usually a small line at the bank machines. But EDO takes debit so that’s where I usually go.