Oceanview Terrace

To me, OVT is probably one of the less exciting dining halls. There is no «specialty» like Pines or CV or the Bistro… but I have to give OVT kudos for improving over the last year.
Service here is good– staff members greet you with a smile, and portion sizes are decent. I like the deserts here though!
Used to be a buffet, but because of student suggestions, it is now back to an a la carte.
Summer is AYCE.
Will come to OVT if I am nearby! But I won’t make that extra trip if I’m further away.

OVT is like living with an aunt who can’t cook all that well, but she’s family so you gladly lap up whatever she puts in front of you.
My friends and I lovingly describe our dining hall as «consistently below average». I’m gonna use my DOC skills and ‘unpack’ this curious phrase. It is not only below average on a day-​to-​day basis like my phrase might imply, but it is also intersectional in its hegemonic ideological racializations of gender formation hegemony.
The perfect way to summarize a visit to OVT is that you know what you’re getting when you go, and although it isn’t very good, it’s home.

The food here was good the first two weeks, but it got very repetitive with not much variety. Most of the food besides the salad and fruit bar is really heavy. The fruit is super expensive. If you fill up a container to the top, it would cost about $ 10

I used to love the made-​to-​order pasta station when I lived in the dorms. That and the sandwich station were the only halfway decent things to eat. That being said, OVT had the best food out of all the dining halls.

UCSD food is blah. Really. It’s just whatever. But at this one, you can get sliced cake. With an Ocean View. And that’s what hit the spot at this sweet locale.

Today is a sad day. Back in 2004, the thing to do was to play ball until 11pm and then hit up OVT for a bomb breakfast burrito. This place opened until 1am! It was the prize possession for all Marshall students. It was our mojo. Our fuel for DOC. It was the reason we were proud. POTS? What’s that? Earl’s Place had nothing on us. But as they say, all good things come to in end.
Today I discovered that OVT closes at 9pm. Yah 9pm. You graduates read that correctly. Immediately, the glamor and prestige of being a Marshall student falls tremendously. So much for attempting to be nostalgic. My guess is this is UCSD’s attempted lock down on unhealthy late night eating habits. But everyone knows that a light bedtime snack helps clam the nerves and promotes REM sleep. For some, a light bedtime snack can be an over-​sized breakfast burrito. In my case, it would act as recovery food from some intense basketball.
Regardless, the place is closed so I can’t judge the quality of the food. UCSD should take a page out of market research and approach this decision with what the students want. If they want a late night cafeteria — it might as well be OVT.
On the bright side, OVT’s being closed probably saved me 7 bucks on a potentially terrible breakfast burrito. Yet, 7 bucks for nostalgia? I’d pay that any day.

If you have to use meal points, I suppose OVT is better than most of the alternatives. However, I am graduated and happen to eat here before my extension class. For some reason, which I’m sure you psych majors can easily explain, the food tasted much, much worse when I had to pay in cash… For one, paying in cash means you are the jacka** that slows down the line (it doesn’t help that they dont carry enough change at the register). Secondly, it makes me consider all the other things I would rather have spent $ 5 on.
But really, what can you expect from caffeteria food. It’s edible, open late, and has a decent selection.

On campus, there is a rivalry between which is better OVT or CV… My vote will always go to CV (probably because I eat there more), but OVT is still worth reviewing. Yes, its typical dorm food and the majority of the time eating a lousy bowl of cereal you made in your room would probably be better. The food is extremely over priced, but that how UCSD rolls, cashing in on ever opportunity they can. I do give OVT credit for their dessert bar it is better than CV’s lame excuse for one. Originally I went to OVT for thai iced tea, which I was extremely disappointed in. It was watery and cost around 3.75. What a waste of meal points. I also heard a scary statistic from a reliable source that OVT, by standards, is worse than prison food. Now, that in itself is enough to make me not want to go there. I like the review of the spoiled milk, figures. If your a student at UCSD, walk the extra couple feet and go to Goody’s instead. At least their food looks edible.

Kinda out of the way, not that great of food, and low on variety.
Food:
–best thing here I feel like is the burritos and they aren’t even always THAT good. However, what they lack in quality, they give you in quantity. I don’t know if that really truly makes up for it, but it’s better than nothing!
–salads are decent here, but then they take forever to make you one. There’s no self serve so you can’t even speed it up if you wanted something quick to grab on the go!
Ambiance: For some reason I just don’t like it that much here. Sure, you get a nice view… but I never really noticed it.
Price: under $ 10 I think…
Service: bus yourself!

This is a great place to start your quest for the Freshman 15.
I just finished my freshman year, now eating meals at home, and I feel so much better. I have never felt so disgusting after eating food…
That being said, OVT isn’t that bad for a college dining hall. Everything has way too much salt and oil, but that’s what college kids want, so I guess they’re doing a good job of pleasing us suckers. Consuming their breakfast burritos is kind of like eating a large infant. That thing is death encased in a rubbery tortilla. Anything from the breakfast menu at the grill will ruin you.
The vegetarian/​vegan options here are pathetic. It’s pizza, pasta, or the salad bar for the next year. (The salad bar is decent, though.)
One thing I reeeeaaally regret not speaking up about was the one time I drank spoiled milk there. I didn’t think I’d be able to drink milk again. It was horrific, but I was late for class so I didn’t say anything. Ugh.
Another awesome thing about OVT is that the people who swipe your ID cards sometimes do not even acknowledge your physical presence. There have been countless times I have said hi to the person working, and got absolutely no response. Just a swipe. Come on, guys. You might hate your job, but know that I’m not exactly excited to be eating here. We’re in this together.
In case you were wondering, I am one of those people who has no self-​control and would get a breakfast burrito all too often. Don’t be like me. Do yourself a favor and eat at the Food Co-​op in the Old Student Center if you’re looking for good food on campus.

It’s been many years since I last ate at OVT and I was actually pretty excited to grab some of their great, student-​quality Mexican food. OceanView Terrace has a decent selection of food and drinks and is the only dining hall that is open reasonably late. I remember having to walk the length of the campus to get food at night and finding the place
absolutely packed with hungry kids with their faces buried in textbooks.
I nostalgically ordered the carne asada taco salad with all the fixin’s. Topped with only the finest prepackaged, processed ingredients, this monster certainly weighed in at over a pound of heart-​stopping food. The shell was a bit stale from sitting so long, but the standard mix of Mexican flavors remixed into a «salad» added new depth to the ingredients. I was reminded of the late night meal runs amidst studying where friends would gather to socialize in their PJs. I was then reminded of the midterms and finals and snapped back to the reality that I was glad to not have to deal with that anymore.
OVT was always one of my favorite places to dine because of their good selection and variety. From grilled sandwiches to Mexican food, breakfasts to desserts, OVT was always available to satisfy the hungry bellies of students when the other dining halls were not. The reality is that the food is neither that great nor great for you, but dropping in for a late night breakfast burrito is one of those unique experiences of going to school at UCSD.
Food: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀

OVT and their signature breakfast burritos.
I just had one for the first time today. I don’t live on campus anymore and I was planning on getting the grill, but alas! It wasn’t open until 2pm. So I had to actually get my first real breakfast burrito.
They’re huge, and for those of smaller stomachs may be more suitable to eat throughout the day. It’s enough to cover all three meals. Lots of protein, and veggies if you so choose (I got everything, just a little less on the onions). I actually quite appreciated the presence of the mushrooms, that was a highlight of my burrito experience. The other highlight was the cheese.
If given a choice among only the dining commons, OVT is (and has always been) my favorite. It’s open late, its café is rather good (along with the pastries!), staff is friendly, and their grill (which is alright, but rather good in comparison to other places on campus) and breakfast burritos are practically the only edible food on campus. Everything else is okay, but hey, it’s campus food, what does one expect?
One star off because I’ve never actually been able to see an Ocean View from this Terrace. (Ah, ha, ha…) Maybe it’s because I always go at night…

A lot of the workers are really annoying and stupid. I should be nice, but can I say: internship/​lab work rejects? Sorry, but it seriously shows in some cases. Especially when it takes them a bazillion years to roll a frickin burrito. It’s a burrito, not one of those precious joints I don’t doubt you were smoking not too long ago.
Speaking of breakfast burritos, they are pretty good. La Casa is alright, and breakfast sandwiches almost rival McDonald’s. Expect a wait. The prices are a pain. And it’s still a cafeteria. The thing is that Plaza makes a better breakfast burrito, believe it or not, and Mercado makes better Mexican. OVT, for me, is for when closer places aren’t open.
I give it one more star than Plaza Café because there are infinite packets of Tapatio here, unlike the one bottle available at Plaza that is usually MIA.

I don’t live on campus anymore, so that’s probably why I like it haha. The breakfast burritos are DELICIOUS, the bobcats are MASARAP, and they have good soft serve. Oh yea they also have good quesadillas! The only thing I don’t like? The prices are high. You need someone to swipe you. if not, you’ll be forking over a lot of cash for not a lot of food. Also, the lines can get long.
But it’s the only place open until 1 on campus (except for Earl’s Place) and I’m a sucker for their breakfast burrito. drool…

I would give it a 2, but I’m giving it some credit for being a college cafeteria and better than the other options on the UCSD campus. It’s pretty average all around. There’s a sandwhich bar, which is decent, but not exactly cravable. Pasta is not very good because it’s really watery. Most of the stuff from the grill is not very good except for maybe the fries. Theres also a milkshake/​smoothie bar, which is probably the best part. Everyone loves the burritos, but seeing as i hate mexican food, i can’t speak about that.
If you’re forced to eat this food because you’re stuck living in the dorms, like I was last year, this is the best option but it gets old fast.

Sometimes I crave their Super Quesadillas with everything on it.
But they also offer chicken caesar salad and wraps and sandwiches for lighter fare.
One day with my roommate, we bought one banana wrap and one chicken caesar wrap, and traded halves. While waiting for our sandwiches, a kind server offered us the extra strawberry/​banana smoothie leftover from the last batch. It made my day.

This place is not bad, it’s nice cause it’s open late, but the food is well just like the other dining halls. mediocre. The speed of the food really depends on the staff working there, on some nights there’s these 2 guys who work the grill and OMFG THEY ARE SO SLOW, it took me (i kid you not) 45 minutes to get a chiabatta chicken sandwhich… other nights when it’s other people working it takes like 5 minutes. The food selection is not bad actually, way better than sierra summit. Probably one of the better dining halls at UCSD

So this is open like all the time. Everyone is alway raving about this place and i really don’t know why.
So they have these burritos… they aren’t even real burritos. I’ve lived in SoCal my whole life and those are not burritos. They are just really big, which is probably why everyone likes them so much.
And who the hell charges twenty-​five cents for a pickle and forty cents for a side of salsa. Thats just ridiculous.

Their breakfast burritos got me through my first two years living on campus. Tater tots + bacon + salsa + cheese + fake eggs + flour tortilla + a side of onion rings and ranch = nirvana in la la land. A few times a week, I would get one breakfast burrito for breakfast and one for a late night snack; it’s THAT good.
OVT, your food sucks more than my elementary school cafeteria but nonetheless, I love you. Your 1,500 calorie breakfast burritos made me the (fat) man I am today.
Also OVT, Your sad, almost pathetic Valentine’s Day dinner was so tempting and sexy that after a real Valentine’s Day dinner at the Chart House that day, my date and I paid $ 40 each (in meal points of course) for a prime rib w/​shrimp dinner at OVT. Trust me, I will never forget. And my parents will never forget either, for depositing hundreds of dollars into my meal point account because of your outrageous pricing. But hey, when I need to study but run out of Red Bull to mix my vodka with, you were there for me. OVT, you are my soul mate.
You know what they say… two breakfast burritos a day, keeps the doctor away.

That’s right, OVT gets five stars and you will definitely be in agreement with me once you sink your teeth into an OVT burrito. They are absolutely fantastic — they are huge and you get to choose your ingredients, which include: chicken, beef, cheese, rice, tomato, lettuce, and tasty guacamole. Those damn burritos contributed to freshman 15,(it actually was about 10 lbs and it was during my junior year).
The pizzas and quesadillas here are sinfully fantastic as well. Plus, OVT has a decent selection of groceries. Like most of the dining facilities at UCSD, OVT has a café and smoothie bar and there is Chinese, Italian and Mexican food available, but the quality of the food at OVT is superior to the other dining halls.
Not to mention, the place isn’t called Ocean View Terrace for nothing. You can see sweeping views of La Jolla Shores from the restaurant, but it is easy to get distracted from the gorgeous ocean view because those burritos are so damn good.