What is the best dining common on the UMass Amherst campus? This is always the first question students ask when arriving at UMass. UMass has four amazing dining options that provide amazing food and build a friendly community. The four dining commons are Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Worcestor, and each provide an exceptional dining experience. I asked UMass students a series of questions to find out the preferred dining common based on food, set-up, location, and overall favorite.
Berkshire, also known as “Berk”, is one of the two dining commons in the Southwest living area and creates a homely feel. Its large tables allow groups to gather together and build community and friendships. Berk is also one of the two dining commons that stays open until midnight for “Late Night” and provides students with an opportunity to eat a variety of foods later in the evening. Berk is set-up in a semi-circle and always has a great assortment of delicious food. Hampshire (“Hamp”) is the second of the other two dining commons in Southwest, but only stays open until 9 p.m. In my opinion, Hamp always has the best food due to its large assortment and always providing my favorites. It is set up in a large circle and is designed mainly for smaller groups, but does provide a few larger tables for bigger gatherings of people. Worcester is the other dining common that stays open until midnight for “Late Night” and is located near the Northeast dorms, making it a central location to a lot of student’s classes. Worcester provides an amazing selection of food and is a large dining common, which means that it is often the busiest. Franklin is the final dining common and it is open until 9 p.m. and is a central location to students living in Central and Orchard Hill.Â
In order to properly rank the four Dining Commons, I posted a poll on the HerCampus UMass Amherst Instagram and was able to receive feedback. Based on the poll, Hampshire won with 39% of people selecting it as their favorite. Second place goes to Berkshire with 31%, third to Franklin with 23%, and in last place with 7% is Worcester. I completely agree with these rankings! I think that Hampshire is the best dining common on campus with the best food, location, and set-up.Â
To get more information on the reasons why people preferred which dining hall, I sent some of my peers and classmates a form to ask more specific questions. The first question was: What is your overall favorite dining common on campus? Hampshire won again with 50%. The second question was: What dining common has the best set-up? Franklin won this question, also with 50%. Franklin is designed as a square with the two longer sides displaying the food options, and the two shorter sides with drink and dessert options. On all four sides, there is a variety of tables that allow for sitting with a larger or smaller group. Also due to its location, it is farther away from campus, so mostly just students living in Central or Orchard Hill eat there, allowing for more room and tables being open. The third question was: What dining hall has the best food? Hampshire won yet again. Due to its large assortment and variety of food options, as well as always changing up the menu often, Hampshire has the best food in comparison to the other dining commons. The final question was more specific: Which dining common do you frequent the most based on location? The winner was Franklin, since it is the easiest to walk to when you live far away in Orchard Hill.Â
Based on the poll and the answers received on the form, the final ranking of UMass dining commons is: 1. Hampshire, 2. Berkshire, 3. Franklin, 4. Worcester. Hampshire is a clear winner since it won in most categories. Berkshire is another favorite, but Hamp definitely wins over it with the better food. Franklin provides a better set-up and a homely atmosphere, while Worcester just cannot compete with the rest. All four of the UMass dining commons are amazing places to eat with such a large variety of food and a great atmosphere. But to answer the original question: Hampshire is the best dining common on the UMass Amherst Campus.
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