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Where To Eat While At Notre Dame

By Ken DeCelles Updated

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If you missed part one of this two part extravaganza, you can find it here. Today burger23 over at our friends One Foot Down will let us know where to grab a bite to eat and grab some beers while visiting Notre Dame.

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Campus Food


Ok, you've made it to campus and the game isn't going to start for a few hours. Where can you grab a bite to eat? The better question might be, where can't you get something to eat? The dining halls are open to the public, so you can always hit up South Dining Hall (SDH) or North Dining Hall (NDH). However, you'll be paying somewhere around $13 a person and you'll be fighting for space with the undergrads. And don't even try to find a table at SDH when the band gets there. Overall, I'd avoid the dining halls. Fun fact, some people like to compare South Dining Hall to the Great Hall in the Harry Potter movies and books because of the long rows of tables. Notre Dame even held "Harry Potter Day" last year and turned all the tables so they ran the length of the dining room like in the movies.

Inspiration for Harry Potter? You decide.

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via sas-origin.onstreammedia.com


Of course, there are cheaper and easier options. Out on the quads you'll find tons of stands run by different dorms and organizations raising money. Find the one with the shortest line or run by your favorite dorm/organization (might I suggest looking for the one manned by the men of Dillon Hall?) and grab a burger or brat. They're set up all over, so finding one won't be a problem.

If you want something with a little more tradition, the Knights of Columbus sell steak sandwiches on South Quad before every game and have been for over thirty years. Just find the guy sitting on a ladder yelling at people through a bullhorn and you're all set. The line can get long, but the money goes towards a good cause and the sandwiches are good.

Finally, if you want to go inside to eat, you can go to Reckers, which is located behind SDH. They serve mostly sandwiches and have pretty good smoothies and milkshakes. It's a little pricey and will probably be quite busy, so I would probably recommend staying away.

After the game, you'll probably be hungry, and luckily there are a lot of options to choose from.

First, you can try going to SDH or NDH. While for lunch it's a bit of a rip-off, you might find it worthwhile for dinner. The dining halls hold a candlelight dinner and serve some pretty high quality food. A few times a year they have prime rib and they always have a mix of really good deserts. If you want to plan ahead, you can check the menu here. Again, it's going to be expensive and crowded, but the crowds aren't too bad if you're willing to wait until 60-90 minutes after the game ends (but don't be too late because they close two hours after the game ends), but then you run the risk of them running out of the really good food and deserts. Unfortunately, it does happen sometimes.

If you're in the mood for a sports bar-type place, you can go to Legends, which is located near the stadium. The food is good and the beer and liquor selection isn't too bad and neither are their prices. This is will probably require a long wait, however. After the thrashing Notre Dame inevitably gives South Florida, you may not be in the mood to eat at a place where the walls are lined with Notre Dame stuff, so keep that in mind.

South Bend Dining Options


If you want to go off campus, South Bend actually boasts a fair number of good pizza places. The best, by far, is Rocco's. I suggest getting your pizza with garlic and sausage. The sausage is homemade and the garlic is delicious. It's going to be packed, so be prepared to wait if you go there. The second place to check out is Bruno's. Just make sure you go to the one on Prairie Ave. The other locations on their website are just for carry-out. Finally, you can try going to Barnaby's. The restaurant has a unique atmosphere, and I really enjoy their pizza.

If pizza and bar food isn't for you, South Bend is (surprisingly) home to an excellent Cambodian restaurant, known simply as Cambodian Thai. It's a very small restaurant, so I suggest calling ahead and placing your order or you might be waiting around for quite some time. The yellow curry and drunken noodles are excellent. JW Chen's serves very good Chinese food, but, again, make sure you call ahead. They serve their food family-style, so everyone gets a little bit of everything. You pretty much can't go wrong with anything you order.

Drankin'

Whether you're a college student or just want to relive your glory days, South Bend has plenty of crappy dive bars where you can get trashed and dance with sweaty, random strangers. The king of these bars is the Linebacker Lounge, known simply as The Backer. Just as a warning, it will be CROWDED. It's not very big to begin with and there will be TONS of people there. They at least set up their porch and have someone serving drinks, so it's not so bad when you're waiting, but it will probably take a while. Once you're inside, you'll be packed shoulder to shoulder with sweaty people in a tiny, dirty room with music blaring. The Backer serves very large beers and very potent Long Island Iced Teas, so they certainly know their audience. Other bars to try are Corby's, Blarney Stone (formerly Finny's), and Main St. Pub. Honestly, they're all pretty much the same.

 

In Summary

I hope that gives you an idea of what to look for when you get to South Bend. If you’re coming up for the game, I hope you enjoy your stay and that all of your football players manage to return with a minimum number of missing limbs. I’m sorry; it’s something that’s going to happen. When Louis Nix III gets hungry, there’s no stopping him.

 

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Well if you don't know what to do in South Bend now, I don't know how to help you. Thanks again to burger and the guys at OFD for helping out.