Northeastern’s newest dining hall, Campus Roots, opened Aug. 31, providing a more accessible eatery to the approximately 800 students living at 60 Belvidere St., previously the south tower of the Sheraton Hotel.
Prior to its opening, Stetson East was the closest dining hall to 60 Belvidere St. at 0.6 miles away. The closest Northeastern-affiliated dining option was The Market at 39 Dalton, a small grocery-style store where students can use one meal swipe to get up to $14 worth of grab-and-go snacks.
Residents of 60 Belvidere St. previously expressed that the hotel’s distance from campus made it more difficult to find food in comparison to their peers who live on-campus. But upon its opening, students said that the new dining hall has largely quelled this issue.
“There’s a lot of variety. There’s a lot of space. It’s not crowded,” said Keerthi Nethiguntla, a final semester graduate student studying information systems.
Campus Roots at 60 Belvidere St. will be open on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be closed on Fridays and Saturdays.
Some students who live in 60 Belvidere St. have felt their experience is isolating, but the new dining hall has the potential to bring more students to the area. Northeastern’s main campus has three dining halls located in residence buildings: Stetson East, Stetson West and International Village.
“This is nicer than [Stetson] East,” said Emily Pietras, a second-year behavioral neuroscience major. “I think there’s a really good selection.”
Some students, however, are skeptical about how attractive the new dining hall will be.
“I don’t know if it’s close enough for the majority of Northeastern people that are on campus, but I think it’ll be good for the people…who live here at 60 Belvidere,” said Saumya Sawant, a second-year biochemistry major.
Campus Roots offers a variety of foods in a spacious and friendly environment.
“I’m pretty impressed by how new everything looks and how big and spacious it is. I think with some of the dining halls it can get really crowded easily, so I was happy to see this dining hall. It has a lot of space,” Sawant said.
The dining hall has specific breakfast and brunch fare in the mornings, such as pancakes and eggs, as well as a variety of pastries like danishes, muffins and a few different specialty breads. For dinner, it offers many of the same dishes as the other dining halls, including pasta, pizza, a protein and rice, as well as salad, omelet and dessert stations.
“I think it’s nice that they’re implementing the feedback students are giving them, because I remember last year they were tabling and asking for feedback at Steast,” Sawant said.
In 2024, Boston’s Real Estate Development Agency approved Northeastern’s proposal to permanently convert 426 hotel rooms into student housing to accommodate its steadily growing student population. Northeastern’s increase in enrollment has become a pressing issue on the Boston campus expanding the need for on-campus housing, with enrollment increasing by 63.2%, or 16,707 students, between 2013 and 2023. As a result, Northeastern began placing three beds in rooms that originally accommodated two students, a trend colloquially referred to as “forced triples.”
The new dining hall features myriad seating options, with long tables in the entry room and smaller tables with bench seating in the room where food is served. There are seven different food stations located inside.
Campus Roots had its grand opening event Sept. 14 in collaboration with Northeastern Hoosky, a student-run parody merch club. Breakfast items like eggs and pancakes were served alongside more elevated options like crab cakes, red velvet cupcakes and specialty mocktails including strawberry basil lemonade, an apple cider and orange juice “mimosa” and sparkling mint lemonade. The first 100 or so students to sign up for tickets to the event received a free Hoosky hat.
“I came for the free hat, but it actually turned out to be pretty nice, so I’m glad I came,” Sawant said.
At the dining hall, attendees said they were impressed by the variety of foods.
“If I’m in the area and I need food, I wouldn’t mind coming here. This would be a good option for me,” Sawant said. “It’s convenient.”
Students said they were excited about the new dining hall and the different options it will offer.
“They’ve covered a lot of food preferences,” Nethiguntla said. “I think it’s going to be amazing.”
