Most of Bentley’s first students were commuters and would bring or purchase their own meals. Others rented rooms at local boarding houses, where “matrons” typically served a hot breakfast and dinner each day (pictured right). 

A guidebook by Harry Bentley in 1940 recommended many restaurants. He always noted whether the establishment offered liquor, dancing or both — and (naturally!) where to rent a tux. 

Students on the Boston campus ate up and down Boylston Street. Some favorites were the Honey Donut Shop and Hayes-Bickford Restaurant. In the late 1950s, a cheeseburger at the latter would set you back 35 cents.

Dining options multiplied with Bentley’s move to Waltham. Especially popular: on-campus bars and cafés run by students. One venue — the Falcon’s Nest (top of page) — offered a “famous” date-nut loaf with a side of live folk music. The Rathskeller served pub grub from the basement of the Tree Dorms in the early 1970s; later, as the Backstage Lounge, it featured live entertainment, disc jockeys and all-night movies. 

Apparently, there is such a thing as too much pasta. In 1971, students protested “repetitive, carb-heavy” dining menus by eating a giant bowl of spaghetti in the main cafeteria, now the LaCava Executive Dining Room. 

Archival photos document a banana-eating contest (left) that dates to the early 1970s and may have been sponsored by Kappa Pi Alpha. It drew a big crowd and was even filmed. Details welcome! 

If you ever microwaved popcorn in your dorm room in the 1990s and 2000s, you can thank Darren Gaudreault ’91. He was a catalyst for a Massachusetts law allowing microwaves in lodging houses and dormitories. The cult of gourmet coffee that ruled the 1990s inspired students to open Café Connections in the Adamian Center and Java X-Treme in Orchard North.