Juni: After more than six years of being vegetarian, you’d think that I would have finally figured out a consistent and healthy way to maintain my diet. However, being a vegetarian in college has been surprisingly harder than I expected (and I live in California!), so it is has taken years of trial and error to figure out the best ways to manage. While this is not a perfect list, I have decided to compile to tips and advice for people trying to survive at Caltech under dietary restrictions. While my introduction may (at first read) seem a bit discouraging, reading this list will put you at a great starting place, and (as the writer) it is admittedly in my best interest to make the conditions at Caltech seem a bit more dire then they actually are to make sure that my blog is actually adding value to the situation. 🙂

Diya: After being vegetarian my whole life, I’m kind of used to knowing how to shape my diet to include all the important food groups. After starting college, I had to figure out the food scene at Caltech, which surprisingly has a lot of vegetarian options! Additionally, I love going off campus on the weekends to try new restaurants around Pasadena, so I’ll be supplementing Juni’s Caltech food experience with some of my favorite vegetarian food options around the city.

BREAKFAST

If you’re a coffee addict like me [Juni], then the optimal way to start you morning is with a nice cup of coffee. There are two main places on campus that I like to frequent for my coffee: Red Door and Broad Cafe.

Most students at Caltech use the “anytime” meal plan, which means that they can get food from any of the dining halls/cafes on campus whenever they want. This means that if you like any special additions to your coffee (sugary flavorings, oat milk, extra expresso shots, etc.) it will not cost you anything extra!

Now, if you are trying to start off your day with a good, hearty breakfast (in addition to your coffee, of course) I have a few recommendations:

Red Door

1. Salmon avocado toast: if you are a pescatarian, this is a great option to add a little bit of protein to your morning meal. The toast also comes with goat cheese (a little more protein!), capers, pickled onions, and tomatoes. If you do not eat meat, I have learned that you can ask for the toast without salmon, and, if you want to add a little extra, you can add extra tomatoes (pickled or fresh)!
2. Avocado toast: unlike the salmon avocado toast, this one just comes with fresh tomatoes and basil leaves and has a nice balsamic glaze on top.
3. Breakfast sandwich: this is a great option if you want some protein (egg + cheese) and veggies (tomato).
4. Shashuka: this one hits all of the major food groups! The poached eggs are doused in a spicy tomato sauce with sautéed spinach and bread.
5. Overnight oats: this item is more of a speciality breakfast (first come first serve :)). If you come to Red Door early enough in the morning in the fall you can get the overnight oats special with has oats soaked in milk topped with pumpkin puree and whipped cream! In the spring, Red Door sometimes has overnight oats topped with strawberries.

Browne Dining Hall

Brown Dining Hall is open the earliest (early-bird central) and has a grill station, and thus is the most personalizable options for breakfast. If you’re looking for protein you can order eggs (cooked any style), personalize an omelette or burrito with veggies, cheese, or potatoes. You can also get standard breakfast staples like pancakes or hash browns.

Broad Cafe

1. Salmon Toast: Unlike Red Door’s salmon avocado toast, this one does not have any avocado. Instead, the toast comes with cream cheese, capers, and, of course, smoked salmon.
2. Avocado Toast: this one is made a bit different than Red Door’s (and, in my opinion, is better). The toast is covered in mashed avocados, bits of basil leaves, fresh tomatoes, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Simple, yet very tasty!
3. Sweet Toast: the sweet toast at Broad has nutella topped with strawberries, blueberries, and banana. As a big nutella lover [Diya], I love getting this breakfast as a fun little sweet treat.

LUNCH

Now, there are admittedly quite a few lunch options around Caltech for vegetarians, but I’ve decided to just highlight the ones that are (in my humble opinion) the best ones. Last year Caltech started a rotating vegetarian station in Browne Dining Hall, and this station has been absolutely revolutionary in transforming eating options at Caltech. I’ve highlighted a few of my favorite meals from this station in addition to the other options.

Browne Dining Hall

1. Mongolian station (every day): The dining hall has a build-you-own Mongolian bowl station. While the lines can get a bit long during rush hour, the “build-your-own” aspect means that you can use this station to get a hearty helping of veggies and protein (tofu is one of the “veggies” options). After you have filled your bowl, the workers at the station will ask you what type of protein you want. If you eat fish you can add shrimp, but if not, you can ask for extra tofu!
2. Pho station (Tuesdays): If you tell them you’re vegetarian they will give you the veggie broth and tofu!
3. Udon station (Thursdays): On the anytime plan students are only allowed to add two toppings to their bowl. My personal favorites are tofu and veggies, but other options include shrimp tempora and chicken. Also, don’t forget to request the veggie broth (which comes with seaweed!).
4. Pizza station (every day): While there are no vegetarian protein options besides cheese, if I’m feeling in the mood I’ll pile a build-your-own pizza with loads of veggie toppings and eat some beans from the salad bar.
5. Vegetarian station (every day): While the station rotates every day, there are a few options that are offered on a regular or semi-regular basis. One of the reasons I love this station is that there is almost always a vegetarian protein option offered, and all of the carbs are whole wheat!
   • Mediterranean grain bowl: this is a fan favorite for many of the non-vegetarians on campus. Every Friday you can get a grain bowl which is served on a salad bed with grains and has a host of yummy toppings to chose from such as chickpeas, tomatoes, olives, hummus, avocado, onions, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, sweet potato, and pumpkin seeds.

Avery Ramen

A somewhat less-well-known dining option for lunch is Avery Ramen. Avery is one of Caltech’s eight houses, but unlike the other houses, during the week their dining hall is open for ramen at lunchtime. There are two options that vegetarians can order, and you can always request extra tofu if you want to add a bit more protein to your meal.

1. Curry Ramen (Thursdays): This one is my personal favorite, and if you want to add even more spice, Avery has extra spicy sauce you can add!
2. Vegetarian Ramen (Available Daily)

Broad Cafe

Unfortunately, Broad does not have that many options for vegetarians, but there are a few sandwich options (and hacks) that I can share. I also learned that you can add a half salad to any sandwich, which is a great way to add some veggies to the meal!

1. Buffalo Mozzarella: Besides the cheese, this sandwich does not have any protein. However, the eggplant and tomato are quite tasty and paired with pesto and balsamic dressing, the sandwich is still quite good.
2. Grilled Cheese: As it sounds, this is a more basic sandwich, but it does come with a fun aioli sauce and can be made vegan.
3. Chicken Ban Mi: I’ve learned that you can request the chicken to be subbed out for tofu!
4. Sesame Mandarin Avocado Salad: One of my [Diya] favorite salads is this one from Broad! It has orange slicces, lettuce, avocado, and this delicious sweet sauce that makes the salad taste amazing. You can also add tofu for extra protein!

Red Door

For the many nocturnal Caltech students, Red Door is open until 2 AM every night. While there are not a ton of options for vegetarians, there are a few:

1. Hummus sandwich: this is a good option to hit all of the important food groups. The sandwich combines hummus (protein), peppers+lettuce+tomato (veggies), and bread. It comes on a baguette, but I often like to sub the “nine-grain-bread” in instead.
2. Red Tofu Sandwich: Much to my eternal dismay, Red Door stopped serving the tofu sandwhich they had during my first two years at Caltech. However, as far as replacements go, the Red Tofu Sandwich is not so bad. It comes with pickled vegetables, jalapenos, seasoned tofu, and a vegan mayo.
3. Caprese: This one is a pretty standard sandwich affair (mozzarella, pesto, arugula, tomato), but it’s pretty tasty, and I have allegedly heard that you can sub the mozzarella for avocado if you are vegan and add tofu for extra protein.
4. Daily Pasta: Every day, Red Door has a new pasta sauce flavor (that rotates each week), including pesto, marinara, and creamy tomato. The pasta comes with a piece of garlic bread (yum!), and you can also add meat if you want.

Also, if you’re hungry after 10 PM you can order a cheese quesadilla, which comes with guacamole, or nachos and cheese.

DINNER

Unfortunately, depending on the day, dinner options can be quite limited. However, there are a few fan-favorites that I felt I should highlight:

1. Falafel Wraps: while this is not offered that frequency, sometimes CDS (Caltech Dining Services) has a sort of “build-your-own” falafel station with pita, lettuce, hummus, tomato, falafel, and tahini sauce. The falafel is a bit dry, but if you pair everything together I think it’s quite delicious.
2. Vegetarian Pad See Ew: CDS has only offered this meal once, but their rendition of the standard Thai dish was REALLY good (and it had tofu!). I hope they make it more of a repeating option.
3. Taco Tuesday: While I am generally not a fan of taco Tuesday, there is one soyrizo+potato taco that is actually quite delicious.
4. Coconut Chana Curry: About once a month, house dinner features Indian food, and their coconut chana curry is definitely a hit. They also have saag paneer, naan, rice, and roasted vegetables–a well balanced meal!

OFF CAMPUS

As an avid foodie, I [Diya] love exploring restaurants in Pasadena. Here are some of my favorite vegetarian options close to campus.

1. Cava: Their Mediterranean-inspired bowls are so delicious, and I love adding falafel and veggies along with harissa (a spicy dip) and tahini dressing. I’ve never had Cava before coming to Caltech, and it has definitely been a game changer. It is also located on Lake Avenue, a 10-minute walk from campus!
2. Veggie Grill: This restaurant only serves vegetarian/vegan options, and has everything you can think of, from chicken tenders to burritos to grain bowls to burgers (all with meat substitutes!). The varieties of soy-based and plant-based meat they include has a lot of protein and is absolutely delicious. Veggie Grill is about a 15-minute walk from campus.
3. Namaste Spiceland: I [Diya] grew up eating Indian food, so this grocery store/restaurant has really good homemade-style Indian food (15-minute walk from campus).
4. Old Town Caffe: This restaurant serves brunch all day (waffles, crepes, French toast, pancakes, eggs, breakfast burritos, acai bowls, and more) and is one of my favorite spots to go to on the weekend. They also have a section of their menu which is completely vegan. This restaurant is a 15-minute walk from campus.