# Cheapest food on campus at George Brown Eating on campus at George Brown Polytechnic without draining your budget. The cheapest outlets at all three campuses, the membership plans that save 13 percent, and free food when money is tight. --- Food is one of the easier parts of a student budget to lose track of, and George Brown spreads it across three downtown campuses, so what is cheap depends on which building your classes are in. The good news is that the outlets repeat: Tim Hortons, Pizza Pizza, Palgong Tea and K Roll & K Bowl show up at every campus, plus the Student Association's own restaurants. And when money is tight, there is free food on campus. This guide covers what to buy, what it costs, and where the free meals come from. ## What is where, campus by campus Each campus has a food court plus Student Association outlets, and microwaves sit in the campus cafeterias and SA areas if you bring your own lunch. **St. James**, 200 King Street East: the food court is in the lower level of Building A and runs Palgong Tea, K Roll & K Bowl, Pizza Pizza, Tim Hortons, Burrito Loco, Crispy Coop Fried Chicken and Market On-The-Go meals. The King's Lounge, in room 147 of the same building, has INS Restaurant and Subway. Chef on the Run, on the second floor of 300 Adelaide Street East, sells takeout prepared by Chef School students, and The Chefs' House at 215 King Street East is the sit-down restaurant they run under professional instruction. **Casa Loma**, 160 Kendal Avenue: the food court is on Level 2 of Building C, with Palgong Tea, K Roll & K Bowl, Pizza Pizza, Tim Hortons and Market On-The-Go meals. The Student Centre Lounge at 146 Kendal Avenue, Level 1, has Dolce Vita, a licensed sit-down eatery, plus INS Convenience and Subway. **Waterfront**, 51 Dockside Drive: the food court runs the length of the main floor's south side and has the widest list, adding Good Vibes Grill smash burgers and All Day Breakfast to the usual lineup. Operating hours live at [dineoncampus.ca/georgebrown](http://dineoncampus.ca/georgebrown) and shift by term, with many outlets closing over the summer. ## What things cost The college does not publish a single price list, and most outlets are cashless. What you can count on: | Option | Cost | Where | |---|---|---| | Tim Hortons coffee | $2.50 to $3.50 | All three food courts | | Bento Sushi or a grab-and-go pack | $6 to $9 | All three food courts | | Pizza Pizza by the slice | $4 to $7 | All three food courts | | Burrito Loco or K Roll & K Bowl | $10 to $14 | All three food courts | | Subway sub | $7 to $11 | King's Lounge, Student Centre Lounge | | The Chefs' House sit-down lunch | $15 to $25 | St. James, 215 King St. E. | The cheapest real meal is a Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich or a slice of pizza. A full food court combo runs $10 to $14, which is the number that adds up if it becomes a daily habit. ## The membership plans, and the 13 percent If you eat on campus most days, the food services membership plans are the one structural saving available. All three are accepted at every Food Services food court restaurant, and the tax exemption is what makes the difference, because prepared food otherwise carries the full 13 percent HST: - **Annual plan**, tax exempt, covers Fall and Winter and expires at the end of the Winter semester. - **Semester Swipe and Save**, tax exempt, expires at the end of the semester. - **Reloadable Flex Card**, reloadable like a debit card, taxed, and usable only at Food Services locations. Flex dollars carry over year to year while you stay enrolled, and you have until October 31 after you leave to spend the balance. The 13 percent works out to about $1.20 saved on a $10 lunch. Over a term of daily on-campus eating that is real money; over a term of twice-a-week visits it is not, so the annual plan only pays off if you eat on campus most days. ## Free food when money is tight Two resources exist for students who cannot cover food costs, and neither requires explaining yourself in detail: - **Student Nutrition Access Program (SNAP)**, run by the Student Association. Register at the SA office on Casa Loma Campus, E building, room 127. - **Good Food Market**, at St. James Campus, 200 King Street East, in front of the Campus Store. Fresh fruit and vegetables at affordable prices, Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Email GoodFoodMarket@georgebrown.ca to get on the mailing list. The Student Association also runs short-term relief funds of $100 to $500 through the year. If a bill is about to take out your food budget, ask at the SA office before it happens rather than after. ## Cooking instead Most George Brown students live off campus, and home cooking is the only reliable way to eat for under $6 a meal. Groceries at the stores along Front Street and in the Distillery District, or at the No Frills and FreshCo locations a short transit ride out, cost a fraction of food court prices. A batch of pasta, rice and beans, soup or curry costs $15 to $20 in groceries and covers lunch and dinner for three or four days. Bring it in a container, use the microwaves in the campus cafeterias, and the same lunch costs $3 instead of $13. Realistic monthly food budgets for a George Brown student in 2026: - **Tight:** $250 to $350, cooking almost everything and bringing lunch. - **Moderate:** $400 to $550, cooking most meals with some campus food. - **On campus most days:** $600 to $800, and more if you add coffee every morning. The gap between the first and the last is $300 to $500 a month. Over an eight-month year that is $2,400 to $4,000, which covers a full semester of tuition in many George Brown programs. ## Off-campus eating near the campuses The St. James and Waterfront campuses sit in the Distillery District and the eastern downtown core, where a casual restaurant meal runs $16 to $25 and a fast food combo $10 to $14. Casa Loma sits in a quieter residential neighbourhood north of Davenport, with fewer options within walking distance. The Good Food Market on Thursdays is the cheapest fresh produce anywhere near St. James. ## The bottom line Coffee and a slice is the cheap campus meal. The membership plans save you the 13 percent HST if you eat on campus enough for it to matter. SNAP and the Good Food Market are there when money is short, and home cooking is still the only way to keep a food budget under $6 a meal. ## Sources - [Where to eat on campus](https://www.georgebrown.ca/current-students/services/where-to-eat-on-campus) - [Tuition fees and costs](https://www.georgebrown.ca/apply/tuition-fees-and-costs) - [Student Association](https://www.studentassociation.ca/) For the other big cost, see our guide to [student housing at George Brown Polytechnic](/universities/george-brown-polytechnic/student-housing-george-brown-polytechnic/).