# Cheapest food on campus at NAIT Eat on campus at NAIT without draining your budget. The cheapest spots in Common Market and Bytes, and free hampers from the NAITSA Emergency Food Centre. --- Eating on campus at NAIT doesn't have to drain your budget. Most of the cheap food lives in two food courts, Common Market and Bytes, and a few student-run outlets sell meals made by NAIT's own culinary students. When money is tight, the NAITSA Emergency Food Centre gives out free food hampers to students who need them. This guide breaks down the cheapest options on Main Campus, what they cost, and where to get a free meal. ## The cheapest spots on campus, at a glance Most of the budget-friendly food on Main Campus lives in two food courts: Common Market and Bytes. Both sit in the middle of campus, so you're never far from a cheap meal between classes. | Spot | Location | What you'll pay | Best for | |---|---|---|---| | Common Market grab-and-go | Common Market | Cashless, prices vary | Bowls, salads, snacks | | Good Vibes Grill | Common Market and Bytes | Cashless, prices vary | Smash burgers, fries | | Pizza Pizza | Bytes | Cashless, prices vary | Pizza by the slice | | Tim Hortons | Bytes, CAT, Shop at NAIT | Value menu | Coffee, soup, sandwiches | | Subway | CAT | Cashless, prices vary | Subs and salads | | Fresh Express | North campus | Cashless, prices vary | Daily soup, made-to-order | | NAITSA Emergency Food Centre | NAITSA office O108 | Free | Emergency food hampers | NAIT doesn't publish a single price list for its food outlets, and most are cashless, so you pay with debit, credit, or your OneCard. Hours shift by term, and many outlets close over the summer. The point is that a filling meal on campus does not need to cost a lot, and the free food centre is there when you need it. ## Common Market: the main food court Common Market is the biggest food hub on Main Campus. It brings together several outlets under one roof, including Good Vibes, Burrito Loco, and Global Eats, which rotates international dishes each week. There's also a Starbucks, a Bake Shop, and San Marzano, which serves Neapolitan-style pizza. For a quick, cheap meal, the grab-and-go section is the play. You'll find whole bowls, cobb salads, protein snack boxes, and Greek yogurt parfaits, all ready to pick up and eat. There are microwaves nearby, so you can heat up a bowl a few steps from where you buy it. ## Bytes: the other food court Bytes is the second food court on Main Campus, and it's where you'll find the classic fast-food staples. Good Vibes Grill serves smash burgers and fries. Pizza Pizza landed here in fall 2025 for pizza by the slice. Palgong Tea does bubble tea and a K-food menu. And there's a Tim Hortons express location for coffee and baked goods. Tim Hortons is the go-to cheap option here. The value menu keeps coffee, soup, and sandwiches affordable, and the express location in Bytes is open weekdays. ## Student-run food: eat well and support NAIT students NAIT's Culinary Arts program runs several outlets where students cook the food you eat. These are some of the best-value meals on campus, and your money supports students learning the trade. **Fresh Express** on north campus serves daily soup and made-to-order food from culinary students, plus grab-and-go snacks, salads, and sandwiches. **One World, Many Flavours** offers a rotating menu with something new every day. **Ernest's** is the fine-dining student restaurant, open for lunch and dinner during the school year. **The Artisanal Food Market** (Central Building, O120) sells freshly prepared meats, poultry, and fish from meat-cutting students, baked goods from baking and pastry students, and savoury creations and cheese from culinary students. It reopens for the fall term on September 8, 2026. ## Residence dining NAIT doesn't run its own residence dining hall. Campus housing is offered in partnership with nearby universities, and most students live off campus in apartments near the school. If you live in a partner residence, you use that university's dining options or cook for yourself. For everyone else, the food courts and student-run outlets are the main options on campus. ## Free and nearly-free food on campus NAIT has real support in place if your food budget is tight. You don't need to go hungry to make ends meet. **The NAITSA Emergency Food Centre** is the big one. It's free for NAITSA members, which means credit students who pay the NAITSA fee in their tuition. The centre gives out emergency food hampers filled with non-perishable food like peanut butter, canned goods, pasta, rice, and snacks, plus limited hygiene items. Hampers are sized to your household: a zero or one-dependent hamper costs about $35, a two-dependent hamper about $47, and a three-dependent hamper about $62, and each is meant to cover about six days of food. The service is confidential, and NAITSA does not notify NAIT or IRCC if you use it. To request a hamper, contact the NAITSA office at room O108, email asknaitsa@nait.ca, or call 780-471-8855. The office is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since 2015, the centre has given out more than 4,000 hampers. If you need perishable food, the centre can give you a one-time referral to the Edmonton Food Bank, which provides produce, meat, and eggs. You can also call the Edmonton Food Bank at 780-425-4190. **Wecan Food Society** is a low-cost option for fresh food. For $25 a month, members get three types of fruit, three types of vegetables, and three types of freshly frozen meat. You don't need to order every month. **Surplus food apps** can stretch your grocery budget. Too Good To Go, Food Hero, and Flashfood all let you rescue food that would otherwise go to waste at local stores and restaurants, often at a steep discount. ## How to spend less on campus food A few habits stretch your food budget further than any single menu item: - **Bring your own.** Packing a lunch is almost always cheaper than buying one. A thermos of coffee and a sandwich cost a fraction of what you'd pay on campus. - **Use the microwaves.** The grab-and-go bowls at Common Market are cheap, and the microwaves in the food courts mean you can heat up leftovers or a meal you brought from home. - **Order ahead with Boost.** NAIT's mobile ordering app shows menus, hours, and wait times, so you can skip the line. - **Watch the value menus.** Tim Hortons and Subway both have budget items that stay well under $10. - **Check the NAITSA Emergency Food Centre before you pay full price for groceries.** The hampers are free, and the Wecan basket makes fresh food more affordable. ## The bottom line The cheapest reliable meals at NAIT are the grab-and-go options at Common Market, the value menu at Tim Hortons in Bytes, and the student-run outlets like Fresh Express and One World, Many Flavours. If money is tight, the NAITSA Emergency Food Centre and its free food hampers are there for you. Eating on campus cheap is less about finding one magic spot and more about knowing which options give you the most for your dollar. For more on stretching your money as a student, see our guides to [budgeting on a student income](/learn/budget-student-income/) and [student housing at NAIT](/universities/nait/student-housing-nait/).