# Cheapest food on campus at SAIT (under $10) Eat on campus at SAIT for under $10 most days. The Stan Grad food hall, Odyssey Market, and free programs like the Saitsa Emergency Food Fund. --- Eating on campus at SAIT doesn't have to drain your budget. Between the Stan Grad food hall, the student-run Odyssey Market, the School of Hospitality venues, and a few free programs run by Saitsa and SAIT, you can eat well for under $10 most days. This guide breaks down the cheapest options on the main campus, what they cost, and where to get a free meal when money is tight. ## The cheapest spots on campus, at a glance Most of the budget-friendly food on SAIT's main campus lives in a handful of buildings: the Stan Grad Centre, the Johnson-Cobbe Energy Centre, and the Senator Burns building. The student-run spots and the School of Hospitality venues tend to give you the most for your dollar. | Spot | Building | What you'll pay | Best for | |---|---|---|---| | Stan Grad Food Hall | Stan Grad Centre | Varies | Pizza, burgers, quick bites | | Odyssey Market | Senator Burns (NN120) | Varies | Student-run coffee and sandwiches | | Odyssey Express | Stan Grad (MB108) | Varies | Grab-and-go snacks | | 4Nines Diner | School of Hospitality | Varies | Student-cooked breakfast and lunch | | Culinary Campus International Market | School of Hospitality | Varies | Hot lunch, meats and salads | | Tastemarket | Downtown campus | Varies | Student-run lunch | | Begin Tower Dining Centre | Residence | From $9.64 per meal | All-you-can-eat on a meal plan | Prices shift, so treat this as a rough guide. The point is that a filling meal on campus rarely needs to cost more than $10. ## The Stan Grad food hall and the campus food courts The Stan Grad Centre is the busiest food hub on campus. Its food hall packs several outlets under one roof: Pizza Pizza, Burger Bar, Market Express, and Tim Hortons Express. It's open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., with reduced hours on Friday. The Johnson-Cobbe Energy Centre is another popular lunchtime stop. It's home to a Starbucks and a Subway on the main floor, both open Monday to Friday. The Cenovus Energy Centre has a Tim Hortons, and the Senator Burns building has a second Tim Hortons plus the Odyssey Market. These are the classic fast-food chains, so the prices track what you'd pay off campus. The value menus at Tim Hortons and Subway keep a meal well under $10. ## The student-run spots: Odyssey Market and Odyssey Express The Odyssey Market is a social enterprise run by Saitsa, the SAIT Students' Association. It's a coffee shop and market on the main floor of the Senator Burns building (NN120), open Monday to Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday until 2 p.m. It sells coffee, hot and toasted sandwiches, and grab-and-go items. The Odyssey Express is the smaller sibling, in the Stan Grad Centre (MB108) right next to the SAIT Bookstore. It's built for speed: snacks, drinks, and coffee for a quick break between classes. Every purchase at the Odyssey goes back into student programs, from free breakfasts to mental wellness resources. You're funding the services that keep campus running with every coffee you buy. ## The School of Hospitality venues SAIT's School of Hospitality and Tourism runs several venues where culinary students cook the food. These are some of the best value meals on campus, and the quality punches above the price. **4Nines Diner** serves breakfast and lunch, with dishes like spaghetti, sandwiches, and rice bowls. It's open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with breakfast service Tuesday to Friday from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. and lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. **Culinary Campus International Market** offers a hot lunch with meats and salad dishes. Lunch service runs Monday to Friday from 10:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. **The Butchery by SAIT** sells fresh cuts and products, open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon. **Tastemarket** is the student-run lunch spot on the downtown campus, open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. **The Highwood Kitchen + Bar** is the fine-dining room run by the School of Hospitality. It's a sit-down experience with lunch and dinner seatings, and it closed for a relaunch after Aug. 14, 2026. It's worth a visit for a special meal, but it's not your everyday budget pick. ## Residence dining: the Begin Tower Dining Centre The Begin Tower Dining Centre is the all-you-can-eat dining hall for residence students, and it's open to all students, faculty, and guests. If you live in residence, a meal plan is usually part of your contract, and it's the most cost-effective way to eat if you use it regularly. Meal plans start at $9.64 per meal. The best-value academic year plan is the 7-day option: $6,275 for 217 days of meals across the Fall and Winter terms. The 5-day academic year plan runs $5,000 for 155 days. Fall and Winter semester plans run $11.00 to $11.75 per meal. The Dining Centre is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Meal plans are GST exempt, while daily walk-in and punch card rates attract GST. At those per-meal prices, the Dining Centre is only worth it if you're on a meal plan and you eat there regularly. For a quick cheap meal, the food courts are the better call. ## Free and nearly-free food on campus SAIT has real support in place if your food budget is tight. You don't need to go hungry to make ends meet. **Saitsa Emergency Food Fund** is the big one. It's designed for SAIT students facing food insecurity due to financial hardship. You apply through the Emergency Food Fund Request Form, and if approved you receive a grocery gift card. You can access the fund once per semester. If you're in a crisis with no food and no way to buy more, email Saitsa and they'll explore ways to help. **Saitsa's Free Breakfast Program** serves a free breakfast to all SAIT students. Look for the breakfast flag in the Irene Lewis Atrium or outside the Saitsa Resource Centre (MC107) and hop in line. Food is served from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., or until it runs out. Expect apples, oranges, yogurt, juice boxes, baked goods, cereal, and coffee. On Jan. 10, 2024, the program served a record 656 students in one hour. **The Interfaith Centre free food fridge** is a newer resource. In the Interfaith Centre (MB305) in the Stan Grad Centre, there's a fridge stocked with food you can take at no cost, no questions asked. It's open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Food is donated by partners on campus, including Tim Hortons, Starbucks, the Begin Tower dining centre, and the food halls. **The Good Food Box** is a low-cost produce program run by the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary and offered through Saitsa. You order a box of seasonal fruits and vegetables and pick it up on Thursdays at the Saitsa Resource Centre (MC107). A small box is $35 (about 15 to 20 lbs), a medium is $40 (25 to 30 lbs), and a large is $45 (35 to 40 lbs). For longer-term support, Saitsa recommends applying to the Calgary Food Bank, which offers ongoing help through its Food Hamper Program. ## 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.** Students bring homemade meals to campus and heat them up, though you may wait around 15 minutes for a microwave during peak hours. - **Watch the value menus.** Tim Hortons and Subway both have budget items that stay well under $10. - **Eat at the School of Hospitality venues.** Student-cooked food at 4Nines and the Culinary Campus tends to give you more for your dollar than the chains. - **Check the free programs before you pay full price.** The Emergency Food Fund, the free breakfast, and the Interfaith food fridge are there for you. ## The bottom line The cheapest reliable meals at SAIT are the student-run Odyssey spots, the School of Hospitality venues like 4Nines and the Culinary Campus, and the value menus at Tim Hortons and Subway. If you live in residence, a meal plan at the Begin Tower Dining Centre works out to as little as $9.64 per meal. If money is tight, the Saitsa Emergency Food Fund, the free breakfast, and the Interfaith Centre food fridge are there for you. Eating on campus cheaply 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 SAIT](/universities/sait/student-housing-sait/).