Sodexo has taken over dining services at SUNY Plattsburgh, and reviews are pouring in. 

From milkshakes to smoothies, burgers to quesadillas, the new items on offer from Sodexo are a major improvement from the slop that we’ve been eating for years from Chartwells. 

As a self-proclaimed dining hall connoisseur, I was excited to try the new options and I ended up being surprised. 

I first tried the new burgers, per friend recommendations. The new smash burger featured two patties, lettuce, tomato, cheese and a “special sauce” that was DELICIOUS. It’s way better than the old fat-meat-slab burger style, which sometimes grossed me out.

The most exciting new additions were the smoothies and milkshakes, which got high scores from Brook Lynn DaSilva, a junior on the Plattsburgh women’s soccer team.  

“I love a good sweet treat, and we’ve never really had any options on campus before, especially late at night,” DaSilva said. “My shake was awesome. I drank that thing in like one minute.”

I tried a smoothie with an apple juice base, cherries and pomegranate and it was very sweet and velvety. My only complaint was that it was served in a cup too small with a straw too wide, which made the sips go by too fast. 

The enchilada chicken quesadilla has been my personal favorite, as well as my lunch of choice for the past week. I used to love the quesadillas from the Sundowner — the late-great campus dining hall that the Nest replaced in 2025 — so it also has a twinge of freshman-year nostalgia. 

For Plattsburgh women’s lacrosse player Abby Guasconi, the breakfast burritos have been a big hit. 

“I didn’t think I’d care that much about campus breakfast, but those burritos are actually so good,” said Guasconi, a junior. “Since we’ve been having morning practice, I’ve been getting them all the time.” 

While nothing will fully replace the nostalgia of the beloved Sundowner, the switch to Sodexo has brought a lot more variety and personality to campus dining than I expected. Between the upgraded burgers, late-night milkshakes, smoothies and breakfast burritos, there’s now something to look forward to grabbing at The Nest.