One night during my freshman year, after months of eating food from the dining halls,… One night during my freshman year, after months of eating food from the dining halls, residence hall vending machines and Oakland half-price, it came time for dinner, and I conceived a miraculous plan.

I decided that when I retire, I’ll buy a grand old house somewhere near a college campus and set up an establishment where small groups of college students could, by appointment and for a small price, come over for truly home-cooked meals.

This plan still rolls around in the back of my brain, especially now that I live off-campus and have to cook dinner for myself. I wonder if that idea is something I’d really like to do, or something that I would just like someone else to do for me now so I don’t have to think about how to feed myself.

Of all the new challenges college brings with it, mastering the art of eating on your own is the worst. Whether it’s figuring out how to eat healthfully in the dining halls or figuring out where to eat off campus, just eating can be a chore.

Even Ina Engel, Pitt’s dietician, said it took her a long time to learn how to cook for herself – and if she had a hard time, imagine all these college students trying to figure out where to get dinner.

This is where The Pitt News comes in. We have searched all of Oakland to bring our dear readers as many dining options as possible. More than 150 restaurants call Oakland home, and we’ve tracked them down and written short, informational passages to clarify what they’re like. They’ve been arranged according to their genre.

We’ve even done some research on how to eat healthfully and efficiently from the grocery store, and should you ever have occasion to impress someone with culinary acuity – we’ve provided a survey of some of the best “date” restaurants in the city.

Keep The Pitt News dining guide safely tucked away, because sure enough, one night you’ll find yourself thinking you’ve exhausted all the possibilities of where to eat. But on nights like these, don’t worry – just think of The Pitt News dining guide as that little old retired lady who likes to feed college students.