Happy start of the school year! We wish you all a wonderful quarter filled with lots of learning, new friends and good food. Now that you’ve gotten settled into your residence hall, we wanted to give you an overview of everything to know about the main place you’ll be eating — the dining commons (DCs).

Dining Commons 101

The dining commons start with a diverse and delicious menu with the freshest ingredients from local farms and finish it off with a sense of community and an environment perfect for socialization and studying. Our 3 dining commons—Segundo, Tercero and Cuarto—have the mission to provide a dining experience that is the least stressful and most enjoyable part of your day.

Our team is dedicated to creating new menu items, hearing feedback and incorporating it. We have an allergy-friendly platform and options for those with dietary and religious restrictions so you know that you are taken care of when you dine with us. Plus, you can use your meal plan at any of the three locations.

Explore the Menus

Theme Meal Nights

The dining commons gives you a special treat every month with theme meal nights! These are specially designed menus that feature unique and creative dishes. For some theme meals, like Sci-Fi, we even deck the DCs out in decorations. 

October 2025 - Hispanic Heritage Month Theme Meal

November 2025 - Native American Heritage Month Theme Meal

January 2026 - Plant Forward Theme Meal

February 2026 - Lunar New Year Theme Meal

April 2026 - Sci-Fi Theme Meal & Supporting Local Theme Meal

May 2026 - Block Party and Surf’s Up Theme Meal

Keep an eye out in the Aggie Reader for the date, time and menu of each theme meal. 

Customize Your Meal

Just Ask - Want a burrito with no meat? Want extra cheese? When in doubt, just ask us for any modifications.

Try a Taste - Not sure if you’ll like a dish? Try a taste before committing to a whole plate.

Dietary Support Program - DSP provides alternative meal options and other support resources to hundreds of student residents with dietary restrictions, and functions out of our three Residential Dining Commons (Segundo, Tercero, and Cuarto DC).

Nutrition Education Program - The Nutrition Education Program is designed to help you navigate and familiarize yourself with our campus food environment, while providing evidence-based nutrition information, media literacy resources and fun food-related activities to support your well-being.

Give us Your Feedback

Did you try a new dish and have thoughts? We want to hear your honest opinions, both if you loved something or think a dish needs to be improved. Through Text and Tell, chefs and supervisors instantly get your feedback and can use it to make immediate improvements when possible, talk with management working on site and shape our future menus. 

Cuarto DC: Simply text 55744, starting with txtcuarto, and then followed by your comments.

Segundo DC: Simply text 55744, starting with txtsegundo, and then followed by your comments.

Tercero DC: Simply text 55744, starting with txttercero, and then followed by your comments.

Meet the Chefs

Robert Reilly - Segundo DC

Growing up in New York, Chef Robert Reilly has worked as a chef for 30+ years and at UC Davis for 6 years. His favorite type of food to prepare is Italian, and his favorite on-campus dining events are theme meals. His guilty pleasure food is a good Tiramisu, and his hobbies outside of work include time with his kids, golf and travel.

Anthony Russo - Tercero DC

Chef Anthony Russo grew up in Loomis, CA and studied at Gonzaga University and the Culinary Institute of America. He has been working professionally as a chef for 12 years and has worked at UC Davis for 4 years. He loves cooking with his kids, and his favorite on-campus dining event to prepare for is the Harvest Festival theme meal. His guilty pleasure food is a #2 at In-n-Out with onion, Dr. Pepper and an extra cheeseburger with onion. Outside of work, he loves spending time with his family, playing the guitar, reading books, shopping for records, watching live music and traveling.

Robert Waldren - Cuarto DC

Chef Robert Walden is from Sacramento, CA, attended the California Culinary Academy, began at UC Davis in 1994 and has been working professionally as a chef for 29 years. His favorite types of food to prepare are Italian, American Traditional and Allergy-Sensitive meals, and his favorite on-campus dining events to prepare for are Welcome Week and Orientation. Chef Robert’s guilty pleasure foods are pizza and Fluffy’s donuts. Outside of work, he loves to garden. 

Subscribe to the Davis Dish

Want to stay on top of the latest dining events and news? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Davis Dish. 

Next Up

We hope you enjoy your meals at the DCs this year! Next up in our blog series is all you need to know about how to navigate roommate conflicts. Good luck with the start of the quarter!