International Flavors: Global Cuisine at the UW
April 8, 2025 by Paige Stanley
The University of Washington is home to a melting pot of students from a range of cultural backgrounds. To celebrate this diversity, UW Dining is committed to offering a wide array of international cuisines, providing students with a taste of home while introducing them to new flavors and experiences.
In fall 2024, UW Dining expanded its offerings with the opening of three new dining locations at Husky Den in the Husky Union Building (HUB). Each location specializes in a distinct cuisine: Meze serves Mediterranean dishes, Katora features Indian flavors, and Cantina offers Mexican-inspired fare. These new additions join Firecracker, which offers an Asian fusion concept.
At UW Dining’s residential dining hall locations—Local Point and Center Table—the Global platform provides students with an ever-changing menu of international dishes. Each week, Global offers varying thematic menus such as Italian, Mexican, German, etc. To ensure variety, Local Point and Center Table staggers the menus, giving students multiple opportunities to explore global flavors. Many of these menus take inspiration from the new Husky Den locations, bringing even more diverse options to the table.
Beyond the weekly Global menus, UW Dining also celebrates cultural traditions with special holiday-themed meals. For example, students have enjoyed corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, King Cake for Mardi Gras and African-inspired dishes during Black History Month. UW Dining also embraces food-related holidays like Pi Day (March 14) and National Donut Day (June 6), adding a fun twist to campus dining.
The inspiration behind UW Dining’s international offerings comes from both student feedback and the diverse backgrounds of its culinary team. One of the most popular Global dishes is the Latin bowls, which allows students to customize their meal in a similar way to Chipotle. Other favorites include German-inspired entrees, Chinese specialties, and barbecue options.
At its core, UW Dining is dedicated to providing high-quality, diverse, and affordable meals. UW Dining strives to make all students feel welcomed on campus and find comfort in food. “I feel for the international community here,” Executive Chef, Tracey MacRae, said. “I can't ever recreate what they're used to, but I can certainly ask questions and try to be as authentic as possible.”
Students can look forward to international cuisines through spring quarter. Look out for pho at Local Point, Firecracker week at Global and the spring harvest menu. If you have any international cuisines that you would like to see offered by UW Dining, look out for the Text ‘n’ Tell signs to scan the QR code and let the dining team know!
Here is an inside look at all the cuisines UW Dining offers!
Asian
Noodle is a location offered at both Center and Local Point offering a rotating selection of Asian-inspired noodle dishes.
Firecracker, located in Husky Den, is an American-style Pan-Asian cuisine, featuring rotating weekly specials including Korean fried chicken, General Tso’s pork, Szechuan beef, plant-based options and more!
Microsoft Café offers a variety of cuisines, including poke bowls, Thai chicken, yellow coconut curry and beef teriyaki.
Italian
Pagliacci Pizza is locally renowned for its sustainability efforts, quality ingredients and delicious pies! With just 26 locations in the Greater Seattle area, the UW is lucky to house 3 on our campus. Pagliacci offers more than just pizza – they also have mouthwatering pasta, calzones, salads and gelato.
Indian
Katora, located in Husky Den, offers popular Indian dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala, Alu Chloe and Palak Paneer. Enjoy your meal with basmati rice, fresh toppings, and delicious add-ons like vegetable samosas and mango lassi.
Mexican
Cantina, located in Husky Den, serves fresh Mexican-inspired dishes, including made-to-order burritos, bowls and nachos, plus our house-made aguas frescas and horchata!
Mediterranean
Meze, located in Husky Den, offers fresh Mediterranean offerings like salads, hearty grain bowls, falafel, grilled kabobs, shawarma and more.
UW Dining also offers a plethora of dishes in the rotating menus at locations in Center Table and Local Point. Check out Global Kitchen, Plate and Tero to switch up your cuisine routine!
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