For Families

A Letter from our Team

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We’re excited to welcome your student back to Pepperdine University for the Fall semester!

We believe that food has an important role to play in building culture and community on campus. As the dining services provider, it is our obligation to ensure each student feels welcome when they dine with us, and that they receive delicious meals that meet their dietary needs. Here is what your student can expect while they dine with us on campus:

Meals cooked from scratch by our passionate chefs No corporate recipes or cycle menus here, please! “From scratch” means everything, from stocks and sauces to salsa and pizza dough.

Ingredients sourced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Bon Appétit began making commitments to sustainable and ethical practices long before it became trendy. We serve only cage-free, certified humane eggs; sustainable seafood; certified humane ground beef, and pork raised in group housing instead of inhumane gestation crates — and that’s just a sample of our many commitments.

A dedicated dining website Menus, hours of operation, and much more are available 24/7 on The Pepperdine dining website: Malibu – (pepperdine.edu) Our Circle of Responsibility menu icons provide information about ingredients in each dish and our feedback form at the bottom of the page provides a handy place to send comments or questions directly to our team. (Pro tip, scroll down the page and have your student sign up for menu mail to have the menus delivered daily to their inbox.

Abundant choices for those with special diets Your student will continue to find a plethora of plant-forward, vegetarian, and vegan options as well as ones that are made without gluten-containing ingredients every day.

A supportive and hands-on approach to allergies We’re happy to work with any students with food allergies or other dietary restrictions to make sure everyone can enjoy plenty of delicious food, safely, with us. All our chefs and managers receive FARE-certified food allergen awareness training and pass that training on to our hourly employees through dedicated bi-annual training and daily reminders — keeping allergies top of mind. Our team will foster individual communication with students with food allergies, in line with best practices outlined in the FARE restaurant guidelines.

Surprises! We don’t want your student to get bored, so we’re always trying out new recipes and ideas. And if they have ideas, encourage them to talk to us! Our doors are always open.

As always, we welcome any questions or feedback from parents and guardians.

Sincerely,

Bon Appétit at Pepperdine

Meal Plans 2024-25

Pepperdine offers nine different meal plans during the academic year and three different summer session plans. The meal plans are designed to provide easy on-campus access to meals, snacks, and beverages for both residents and commuter students. In addition to providing nutrition, eating at our dining locations provides the opportunity to hang out with friends, strike up a conversation with someone new, meet with professors, and participate in the Pepperdine community.

Value of a Meal Plan

Dining with Bon Appétit at Pepperdine University

As Pepperdine University and Bon Appétit Management Company welcome new and returning students to campus, we will continue to implement measures to keep our guests and teams safe in the era of new and shifting COVID variants.  However, while safety is a key priority, it is not our only one. We think we’ve got a great, cooked-from-scratch dining program planned that’s based on the tastes and lifestyles of students at Pepperdine. But rest feedback to make it even better as we go along.

REASONS TO BUY A MEAL PLAN:

It’s Safe: Our protocols are based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), health and sanitation experts from our Coronavirus Response Team, and local health regulations. We require COVID-19 specific training and health checks for our employees, and we’ve always offered paid sick leave.

Makes Life Easier: Life is difficult enough right now! A meal plan means: No worrying about grocery shopping or meal planning. No dishes. No unexpected financial surprises: for students who have flexible spending dollars, we help them manage their funds appropriately.

It’s Convenient: We offer the Grub Hub ordering app, lots of freshly made grab-and-go items, and contactless payment — you don’t even have to carry cash!

From Scratch = Flexible: We LOVE food, so we cook it from scratch: stocks, sauces, soups, salsas, you name it (also things that don’t start with S). This means we can be flexible with our recipes to accommodate all sorts of dietary needs without any fuss. It’s our passion to create delicious food that suits every need and taste. Vegan, flexitarian, or avoiding gluten? We’ll have options for you every day.

It’s Healthier: Our chefs make crave-worthy dishes — built on whole grains, deep-color vegetables, fresh fruits, and lean or plant-based proteins — that people look forward to eating every day. They also follow portion control guidelines.

Satisfying Options: From global bowls to seasonal pizzas, there’s always something new to try. And we love suggestions — our chefs don’t use cycle menus or corporate recipes, so they can add in new items with only a few days’ notice.

Seriously Sustainable: COVID-19 may have disrupted the food supply chains, but we’re still committed to upholding our industry-leading commitments to environmentally and socially responsible sourcing, from Farm to Fork partnerships to sustainable seafood. (The Humane Society of the United States ranked us the #1 food service company — the only one with an A+ grade.)

Knowledge is Power: College isn’t just about academics, it’s about learning life skills, too. We are committed to helping students learn to make healthy choices in and outside our café through nutrition & wellness information, education about how food choices impact the environment, and more.

Still Social: Mealtimes are still the perfect time to catch up with friends and make new ones. We’re committed to making our dining spaces both safe and inviting places to hang out, and to offering interactive events to bring students together.

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have a specific question, suggestion, or feedback about your meal at a Bon Appétit café? Feel free to browse the previously asked questions below or contact our Bon Appétit managers using this form.

Common Questions

  • I have been trying to eat a healthier diet. Will I be able to find a healthy food choice in the Bon Appétit café?
  • Can you tell me how many calories are in the foods in the Bon Appétit café?
  • How will you handle my concerns about a food allergy?
See All FAQ's
Meet the team