Mean Greens

Since we didn’t have a monthly potluck in April 2024, some of us got together a few times to eat a the University of North Texas’ (UNT) vegan cafeteria “Mean Greens.”

Mean Greens has been an all-vegan dining hall at UNT since 2011! Vegan restaurants, sadly, come and go, but Mean Greens has been open for over 13 years. It is only open during long semesters (Fall and Spring), but offers a low-price, all-you-can eat format of freshly prepared plant-based foods. As mentioned on the website linked above, they have a daily-themed menu for the main hot food line, in addition to the ever present salad bar, pizza/pasta line, panini station, and desserts, including soft-serve ice cream. There is also a cereal bar so you can have Cheetah Chomps at every meal of the day! A number of drink options are offered, including almond and soy milks, juice, tea/coffee, lemonade, and a rotating selection of flavored beverages made at Mean Greens.

On the particular Tuesday where this photo was taken, the menu featured Asian-inspired dishes:

The edamame was the Mean Greens “Small Bite of the Day” that is served just before the main hot food line. In addition to the stations described above, there is also a station such as a fried rice, mashed potato, or pasta bar where patrons can choose the ingredients to be added to the starch of the day and the Mean Greens chefs will freshly prepare your dish at the grill station.

I also recommend checking out the soups, which also rotate, but are served daily. On the Asian-themed menu day, there is often a phở bar where you can choose from a number of possible ingredients to customize your phở.

UNT Dining services has also been cultivating several hydroponic gardens in repurposed freight trailers around campus, called Mean Green Acres. In this small container, they have been able to grow almost all of the fresh greens served at the Mean Greens salad bar and many of the other dining halls across campus, using only about 1 gallon of water per day! I had the opportunity to tour Mean Green Acres in March and it was very cool to see! In addition to lettuces, they have been growing spinach, stevia (which is used to sweeten some of the beverages served at Mean Greens), basil, and are testing out radishes, carrots, and watermelons. There is a mini version of the hydroponic garden inside Mean Greens:

UNT is also known for their in-house bakery on campus which also prepares vegan desserts. This photo is from February, but shows the special Mardi Gras donuts prepared for the occasion:

We look forward to visiting Mean Greens again when it re-opens in August!