University of Delaware Guide: Best Restaurants, Bars & Hotels Near Campus (2026)

Find the best restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, and campus landmarks near the University of Delaware (UD) in Newark, with a saveable map for students, parents, and visitors.

RoamRecs UniversitiesAugust 2026

University of Delaware Guide: Best Restaurants, Bars & Hotels Near Campus (2026) — Memorial Hall on The Green, University of Delaware, Newark

Explore the full “University of Delaware” collection →

Whether you're a UD student still working out your regular spots, an incoming first-year learning Newark, a parent in town for move-in or Family Weekend, an alum back for Homecoming, or a prospective student seeing the place for the first time, this guide covers the restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, and campus landmarks worth knowing near the University of Delaware.

Delaware is an easier campus to read than most, and the geography does a lot of the work below. It was chartered in 1833 as Newark College and opened the next year in a single building, Old College, which still stands at the Main Street end of campus. The heart of it is The Green, a long tree-lined lawn framed by Georgian Revival buildings and laid out from 1915 to knit the old Men's and Women's Colleges together, with Memorial Hall at its head. Campus runs north to the Laird dorms, south to the athletics complex, and out to the STAR Campus on the old Chrysler plant site, but the part a visitor needs is the core, and Main Street runs straight into it: about a mile of shopfronts with more than sixty restaurants on it, ending at the Trabant garage. Two things shape the list below. Newark's bar scene has thinned sharply since 2023, so the places anchoring it now are the old ones rather than anything new. And Delaware's move up to FBS football in Conference USA means half the 2026 home games are not on a Saturday, which catches families out when they book.

Best Restaurants Near UD

Main Street does most of the work here, and the practical geography is worth learning. The west end around the Deer Park and the east end past Grain are where the noise is. The middle of the street, roughly between Caffe Gelato and Taverna, is where you take your parents. The cheap counters that stay open past midnight sit in between, which is not an accident. Anything on South Main or off Elkton Road means getting in the car. Everything below is on the map, running roughly from the everyday end to the occasions.

Featured restaurants

Klondike Kate's Restaurant & Saloon

158 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The Main Street institution, open daily until 1am, and about as close as Newark gets to a default meeting spot. The building has been a tavern since the 1700s and still has the old jail cells in the basement from its stint as a courthouse. Much of the upstairs bar was rebuilt with salvage from the old Wilmington railroad station after a fire in the early nineties.

Things to do

Deer Park Tavern

108 W Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Newark's oldest bar and the one with the best story. The present brick building went up in 1851 on the site of St. Patrick's Inn, which dates to 1747, and it has been on the National Register since 1982. Now it's a sports bar and grill that runs to 1am seven nights a week, with Thursday night pitchers as the standing student tradition.

Things to do

Caffe Gelato Restaurant

90 E Main St near, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The dressiest room on Main Street and the one to book for graduation. Ryan German opened it in 2000 at twenty-two, and it has grown into a Northern Italian kitchen with house-made pasta, house-made gelato, and a Wine Spectator-recognized list. The glass greenhouses added for outdoor dining stayed, so there's year-round patio seating.

Things to do

Taverna Newark

121 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Coal-fired pizza and house-made pasta from Carl Georigi's Platinum Dining Group, in a reclaimed-brick room with an open kitchen and a marble bar. The spinach and ricotta agnolotti and the butterscotch budino are the ones people come back for, and there are eighteen beers on draft.

Things to do

The Greenhouse Gastropub

102 E Main St Unit 100, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Opened in November 2024 in a mid-nineteenth-century former bank building, and named for the fact that UD's blue and gold make green. Terrariums, hanging greenery and a dried moss wall across multiple levels. Pork belly bao buns, wild boar Bolognese, braised short rib. Sunday brunch, and a $10 burger on Tuesdays.

Things to do

Home Grown Cafe

126 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Independently owned since 2000 and the answer when the table cannot agree. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-sensitive and meat dishes sit side by side, all made in house, with 65-plus beers behind the bar. Light fare after 10pm and a 1am close Thursday through Saturday.

Things to do

Grain Craft Bar + Kitchen

270 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Lee Mikles and Jim O'Donoghue opened Grain in July 2015 and deliberately built it for adults rather than students, which is exactly why it belongs in a parents' guide. Modern American food, craft beer, a covered patio, and a crowd of Newark locals rather than a 9pm rager. Bingo Mondays, trivia Tuesdays, live music Saturdays.

Things to do

Santa Fe Mexican Grill - Newark

190 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Javier Acuna came to Delaware as a college student, worked his way from dishwasher to line cook, then bought a small Newark taqueria in 2003 and renamed it after his old neighborhood in Bogota. The cooking pulls from Oaxaca and Mexico City plus family recipes from Puebla and Jalisco. Open to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Things to do

Ali Baba Mid Eastern Restaurant

175 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Lebanese, Moroccan and Greek plates on Main Street, and consistently one of the highest-rated restaurants in Newark. Kabobs, shawarma, falafel and a vegetarian platter, with the Moroccan chicken and lamb tagine the two dishes reviewers keep naming. Halal, quieter than its neighbors, with hookahs and outdoor seating.

Things to do

Ugly Dumpling

140 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Opened in April 2025 and immediately one of the more interesting things on Main Street. Soup dumplings and dim sum with a glass-walled room by the host stand where you can watch them being folded. The chicken soup dumplings and the spicy chicken wontons are the ones to order.

Things to do

Ramen Kumamoto

165 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

A small, minimalist room doing Kumamoto-region ramen with long-simmered broth and a choice of classic wavy egg noodles or thinner Kyushu-style ones. Opened in 2015 as the second shop from the group behind Terakawa Ramen in Philadelphia. Cheap, unfussy, and exactly what you want in February.

Things to do

Grotto Pizza

45 E Main St #100, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Delaware's own pizza chain, recognizable anywhere in the state by the swirl of sauce on top of the cheese. Dominick Pulieri started it in Rehoboth Beach in 1960 at seventeen, and in 2025 sold the Delaware business to four longtime employees, who kept the menu exactly as it was. Open to 1am Friday and Saturday.

Things to do

Roots Natural Kitchen

129 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Build-your-own grain bowls and salads down an assembly line, fast enough that the queue out the door moves. The chain started in Charlottesville in 2015 and Newark, which opened in October 2016, was effectively the second location. The move when you want something that is not fried.

Things to do

BAB’s Nashville Hot Chicken

174 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Nashville-style hot chicken in sandwiches, tenders, wings and bowls, from a recipe the Osmanollaj brothers brought from Kosovo. Opened August 2024 as the second BAB's, and it is halal-certified. Open to 1am Friday and Saturday, which makes it one of the few genuine post-bar options on Main Street.

Things to do

Claymont Steak Shop

57 S Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Cheesesteaks wrapped in paper at a deli counter, made with premium ribeye sliced on the premises. The original store opened in Claymont in 1966 and this is the campus-side outpost. Note it's on South Main rather than the East Main strip, and it closes well before the bars do.

Things to do

The Peach Blossom Eatery

76 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Breakfast and lunch with a Delaware bent, opened in 2021 and modeled on the old Post House with a diner-style open kitchen and a lunch counter. House-made scrapple turns up in a sandwich with arugula and hot pepper jam. Twenty-eight seats plus a patio, closed Monday and Tuesday, doors shut at 3pm.

Things to do

Skipjack Dining

401 Louviers Dr, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The grown-up choice, and the only restaurant here that is a proper drive rather than a walk. Chef-owner Donny Merrill cooked at Krazy Kat's before opening it in the Shoppes at Louviers. Crab cakes to Maryland standards, oysters on the half shell, and Best of Delaware wins for the Bloody Mary bar and for wild game.

Things to do

Best Bars Near UD

Be straight about this one: Newark has lost a lot in four years. Iron Hill's original brewpub closed in September 2025 after twenty-nine years, the Stone Balloon Ale House went dark in December 2023, and Catherine Rooney's and the Hamilton's that followed it are both gone. What moved into those spaces is mostly daytime and fast-casual, not nightlife. What remains is the genuinely historic stuff, and four Main Street venues still run to 1am. The short answer for where students go out is Klondike Kate's and the Deer Park, with Grain as the grown-up option and Founding Brothers as the newcomer. For anything resembling a craft beer destination you are getting in a car.

Featured bars

Founding Brothers Restaurant + Pub

168 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The one genuinely new bar on Main Street, opened in August 2025 by the Osmanollaj brothers as their fourth Newark venue and their first with a full bar and waiter service. A Nashville honky-tonk: country music on the walls, live bands at weekends, Southern food including hot chicken and shrimp and grits. Open to 1am Thursday through Saturday.

Things to do

The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille

211 S Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Wall-to-wall screens and a menu built for sharing, which is all a game day really needs. The Newark location moved across the road into the Park N Shop building in January 2023, and the new build is sleeker than the old one: 78 seats plus a 20-seat patio. It sits south of the downtown bar cluster rather than in the thick of things.

Things to do

Timothy's of Newark

100 Creek View Rd, Newark, DE 19711, USA

A converted warehouse on Newark's oldest industrial site, with a deck out over White Clay Creek that is the whole reason to come. Elevated pub food, jumbo wings, and a laid-back neighborhood crowd rather than a student one. Dog-friendly, with trivia nights and weekend brunch. It closes at 11pm.

Things to do

Two Stones Pub

1203 Christiana Rd, Newark, DE 19713, USA

The original Two Stones, started by three Iron Hill alumni and now fifteen years old with five locations across Delaware and Pennsylvania. Craft beer paired with elevated pub food and a genuinely well-chosen draft list. It's on Christiana Road rather than anywhere near campus, so you're driving.

Things to do

Autumn Arch Beer Project

810 Pencader Dr C, Newark, DE 19702, USA

Newark's only local brewery, opened in April 2019 by the Vennard siblings, all of whom came out of engineering. Small-batch ales, lagers and sours poured in an intimate taproom inside an industrial park with the brewing operation in view. Food trucks in the car park and a weekly run club. Closed Mondays.

Things to do

Coffee, Bakeries and Study Spots Near UD

Newark's coffee is better than a town this size has any right to expect, largely because one shop roasts its own and supplies half the others. The useful split: Main Street and N College Avenue for a fast cup between classes, and a couple of independents further out for when you actually want to sit. Worth knowing before you plan a study session, most of these close early and two of them shut by mid-afternoon.

Featured cafés

Little Goat Coffee Roasting Co.

16 Haines St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The serious one. Joe Lins and Olivia Brinton opened it in 2016 and roast organically grown, fairly traded beans on site, daily, in full view of the room. They wholesale around the area, so you'll drink their coffee elsewhere in town without realizing. Doors open at 6am on weekdays, the earliest in town.

Things to do

Drip Cafe

60 N College Ave, Newark, DE 19711, USA

All-day brunch right at the campus edge, in the most design-forward room of the bunch: exposed beams, double-height ceilings, rotating local artwork. Scratch pastries and made-to-order sandwiches. The Newark location opened in October 2018 as the second Drip after Hockessin. Doors close at 2pm daily.

Things to do

Bing's Bakery

253 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Delaware's longest-running bakery, tracing back to 1871 as Fader's, renamed when Russell and Selena Bing bought it in 1946, and run by the Guzzi family since 2005. A scratch bakery rather than a coffee shop: custom cakes, cupcakes, pastries. Parents should note they deliver cakes to campus. Closed Sundays.

Things to do

Brew HaHa!

45 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The Delaware coffeehouse chain, founded in the early nineties by Alisa Morkides, who also started Brandywine Coffee Roasters to supply it. The Main Street Galleria location has a refurbished patio and room to sit with a laptop. It closed in March 2020 and stayed dark more than a year before reopening in August 2021.

Things to do

UDairy Creamery Café

83 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

Ice cream made by UD students from the university's own dairy herd, inside the Barnes & Noble UD Bookstore since June 2021. Unlike the flagship it also does a full coffee menu and light fare, including sandwiches made with UDairy's own cheese. The original creamery on South College has been closed for renovation since May 2026.

Things to do

Where to Stay When Visiting UD

The honest ranking comes down to what you want to walk to. Only one hotel puts you on Main Street, only one is owned by the university, and the S College Avenue cluster is a real twenty-minute walk rather than a stroll. Below, roughly closest first: the Main Street and on-campus options, then the suite hotels families book for longer stays, then the overflow and the splurge. Everything close to campus sells out first for move-in, Family Weekend, Homecoming and graduation, and UD says so itself. Book something refundable the moment you know your dates.

Featured hotels

Hyatt Place Newark / Main Street

94 E Main St Building 1000, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The one hotel that puts you on Main Street itself, which is the difference between walking to dinner and driving to it. UD calls it a five minute walk to the main campus. It is also the first to sell out for graduation and move-in, for exactly that reason.

Check availability

Courtyard by Marriott Newark-University of Delaware

400 David Hollowell Dr, Newark, DE 19716, USA

The only hotel actually owned by the University of Delaware, beside Clayton Hall on the Laird campus with a free shuttle to the main campus. It doubles as a teaching lab for UD's hospitality program, which tends to show in the service. Note Laird is the northern end of campus rather than the Main Street end, so the shuttle matters.

Check availability

SpringHill Suites by Marriott Newark Downtown

402 Ogletown Rd, Newark, DE 19711, USA

About a ten minute walk to the main campus by UD's own reckoning, which makes it the closest option once the Hyatt goes. Rooms are suite-style, so there is space to spread out between campus events.

Check availability

Homewood Suites by Hilton Newark-Wilmington South Area

640 S College Ave, Newark, DE 19713, USA

Every suite has a full kitchen, which is what makes this the sensible pick for a long move-in trip or a family staying several nights. It sits on S College Avenue, a straight shot up to campus but a genuine twenty minute walk.

Check availability

Embassy Suites by Hilton Newark Wilmington South

654 S College Ave, Newark, DE 19713, USA

Two-room suites and a cooked-to-order breakfast, right next door to the Homewood on S College Avenue. The extra room earns its keep when four people are sharing for graduation weekend.

Check availability

Candlewood Suites Newark South - University Area by IHG

1101 S College Ave, Newark, DE 19713, USA

Extended-stay rooms with a full kitchen in every suite and free guest laundry, further down the same S College Avenue corridor. The right call when you are helping a student move into off-campus housing and need more than a hotel room.

Check availability

Hilton Wilmington/Christiana

100 Continental Dr, Newark, DE 19713, USA

The answer when Newark sells out. A full-service hotel about six miles off by its own reckoning, with real amenities, free parking, and Christiana Mall minutes away, which matters more than it sounds given Delaware has no sales tax.

Check availability

The Inn at Montchanin Village & Spa - A Historic Hotel of America

GPS: 528, 528 Montchanin Rd, Montchanin, DE 19710, USA

A village of restored nineteenth-century buildings in the Brandywine Valley, with twenty-eight rooms and suites, a full spa, and Krazy Kat's in the old blacksmith shop. Around twenty miles from Newark, so treat it as a graduation splurge or an alumni weekend base rather than a campus hotel.

Check availability

The Campus Stops Worth Making

UD's campus is organized around The Green, a long tree-lined lawn framed by Georgian buildings and laid out from 1915. Start there; most of what follows is within a few minutes' walk of it. Two of the stops below are free public galleries, one is a working library whose Special Collections is the reason to go in, and two are the athletics buildings at the southern end that most families meet on move-in day rather than on a tour. Check hours before a summer trip, when the student centers keep short weekday hours and close at weekends.

Featured campus landmarks

Memorial Hall

170 The Green, Newark, DE 19716, USA

The columned building at the heart of The Green and the one people picture when they picture UD. It opened in 1925 as a memorial library for the roughly 270 Delawareans who died in the First World War, paid for partly by a nickel subscription drive among Delaware schoolchildren. It holds the Book of the Dead, whose pages ROTC turns one a day through the school year, and a carillon that chimes on the hour.

Things to do

Old College Hall

18 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA

The oldest building on campus and, when it opened in 1834, the entire university. It anchors the Old College Historic District, on the National Register since 1973. The second floor now holds the Old College Gallery, free and open to the public, with Brandywine School painters including Howard Pyle, Frank Schoonover and N.C. Wyeth.

Things to do

Mitchell Hall

Mitchell Hall, 134 The Green, Newark, DE 19716, USA

UD's historic auditorium on The Green, dating to the late 1920s and still in use for concerts, lectures and student performances. It is also one of four venues the university uses for commencement, so a lot of families end up here in May rather than at the stadium.

Things to do

Morris Library

181 S College Ave, Newark, DE 19717, USA

The main campus library since 1963, when it took over from Memorial Hall. Four floors, roughly three million volumes, and far more social than silent; there is only one designated quiet reading room and it logged nearly 600,000 visits in 2024. Special Collections is the reason to go in as a visitor, holding among other things a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Things to do

Mechanical hall

Mechanical Hall, 30 N College Ave, Newark, DE 19716, USA

An 1898 building on the National Register, renovated in 2004, that now houses UD's African American art collection, including the Paul R. Jones Collection with work by Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett and Jacob Lawrence. Free admission and rarely crowded.

Things to do

Trabant University Center

Trabant University Center, 17 W Main St, Newark, DE 19716, USA

The Main Street-facing student center, with a food court, a theater, and the parking garage most visitors use for the downtown side of campus. Vita Nova, UD's student-run fine dining restaurant, is upstairs. It keeps reduced hours and closes at weekends over the summer, so a July tour should plan lunch on Main Street.

Things to do

Bob Carpenter Center

631 S College Ave, Newark, DE 19716, USA

UD's 5,000-seat arena, opened in 1992, home to Blue Hens basketball and a regular stop for concerts and touring events. Parents should know it by a second name as well: first-year move-in check-in happens here, which is where you collect the room key, the vehicle dash tag and your parking directions.

Things to do

Delaware Stadium

625 S College Ave, Newark, DE 19713, USA

Home of Blue Hens football since 1952, seating 18,500, with the playing surface dedicated as Tubby Raymond Field in 2002 after the long-serving head coach. A roughly $60 million renovation brought chair-back seating, a stadium club and a new press box to the west stand. The student section behind the south end zone is The Cockpit. UD's main commencement ceremony is held here too.

Things to do

43 places on the map

Filter by section

Save this guide

Keep this guide in your RoamRecs so you can find it again later.

Some booking links are affiliate links — if you book through them, RoamRecs may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which places we recommend.

Related guides

University of Pennsylvania Guide: Where to Eat, Drink & Stay in Philadelphia

University

A saveable map of restaurants, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks near the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) for students, parents, alumni, and visitors.

Villanova University Guide: Best Restaurants, Bars & Hotels Near Campus (2026)

University

Find the best restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, and campus landmarks near Villanova University, with a saveable map for students, parents, and visitors.

Georgetown University Guide: Where to Eat, Drink & Stay (2026)

University

Find the best restaurants, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks near Georgetown University in Washington, DC, with a saveable map for students, parents, alumni, and campus visitors.

Seton Hall University Guide: Where to Eat, Drink & Stay in South Orange (2026)

University

Find the best restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, and campus landmarks near Seton Hall University in South Orange, with a saveable map for students, parents, and visitors.

University of Virginia Guide: Where to Eat, Drink & Stay in Charlottesville (2026)

University

Restaurants, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks near the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, organized into one saveable map for students, parents, alumni, and visitors.

Duke University Guide: Best Restaurants, Bars & Hotels in Durham (2026)

University

Restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks near Duke University in Durham, organized into one saveable map for students, parents, alumni, and visitors.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best restaurants near the University of Delaware?

For an everyday student meal, Roots, Grotto, Claymont Steak Shop, BAB's and Ramen Kumamoto are all on the walk from campus and all cheap. When parents are in town, Caffe Gelato is the Main Street booking for a proper dinner, the Greenhouse Gastropub is the newer and slightly less formal version of that, and Taverna handles a table that wants both pizza and pasta. For a real occasion, particularly graduation, Skipjack out at the Shoppes at Louviers is the grown-up choice, though you will drive. Klondike Kate's and the Deer Park are the two that work for absolutely everyone, which is why they have both been there for decades.

Where do UD students go out?

Mostly Klondike Kate's and the Deer Park Tavern, both of which run to 1am seven nights a week and have done for a long time. Grain is the third option and skews older and calmer by design. Founding Brothers, which opened in August 2025 as a Nashville honky-tonk, is the newcomer chasing the late-night crowd. Be aware that Newark's nightlife is thinner than it was: Iron Hill's original brewpub closed in September 2025 after twenty-nine years, the Stone Balloon Ale House closed in December 2023, and Catherine Rooney's is gone too. For craft beer you drive to Autumn Arch or Two Stones.

Where should parents stay when visiting the University of Delaware?

On Main Street if you want to walk to dinner, which means the Hyatt Place. On campus if you want the shuttle and the university's own hotel, which means the Courtyard on Laird. The SpringHill is a ten minute walk and the best fallback near downtown. Families staying several nights should look at the kitchens: Homewood and Candlewood both have full ones, and Embassy has two-room suites. When Newark fills up entirely, the Hilton Wilmington/Christiana is six miles out with far more inventory. One practical note: match the hotel to the ceremony venue at graduation, because commencement at Delaware Stadium puts you on South Campus while a Trabant ceremony favors Main Street.

Is the area around the University of Delaware walkable?

The core of it, yes, and that is Newark's real advantage. Main Street's rebuilt commercial stretch runs about a mile from Washington Street to the Trabant garage and feeds straight into campus, with more than sixty restaurants downtown. Getting from the Laird dorms at the north end to Delaware Stadium at the south is a different matter; UD runs a North South Express bus every eight minutes at peak precisely because it is a long way. The city also maintains over seventeen miles of trails and thirty-three parks, including the James F. Hall Trail.

How do you get to the University of Delaware?

Newark's train station, renamed the Thomas R. Carper Station, sits south of campus on South College Avenue and takes SEPTA Regional Rail to Philadelphia in roughly fifty to fifty-five minutes, but only on weekdays; weekend trains terminate at Wilmington. Amtrak service at Newark is thin, with only Northeast Regional trains stopping, so Wilmington station is the better rail option and is about fifteen miles away. Philadelphia airport is around forty minutes by car and Baltimore about seventy. Once you are here, a car is unnecessary for a campus visit and a Main Street dinner, and necessary for almost everything else.

What is game day like at Delaware?

Big, and increasingly not on a Saturday. Delaware moved up to FBS football in Conference USA and 2026 is its second season there. Of six home games, the opener against Merrimack is a Thursday, Liberty on Parents & Family Weekend is a Friday, and Missouri State is a Tuesday. Homecoming against FIU on November 14 is a Saturday, as is the Jacksonville State finale on November 28. Check the schedule before you book a hotel around a football weekend. At the stadium, lots open four hours before kickoff and tailgating runs until kickoff and for up to two hours afterwards, with charcoal and gas grills permitted. Gates open two hours before, bags are limited to 16 by 16 by 8 inches, and there is no re-entry. The student section behind the south end zone is The Cockpit.

When are UD's big weekends, and how far ahead should I book?

Fall 2026 move-in is Saturday, August 22 for first-years, with check-in at the Bob Carpenter Center from 7am, and Sunday, August 23 for everyone else. There is an optional early check-in on Thursday, August 20 for a fee, which is a good way to dodge the Saturday crush. Parents & Family Weekend is October 2 to 4, Homecoming is November 13 to 14, and commencement is Saturday, May 29, 2027. UD warns plainly that area hotels fill quickly. One quirk worth planning around: UD runs a five-week Winter Session from January 4 to February 5, 2027, so spring semester does not start until February 8 and commencement lands at the end of May rather than mid-month.

What should visitors see on UD's campus?

Start on The Green and walk its length. Memorial Hall is the building to stand in front of, and its carillon chimes on the hour. Old College at the Main Street end is the oldest building on campus and its gallery is free. Morris Library's Special Collections is worth going inside for. If you have an hour more, Mechanical Hall's Paul R. Jones Collection is one of the best African American art collections at any university and almost nobody visits it. Then walk out onto Main Street, which starts more or less where campus ends.

Where can you study or get coffee near campus?

Little Goat on Haines Street is the serious one, roasting its own beans on site and opening at 6am on weekdays, which is the earliest in town. Drip Cafe on N College Avenue is the nicest room to sit in but closes at 2pm. Brew HaHa! in the Main Street Galleria is the laptop option with the longest hours of the three. Bing's is a bakery rather than a coffee shop, and the UDairy Creamery Cafe inside the bookstore does a full coffee menu alongside the ice cream. Morris Library is the main study building on campus, and it is social rather than silent, with only one designated quiet reading room.

About the creator

RoamRecs Universities

Saving all of the best hotels, restaurants, and bars for every university

View profile →

Published August 2026 Spot something closed or wrong? Report a correction