The food situation on campus is sad. Unless the university duped your folks into wasting money on a meal plan at the beginning of the year, you’re paying a hefty price for your cafeteria food.

ISU Dining and its “convenience” stores are strewn everywhere, peddling $4 coffee and $8 entrees like the food is good and the prices are reasonable. It’s not. When Walmart turns a profit selling the same stuff at half the prices, and most student debt is in the five-figure range, I’ll call campus food prices “gouging” and lose no sleep over it.

It’s a bummer, too — there are a lot of great places a stone’s throw from campus that seem to be struggling. I have zero confidence in the crap Lane 4 has been feeding us — Towers was why Campustown worked, and building a hotel or Buffalo Wild Wings is a far cry from the foot traffic a few thousand people give an area.

Still, if you’re holed up in your dorm room living off the oatmeal packets you stole from the UDCC — don’t worry, everybody does it — do yourself the favor and check out some of the great food across the street:

Angie’s Cantina

Under new ownership, it’s changed more than the name: Besides having a full bar, Angie’s also has new Spanish-Asian fusion dishes. You’re almost guaranteed to run into the new owners, and these folks genuinely appreciate your patronage. They did an awesome job remodeling.

You can still get breakfast for less than $5 at any time of day, but now you can also help yourself to tapas, tacos, quesadillas and homemade sangria. The serving sizes are big enough for an offensive lineman, and the food is always spot-on. The next time you find your drunken self and your heathen friends hungry at some ungodly hour of a weekend morning, make a field trip to Angie’s.

Es Tas

I almost didn’t put it on here, but sentimental reasons prevailed. When Es Tas was on Welch, I practically lived there. Some of the bars charge $4 for a bottle of Miller Lite and call it a special; Es Tas’ idea of “special” is a gallon of Fat Tire for $5.

Up until two years ago, I gave Es Tas the edge over Tasty Tacos. Blasphemy? Hardly. You could taste how fresh the produce was, and you had your pick of swapping out one of five different meats for most Mexican dishes. The Guac Burger is everything a hamburger should be.

Over the past two years, though, there’s been a noticeable decline in quality. I’ve had under-cooked and outright cold food delivered to me, but that was before it stopped delivery service. I still get nostalgic and order takeout every few months or so, but it seems like it’s really skimping on the ingredients. I know Drew can’t be in the kitchen all day, but here’s hoping he gets some kitchen staff that can do the food justice.

Jeff’s Pizza

I have four words: BBQ Bacon Chicken Ranch. Easily the second-best pizza in Ames, if not existence.

Jeff’s gets all sorts of awesome points —two footlong, grilled sandwiches set you back a measly $10; the nightly specials are an awesome deal; it’s open until 3:30 a.m. on the weekends; and bison is on the ingredients menu. Freakin’ Buffalo on your pizza.

There is also a $5 lunch special, and I’m inclined to think the restaurant would have a lot more traffic from campus if Lake Latrine wasn’t in the way. If you find yourself ordering delivery from the chain pizza restaurants, hang up the phone, punch yourself in the face and call Jeff’s.

Planet Sub

I know you guys see it. We all see it. You can’t miss the sign. Why does nobody go to Planet Sub? I think the location is cursed. The food is awesome.

Ames doesn’t really need another sandwich shop, and it’s a bit pricey for deli fixin’s, but I’m going to be sad when Planet Sub closes shop. It’s one of those places that’d do really well inside of the Memorial Union, but instead got stuck in no-man’s-land.

Planet Sub reminds me of a hipster Quiznos, complete with delivery. They also have $2 Turkey Tuesdays, although I’m not sure if that’s a chain thing or if it’s a promo for the Ames store. How’s that for journalism? Regardless, if you haven’t been there, you should check it out. I have a feeling it won’t be around much longer.

Pizza Pit/Welch Avenue

I could write an entire column on why Welch Ave is the best bar in Ames. Exhibit A: Pizza Pit delivers to Welch Ave. There’s the $2 top-shelf nights, $1 PBR nights, but this is a column about food.

Pizza Pit makes, for my money, the best pizza in existence — The Super Meat Sampler. Friends and I affectionately refer to it as the Barnyard Holocaust. It’s the epitome of manliness, clogged arteries be damned.

To be completely honest, I’m not sure how good the rest of the pizzas are. I can vouch for the chicken wings — which are absolutely spectacular — and the jalapeno poppers. I’ve eaten slices of their other pizza. It’s not that they’re bad, it’s just that the Super Meat Sampler is that good. I’ll use girl-food words for it: amazing, incredible, delectable, savory, they’re all fitting. I’m getting hungry writing this.

Thai Kitchen

I love Thai food. I’m only writing this for the folks who have never heard of the place, because if you know where it is, you already eat there.

Skip all of the other swill that passes off as Asian food in Campustown. When it comes to cultural foods, I have no qualms judging merit based on clientele — Cracker Barrel probably tastes great when you have one tooth, but anyone looking for a down-home American meal knows how terrible that place is.

Same goes for Golden Wok — the only Asian people I’ve seen there have been employees, and that’s because the food is terrible. I think that horrible place stays open because it delivers. You will most definitely find all ethnicities at Thai Kitchen. I love the food so much I’ve offered to deliver — on more than one occasion — solely for tips and two meals per shift. Mrs. Chittamvanich appreciated the offer, but said there would be no way they could keep up during their lunch shifts, and she’s absolutely right. If you haven’t been there, go. Go now.