We want you to eat well while you’re with us. We offer a variety of convenient, healthy, and affordable dining options for patients and families at the hospital.
Meeting your child’s nutritional needs
When your child arrives at the hospital, our dietician will perform a nutritional assessment. Your doctor will make sure that your child’s diet is aligned with his or her medical needs.
If food restrictions or special diets aren’t a concern, your child can order meals off a menu at certain times of the day.
We’re happy to accommodate ethnic, religious, or other special dietary restrictions.
Dining options for guests
We offer a variety of dining options at the hospital, so you can stay close to your loved one.
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Rotunda Café
The main cafeteria in the hospital offers a variety of fresh entrées and snacks, including sushi, pasta, soup, and salad.
Location: Near the rotunda on the first floor of the Medical Center’s main building
Hours: Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m.-midnight; Saturday and Sunday, 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
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Tree House Café
Smaller than the Rotunda Café, the Tree House Café offers much of the same food options, including brick-oven pizza and made-to-order deli sandwiches.
Location: First floor of the Children’s Hospital
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
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Starbucks Coffee
A full-service Starbucks offers coffee, espresso, tea, and snacks.
Location: In between the Medical Center and the Children’s Hospital
Hours: Monday through Friday, 5:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 6 a.m.-3 p.m.
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Ronald McDonald Cart
The Ronald McDonald cart makes its rounds every day with complimentary drinks and snacks, such as fresh fruit, muffins, and bagels, for families and visitors.
Other food options
Looking for a quick snack? We provide additional services for light food and beverages.
Family lounges
Located on the third and fourth floors in between the patient units, the family lounges offer:
- Free snacks and coffee for families of pediatric patients
- Refrigerators and microwave to store and reheat food
Keeping food costs down
We understand that dining out is an unexpected expense, so we offer other ways to offset that cost.
Tray service
Parents can get one free meal tray per hospital stay from the cafeteria. After that, parents can buy meal trays at $5 per tray.
For added convenience, guests can pre-pay for a tray at the cafeteria and have it delivered to the room at a requested time.
The Ronald McDonald House
The Ronald McDonald Charities of Central Pennsylvania, located across the street from the Children’s Hospital, provides free services to out-of-town families who have children being treated at the Children’s Hospital.
Looking for dining options beyond the hospital cafes? From steak to sushi, the surrounding area offers a range of restaurants to please any palate.
Area Restaurants
Several restaurants are located near Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State Health Children's Hospital.
We suggest calling ahead for hours, pricing and reservation information, as this information sometimes changes.
Please note that this guide was created for our guests and is not an endorsement of the restaurants listed.
Those restaurants marked with an asterisk (*) deliver to the Medical Center.