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There’s no place like home. That’s because the food there isn’t from the dorms.

One of the most anticipated college experiences, besides partying or sleeping past noon, is the ability to have constant access to food at your fingertips. But with so many choices, from residential dining halls and on-campus eateries - not to mention the array of restaurants in Westwood and the greater Los Angeles area - what’s a new Bruin to do?

Dorm food, to be sure, isn’t bad. I’ll be the first to admit that I was enamored with the ham-and-green-pepper omelettes I ordered at the De Neve omelette bar, so much so that I actually woke up at 6:45 a.m. every Monday during fall quarter of my freshman year just to be first in line to get one.

But after a while, just as milk curdles or chocolate cakes left out for three weeks grow mold (don’t ask), dorm food starts to get ... old. The stomach yearns for new culinary horizons, sick of being fed the same Covel Commons pasta or Hedrick dining hall sushi.

For those of you who don’t have a car at your disposal, the next logical stop is Westwood Village. Before you do anything – including finish this column – do yourself a favor and buy some Diddy Riese cookies. For only $1.25, or less than the price of doing a single load of laundry, you can get a delicious ice cream cookie sandwich that my friend Mike calls “a little piece of heaven.”

For a full meal, your friends may tempt you to go to the obvious restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen, Chili’s or BJ’s. (Do stop at BJ’s and order a pizookie – an enormous warm cookie with ice cream on it.) However, some restaurants in Westwood may get overlooked and deserve mention.

Feeling tired of pepperoni pizza from Rieber Hall? Try Enzo’s Pizzeria. Their pizza is the best in town. Another Daily Bruin staffer and I went there on our first date, and we’ve been eating there every month ever since. And it fills hungry stomachs with ease: Where else can you get a steaming hot 23-inch pizza that won’t fit through the doorways in Sproul Hall?

If you’re feeling more adventurous, try a chicken-and-honey-mustard gyro at Daphne’s Greek Cafe, a tuna crepe at Green Tea Terrace, or pad thai at Noodle Planet. Westwood also has an abundance of sushi places that span the area, from Ami on Broxton Avenue to Tengu on Lindbrook Avenue.

Once you’ve conquered Westwood by spending your Saturday night dates eating at Jerry’s Famous Deli, catching a movie, and sipping Starbucks frappuccinos, however, it’s time to explore Los Angeles. One of the closer options is the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Freshmen sans vehicles, fear not: The Big Blue Bus’ Line 1 will get you there in about 25 minutes.

For a fancy Valentine’s Day meal, Benihana is where it’s at. Located on Fourth Street close to the Santa Monica Place Mall, the Japanese restaurant takes cooking to new heights as they prepare your meal right in front of you. Constantly flying knives and steaming onion volcanoes, among other things, turn the night into more of an entertaining cooking show and demonstration of skill than an actual meal.

If you don’t want to drop 80 bucks for two juicy, mouth-watering steaks and drinks (welcome to being a poor college student), steer toward Asian fare at Yangtze or pasta at Trastevere Trattoria Italiana. Sure, it’s between $10 and $18 for an entree, but at the end of the day you’ll still have money in your pockets and the satisfaction of eating a tastier meal than you can find at the McDonald’s in Third Street’s food court.

Beyond Santa Monica, Los Angeles is full of restaurants waiting to be discovered. But let’s be honest: If you don’t have a car, it’s difficult to explore the BBQ Korean beef in Koreatown or Scottish fowl at Checker’s restaurant downtown.

And if you’re lazy like me, then why get in a car when you can just order food online and have it delivered to your doorstep?

If you want food at 2 a.m. after everything closes on the Hill, or are simply too absorbed in the latest episode of “Lost” to go spend 30 minutes in the dining hall, you can visit campusfood.com, create an account, and order from one of 11 different eateries in the Westwood area. I’ve ordered pot stickers from Panda Cave on this Web site about 25 times in the last two years, and I’ve never missed a second of Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly on that mystical island.

But whether it’s Mongolian beef delivered to your suite or fish tacos from the residential restaurant Rendezvous, remember you can find new restaurants here faster than sorority girls go through fashion trends.

And if you find that you just can’t take it any more, just click your heels and repeat to yourself: Eleven weeks. Eleven weeks. Eleven weeks.

Fylstra is actually spending the summer learning how to cook her own meals. E-mail her at jfylstra@media.ucla.edu.