RJ Bentley's: This restaurant is just south of the University on Route 1. It has great all-around food (the cuisine is similar to Bennigan's) and outdoor seating when the weather is nice. It tends to be an undergrad hangout during the school year, but it's a good place to go to watch UMD basketball games!
Santa Fe Cafe: This is a tex-mex restaurant (also an undergrad hangout) located directly south of campus. It's also a good place to go to watch UMD basketball action. The bar features a (free!) computer quiz game where questions pop up on the screen and you punch in your answer as quickly as possible.
Fast Food Factory: Don't be fooled by the strange name! This is a great Indian restaurant. Their specialty is shish kebabs, and their prices are very reasonable. It is located north of the University in a strip mall on Route 1.
Marathon Deli: The best Greek (fast) food in College Park. It is located at the southern edge of campus, and it's a favorite of many people in the department. The food is prepared quickly enough to make it a good lunch spot, but the dining area is small so you may need to take your food outside during rush hour.
Sonic Grind: A few doors down from the Marathon Deli, this is a breezy cafe that offers a lot of elbow room and a (usually) quiet place to read or study. This was once the location of a hangout named Planet X, which closed in 1998 (probably because of its infamously slow service). The menu is no longer all vegetarian, the variety of caffeinated beverages is smaller, but your order will be up within ten minutes!
Alario's: There are many pizza joints in College Park, but this "Pizzeria Restaurant" is one of the better ones. They've got plenty of tasty Italian dishes, and the pizzas are a big step up from the ones you order from Domino's/Pizza Hut/Papa John's/etc. Located at the north end of campus on Route 1, it's a short walk from the department.
Farther away from campus:
Chevy's: This is a tex-mex restaurant located about 4 miles east on Greenbelt Road in Greenbelt. The quality of the food is average, but it has an excellent variety of food, decent margaritas, and the fabulous "El Machino", which prepares hundreds of tortillas automatically.
Red, Hot & Blue: This is a traditional Memphis-style pit barbeque. It is located on Main Street in Laurel. The restaurant has a great atmosphere and very reasonable prices. It is another department favorite.
Ledo's Pizza: There's a Ledo's in Greenbelt and one in Laurel. The pizza is wonderful, but the calzones are amazing. The prices are very reasonable.
Bottom of the Bay Seafood: This is a great little-known seafood restaurant on Route 1 in Laurel. It's tiny, hard to find, and not very nice, but the all-you-can-eat crabs and grilled shrimp are the best around at the lowest prices.
Outside of College Park is the country's largest restaurant going population! DC folks eat out for more than 50 percent of their meals, and there are enough restaurants to keep Washingtonians from getting bored. A good place to search for DC restaurants is at this website: http://www.washingtonian.com. Take Note! There's some awesome Ethiopian food in the Adams Morgan section of DC.
This is only a small sample of what's available in the area; they are selected from department members' suggestions. You can find almost any style of food here with a wide variety of prices.