Boston College Dining Services recently initiated its Dining to Go pick-up service for faculty, staff and student groups holding morning meetings. The intent is to offer an alternative to groups that had been purchasing bagels, coffee and other breakfast favorites for meetings from off campus.
"They found it more convenient to do that because of the parking situation here on campus, so we initiated a 15 minute parking option next to the locations where we are doing this program," says Associate Director Michael Kann. The new pick-up option complements BC Dining's existing meeting catering services, which can be accessed online and provides customers with delivery and full-service options.
Kann says one advantage of the pick-up option is that it promises to reduce the number of runs dining service employees have to make to deliver minimal amounts of food and drink to smaller meetings. Labor costs for the new service are not an issue since the food and drink are dispensed from existing dining locations that are already operating, and the additional traffic is minimal (counts have been running at only about nine a week in the early going for the new service), though customersd are asked to call ahead if they plan to put in especially big orders. Usage is expected to grow as the word streads, Kann adds.
The menu includes a 10-cup box of coffee, bagels (dozen or individual serving), muffins (half-dozen or individual), croissants, fruit, orange juice and other breakfast-type items and can be accessed from five different locations around campus. Payment is by credit or campus debit card.
