Recent initiatives

Take out options are still really popular with CSU students, and due to some capacity issues it is becoming more critical to have a variety of options for students to get meals quickly. CSU Dining started a new reusable container program in the spring as a pilot program in the Durrell dining location, which has been very successful with over 1,100 students and staff using the program.

Mobile ordering and kiosks are currently offered at the Durrell Center, Ram’s Horn and Braiden locations with hours depending on the location. Meal swipes can be converted into retail value.

CSU Dining has worked with the Food Science & Human Nutrition Department through which they operated a restaurant-style lunch out of one of the retail operations this year due to a renovation, representing a great collaboration between academics and the dining department, which also opened a mini market concept with unattended vending in Rams Horn that is available 24/7 and where students can use their Ram Cash/Credit/Debit to make purchases. 

Coming up in Fall 2023 will be a fleet of robots for on campus delivery services. 

Recent initiatives

Beyond the typical protocols and precautions implemented following CDC guidelines, NAU Dining also brought in hand-washing and sanitizing stations at different locations inside the dining hall, making access to those a bit more convenient for customers.  People seem to love those, and they help to model a culture of cleanliness and respect for others. Other forms of contact-less ordering and payment options were developed or enhanced, and most students now use the NAUgo, and their digital ID to navigate their dining options.   

The program had already launched robot delivery in the spring of 2019, so it was a relatively smooth transition to add mobile ordering for pick-up and add meal transfers to that program so students could use meal swipes on the app as well. The hours for mobile ordering extend a little beyond those for robot delivery, but depending on the location the customer is ordering from, there are mobile options available from about 7 a.m. until midnight.

The dining department works closely with student leaders on campus through its Campus Dining Advisory Council in planning the future of campus dining for all NAU students.  This group meets bi-weekly with the dining leadership team to discuss the ever evolving wants and needs of a diverse campus community, and one of the things students were asking for was more main-stream plant-forward options in retail. In response, the department spent several months working with Chef Mai Pham before launching her Lemon Grass Plant Forward Kitchen in the Fall 2022 and now students particularly enjoy seeing a menu revolving around fresh, flavorful plant-based foods rather than that being available as just an alternative to a meat-centric menu.  

Additionally, NAU Dining launched the “Hole in the Wall”  at the University Union in January for late night mobile ordering pick-ups and delivery. The concept allows it to feature menu items from five different campus dining locations through "dark retail" between 8 p.m. and midnight.

Among recent initiatives, NAU Dining hosted a plant-based takeover event and cooking demo along with a Freakshakes (plant-based milkshakes) pop-up in March for National Nutrition Month. During Earth Week in April, it was featuring farm-to-table recipes in the Hot Spot with different highlights each day, while the spring edition of Open Air Markets launched just after Spring Break. At the end of the month, plans called for deploying the Sodexo Test Kitchen highlighting some amazing cuisine from around the globe.

To address food insecurity on campus and advance sustainability initiatives, the Swipes for Jacks program and the Louie’s Leftovers initiative in catering collaborate with departments across campus to find ways to engage students in helping the larger campus community thrive.

Recent initiatives

Stanford Dining, Hospitality and Auxiliaries (SDHA), a division of Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) serves over 25,000 meals a day with more than 900 staff in over a hundred locations, including 10 dining halls, athletic dining, 31 self-op row house dining, 7 co-op dining, 4 suite dining, 4 branded concepts, a kosher kitchen, late night dining at Lakeside, 12 retail dining outlets (including 8 cafes, 2 markets, a pub and a sweet shop), 12 vendor partner programs, 2 commissary production kitchens, 7 catering operations, Schwab Executive Dining, 5 athletic concession venues, and 2 teaching kitchens. In addition, SDHA also oversees the Stanford Food Institute, the Stanford Flavor Lab, the campus BeWell community gardens, the Stanford Food Pantry, and a staff training and development center.

SDHA is committed to excellence by providing meal programs that support the development of communities within residences and across neighborhoods. Its meal plans offer significant value, the highest quality food and flexibility of dining across campus to create new connections and allow students to engage in intellectual and lively discussions over meals with each other, faculty, and members of the Stanford community. SDHA prides itself on providing nutritious, sustainable and delicious food choices incorporating research from the leadership of the Stanford Food Institute to meet the wide variety of dietary needs within Stanford’s diverse community. The Eat Well@Stanford program provides support to students dining with food allergies, religious requirements, medical needs, vegan/vegetarian diets and other nutritional needs. Examples include… 

● SDHA offers a variety of accommodations for students with food allergies and specialized dietary requirements through the Food Allergies@Stanford program. As the prevalence of food allergies and other dietary needs continues to grow on campus, its nutritionists work closely with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE) to ensure that the university is adequately accommodating students with medically documented dietary needs.

● SDHA partners with FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) to help improve the college experience for students with food allergies through enhanced awareness, accommodations, food labeling and training. The nutrition team reviews ingredients, recipes, and menus for allergens, trains SDHA staff on food allergy accommodations and provides nutrition counseling and education for students to help with managing their dietary needs on campus. Stanford is also home to nut-sensitive dining programs at Stern and Ricker dining halls.

● SDHA offers a Glatt kosher lunch and dinner program at Florence Moore Dining in partnership with students, the Office for Religious and Spiritual LIfe, Hillel, and Residential Education.

● Stanford also offers a variety of food options to accommodate the dietary needs of its Muslim community. All chicken and beef served in the dining halls is certified halal unless noted otherwise on the label. In addition, all dining hall recipes exclude alcohol. During Ramadan, Suhoor to-go boxes and Iftar meals in the dining halls are provided to keep students well-nourished during fasting. Students with a meal plan in any on-campus residence have access to halal dining options.

R&DE also has a long history of award-winning sustainability leadership. The SDHA One Plate, One Planet vision captures the full breadth of its pioneering sustainable food program, which represents long-term commitments to climate action and racial equity and celebrates the power of social consciousness, operational innovation, and individual food choices in promoting sustainable food systems.

Stanford dining halls offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner weekdays and brunch and dinner on weekends. Late-night dining is available from 9:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. at Lakeside Dining Sunday through Thursday, at The Axe & Palm Café from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday-Monday and at the EVGR Pub and Beer Garden from 5 p.m. to midnight. Continuous dining from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays can be found at Arrillaga Family Dining Commons and Lakeside Dining Hall. The department believes that the expanded hours and variety of late-night dining options help to foster a sense of community among students. In response to student requests for additional after hours study spaces, SDHA provided students after hours card access to seating areas in dining halls, in the evening and into the late night.

Students can use their meal plans for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner in any open dining hall. Meal Plan Dollars may be used at select SDHA cafes and markets or any SDHA dining hall, including all late-night operations. Cardinal Dollars, an optional, flexible, cashless spending option that is used like cash or a debit card may be used at all SDHA cafes and market locations.

All students living in undergraduate housing on campus (except in Mirrielees apartments) are required to be on a meal plan, but they can switch their dining hall meal plan during the first three weeks of each quarter.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SDHA developed the CleanDining Program, which continues to assure students of the safety of their dining experience through enhanced cleanliness that is visible to them. As new university guidelines and country regulations on COVID-19 evolved, so did the CleanDining Program. Still in practice today, it builds on its already high standards of food safety and sanitation in the dining halls, using best practices and enhanced cleaning protocols. 

Throughout the pandemic, SDHA remained committed to providing meals to students who tested positive for COVID-19. These were originally made in-house, but after a feasibility study, SDHA switched to an UberEats program in September 2022 that provided UberEats meal credits to those who tested positive for COVID-19 and were in a ten day isolation period. SDHA discontinued its UberEats meal delivery program this March and now, all students who test positive are directed to wear a KN95 mask, pick up meals from a dining hall, and return to their room or eat outdoors, physically distant from others. 

SDHA continues to see lower sales numbers in its cafes and markets as faculty and staff presence on campus is greatly reduced, primarily due to post-pandemic hybrid work schedules. To remain competitive while providing the best possible service to customers, SDHA has taken a careful look at its operations and implemented strategic business decisions to create greater efficiencies, including streamlining menu offerings, adjusting hours of operation to meet business demand, and providing an expanded grab-and-go with self-checkout to meet the evolving needs of customers. 

SDHA offers mobile ordering and pre-ordering through an in-house developed app, Stanford R&DE FOOD ToGo, which allows for mobile and pre-ordering at select SDHA cafes and markets on campus during business hours: EVGR Pub and Beer Garden, Forbes Cafe, Olives Cafe, The Axe & Palm, EVGR Marketplace, The Market at Munger and U2 Grab and Go. In addition, the Stanford R&DE FOOD ToGo app allows for mobile ordering at Stanford sporting events through the concessions programs at The Stanford Stadium for football, Sunken Diamond for baseball and softball, and Maples Pavilion for basketball. Customers may also pre-order online via the cafe and market webpages.

SDHA also continues to offer curbside delivery and on-campus delivery service through the Market at Munger, a convenient market located on campus that offers fresh produce, groceries, and a variety of ingredients for home cooking, as well as household and personal essentials. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, SDHA has taken a careful look at its operations and programs and continues to refine its offerings. New this year, SDHA is now offering beer and wine at two large venues, Maples Pavilion, home of Stanford Men’s and Women’s basketball and volleyball, and Sunken Diamond, home of Stanford Baseball. SDHA is also the sole concessions and VIP suites provider of Stanford Stadium, home of Stanford Football where it introduced thematic programming in each suite during each home football game during the 2022 season. 

SDHA remains committed to providing fiscally responsible catering options for on-campus clients. It launched “Stanford Express Delivery” in November 2022, which provides simple but attractive breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings at a lower price point for pick up or on-campus delivery and is intended to serve the needs of faculty, staff and student groups who have a limited budget. 

SDHA is also carefully looking at the menus and offerings of its cafes and markets. This April, it was able to reopen the Law Cafe inside the Law School that closed during the pandemic and also revamped the two markets on campus (EVGR Marketplace and the Market at Munger) with over 400 new items. Using the same methodology, SDHA is revamping its grab-and-go offerings inside each cafe with the same process, with expected completion in May 2023. 

In 2022 and in support of R&DE’s DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging) initiatives, SDHA created two affiliate committees to ensure that all members of the diverse SDHA community feel they belong, are supported, and they have broad access to all the opportunities and benefits in Stanford Dining. Both committees assist in the development of an SDHA DEIB strategic plan, establish new DEIB functions, and help create DEIB curriculum for training, workshops, huddles and professional development opportunities. 

SDHA has created a staff teaching kitchen called Training for Culinary Excellence that is dedicated to training and developing its team by training dishwashers to become cooks, cooks to become lead cooks, lead cooks to be sous chefs and sous chefs to become executive chefs. This culinary training and development program offers numerous benefits to both the staff and to SDHA, and by substantially investing in employee training, SDHA enhances the skillset of its staff, which leads to improved performance, increased efficiency, and higher quality outcomes while providing promotional opportunities for talented staff members to advance their careers within SDHA. The training and development programs also enhance employee morale by demonstrating that the department values their contributions and is committed to their professional growth, which helps to solve some of the labor staffing challenges that are particularly troublesome in the foodservice industry, where labor staffing issues are systemic and ongoing. T.

SDHA’s award-winning sustainable food program, One Plate, One Planet, engages with many aspects of complex global food systems, from equitable supply chains, climate-smart dining and regenerative agriculture to reducing food waste and shifting diets towards plant-forward options. In the 2022-2023 academic year, major initiatives have been launched towards two of its core pillars, “Racial Equity and Supporting Black Businesses” and “Climate-Smart Dining.”

SDHA has a robust initiative to support Black businesses as part of its overarching racial equity plan. It started with designing a long-term program to purchase from Black farmers through partnering with an Oakland-based non-profit, Farms to Grow, Inc., in 2020. After three years of dedicated research, learning, and relationship building, SDHA was able to source produce in its dining halls from a Black farmer in the fall quarter. 

In late winter 2022, SDHA and Farms to Grow were awarded seed funding from the Stanford Office of Community Engagement to support a Black Farmers Purchasing Program and Research Initiative. This seed money will be used to co-produce two free, open-source toolkits to guide others in direct purchasing from Black farmers and to equip farmers to engage with colleges, universities and other institutions. The project is intended to raise awareness of the historical and systemic racial injustice inflicted on Black farmers, help scale the purchasing model, and increase economic benefits to a much larger number of Black farmers. The toolkits are expected to be ready by fall 2023. 

SDHA also remains especially committed to promoting climate-smart dining initiatives. Through a partnership with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, SDHA implemented a research study beginning this spring in select dining halls this spring using a pioneering artificial intelligence food waste measuring company. It has already partnered with a back of house solution to measure food waste, so the new system will focus on front of house, consumer waste in dining halls. 

Recent initiatives

University of Arizona Dining is operating at full capacity this spring with all dining locations open, residential housing full and the largest freshman class ever. Dining’s technology platforms continue to grow with mobile pre-ordering available at 25 locations, kiosk ordering available at nine locations, rover delivery, convenient locker or window pick up, and smart vending options. Pre-ordering is available at 24 retail locations and one residential dining hall with plans to expand this in the fall.  Hours of pre-ordering span from 7 a.m. to late night.  

Last fall, the dining program debuted several concepts, including a new residential dining facility—Cactus Grill with all you care to eat dining—and several retail locations: Saffron Bites (local Indian fare), Starbucks at the Global Center and a ghost kitchen offering of local tea house Scented Leaf.  Earlier this spring, UA Dining opened the Banh Mi@the RoadRunner featuring Vietnamese fare through its mobile food kitchen and another residential dining facility, Radicchio, which features plant-forward dining.

Additional programming includes a wellness program called MindFull, featuring foods and lifestyle habits that assist with mental focus that was launched in the fall with the name intended to illustrate the mind being full of nutrients. In addition, new smart vending units include Just Baked and Costa Coffee machines that give students options to align with their busy schedules.

Recent initiatives

Cal Dining has maintained online ordering through its GET app at two locations—Pizzeria 1868 4-10 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday and The Golden Bear Café weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.—and also continues to offer carryout meals for students in isolation who are on meal plans. 

Among recent initiatives, the program opened The Eateries at Student Union, which includes three concepts: Ladle & Leaf, which offers salads, soups, and bowls; Uno Express, which offers hand-tossed deep-dish pizza; and Almare Gelato. It is planning to open a fourth concept in the space focused on Indian cuisine in Fall 2023. 

Also in Fall 2023, UC Berkeley students will be able to use their meal plans for the first time to order food on Grubhub, which will expand their options for food delivery both when they are on and off campus. 

Recent initiatives

Operations are pretty much back to normal across the UC Irvine campus, though takeout is still an option for those who want it, but it is not mandatory and students have mostly returned to eating in the dining halls. 

The dining program offers mobile ordering through Grubhub during venue hours of operation with Starship robot delivery, which also mirrors the hours of operations. 

A new Mediterranean concept named Garbanzo is now open at the ISEB Building with other new retail concepts and location refreshes occurring over the next two years. There are also plans to roll out a new POS system campus-wide in June, when the dining program will be implementing the Starbucks Connect POS system at its three Starbucks licensed stores once the integrations are completed. It is also researching Grubhub retail kiosks and Nutrislice digital signage in some of its retail locations for the fall.

Recent initiatives

Remnants of COVID era policies are still in place at UCLA, with non-resident guests still n to permitted to enter campus restaurants while, due to the present shortage of staff and the fact that residential halls are at full capacity, access to Residential Housing-Dining restaurants are being restricted to residents residing in the residential halls for this academic year.

Meanwhile, the Boutique Restaurants (i.e., QSRs) Transact Mobile Ordering is beginning to roll out, allowing customers use their smart phones to browse menu, select items and pay using their meal plan swipes through a mobile app. Transact Mobile Ordering is designed to offer convenience and speed for customers while also streamlining the order-taking process. It eliminates the need for customers to wait in long lines, which can help reduce wait times and improve the overall customer experience.

In other recent developments, Epicuria at Ackerman (Epic at Ackerman) is a new Mediterranean restaurant located in the Ackerman Union building on the main UCLA campus, the first and only restaurant operated by Housing-Dining. The name "Epicuria" is a wordplay on "epicurean," which refers to someone who appreciates good food and drink, and Epicuria at Ackerman follows the philosophy of Epicureanism, which values simplicity as a path to happiness and satisfaction. The restaurant offers fresh Mediterranean dishes made with local, sustainable ingredients. Drawing inspiration from the recipes served at the Epicuria at Covel residential restaurant, this satellite location offers a variety of freshly made pizzas, salads, sandwiches, and pastas. It also has a spacious dining area, a grab-and-go section, and a large outdoor patio. 

Meanwhile, to address labor shortages and bring variety to the dining program, UCLA has implemented Food Trucks and "Pop-Up" dining venues that showcase local restaurateurs. 

Also, a recently opened a dessert venue at Café 1919 offers a variety of gelato, sorbet, and soft serve ice cream with customers being able to mix and match their preferred flavors and toppings to create personalized sundaes or opt for a classic banana split.

Recent initiatives

Campus Return to Learn policies (daily symptom screener, wastewater testing, access to vending machine testing) are still in place at UCSD with isolation housing and dining still available for students. The dining program has not yet resumed self-serve food stations such as salad bars and silverware is still held behind the line and handed out to students and guests. The Bistro at the Strand transitioned from full-service dining to counter and to-go only while Triton2Go mobile ordering and reusable container program launched 2019 is available during standard business hours at all dining locations, generating 90% of orders come through the Trtion2Go mobile ordering app. It’s also available for coffee house items such as coffee, pastries and fruit at market locations during standard business hours. 

In terms of new concepts and locations, the Café Ventanas remodel project set to unveil Fall 2023 as are 64 Degrees Sixty-Four North and Seventh Market remodels. Also, Triton Eats food trucks are now operating concessions for UC San Diego Athletics and UC San Diego Catering is offering concessions at the new Epstein Family Amphitheater on campus.

Zero-waste campus initiatives are in place and the dining program has formed a partnership with the Student Sustainability Council (SSC) and student-run community gardens on a student-run composting program, and it is working with waste hauler firm EDCO and SSC on a post-consumer composting program at on-campus dining locations for next year.

Recent initiatives

All dine-in locations at UCSB are currently open. This academic year, Residential Dining reintroduced its weekly tasting tables and its theme meals at all dine-in locations. The theme menus feature everything from “Brunch for Lunch” (Eggs Benedict, Waffle Bar, Blueberry Pancakes, and Omelettes) to an “International Lunch” menu featuring Tofu Pho from Vietnam, Flaounes bread from Greece, and American Pork Baby Back Ribs.

Residential Dining is continuing its Take Out program, which started during the pandemic and is still very popular among student customers. The program allows customers to order food between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. via a mobile application and pick up their order from Ortega Commons to enjoy elsewhere. Ortega Commons provides continuous grab and go meal service with a restaurant style menu.

Recent initiatives

The CU Boulder campus is mask-optional, including all dining centers. Meanwhile, Campus Dining Services has partnered with Nutrislice to provide menu information for all of its dining locations on campus, including lists of ingredients and nutritional information such as carbohydrate counts, and labels of all A9 allergens. 

Recent initiatives

UW Dining has returned to “normal operations” with no COVID restrictions in place though it will maintain its student isolation meal service through the end of this academic year, then dismantling the program. The department still has some units that have not reopened since the pandemic but it plans to have everything reopened by the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year as it continues to hire and fill the remaining vacancies needed. UW Dining implemented a mobile ordering app during COVID, with a focus on servicing the residential dining program, though it is available in select retail units as well. The order/pick up program is available during regular hours of operations at each participating location.