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The dining locations are offering both to-go and dine-in options with seating capacity currently reduced to 50%. At the moment, the program does not have mobile/preordering available but plans to have it in place for the fall 2021 semester after it upgrades its POS system this summer.

Meanwhile a new food court with five concepts opened in a new campus building. The concepts include Shake Smart, featuring freshly blended protein shakes, organic acai bowls, all-natural peanut butter sandwiches, oatmeal and cold-brew coffee; Market at Polo Garage, a one-stop-shop for every need that offers a variety of snacks, drinks and prepackaged meals; Salata, offering build-your-own salads and wraps with a selection of 50 toppings and 12 dressings; Houston Street Subs, menuing deli subs topped with freshly cut veggies and bread made daily; and Panda Express, the popular national chain featuring favorite Chinese dishes.

Another recent introduction was Local Celebrity Chef Night at Duncan Dining Hall at the end of February, something the program plan to do again in future semesters.

Recent initiatives

Purdue is offering take-out only and limited socially distanced seating in its residential dining courts and students can use TransAct mobile to place orders and pick up at select grab-and-go locations.

Aramark took over management of retail dining on the West Lafayette campus last fall and added a number of concepts such as Chick-fil-A, Qdoba, Panera Bread, Jersey Mike’s and SaladWorks. Meanwhile, retail dining in the Purdue Memorial Union has been closed for renovations expected to be completed in early 2022.

Recent initiatives

Dine-in is available all over campus with a 50% capacity, and the program also offers mobile ordering between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Recent initiatives

Meal service is mostly takeout with 98% of orders coming from mobile devices, though there are limited seats available for guests to dine in the operations. The dining program is also offering room service to quarantine and isolation students and is planning on opening a few new operations and re-energizing its sustainability programs.

Recent initiatives

Virginia Tech provided a combination of services this spring, including takeout, grab-and-go kiosks placed near entrance and exit points and dine-in options. Students can order through the GrubHub mobile app from most of the retail locations on campus during regular operating hours and they can also order in-person or utilize GrubHub’s ordering kiosks. Seating is at reduced capacity, ensuring 6 to 9 feet of space between tables, but students can dine-in at all locations on-campus. One notable change—in the fall, off-campus students were unable to purchase a new dining plan but this spring, Virginia Tech is offering off-campus students the option to purchase full dining plans and gain full access to all locations.

Recent initiatives

Meal service is offered as all takeout and grab and go for safety and convenience, but dining locations have offered phased seating areas for students interested in utilizing the spaces. The dining team continually evaluates spaces and considers demand for additional seating while ensuring that state guidelines for dining spaces are met, including safety precautions such as proper spacing and continual monitoring for cleanliness. Meals are all served in disposable containers to allow students flexibility.

The Penn State Eats mobile ordering app launched in fall 2020 and the program has continued to expand and increase offerings. Mobile ordering is currently offered at 33 locations on the University Park campus and 62 locations statewide. Earliest hours available for online ordering begin with coffee shops campuswide at 7 a.m. and wind down with late-night menus at 11 p.m. The team has even been able to leverage the system to offer additional services this semester to students in isolation and quarantine space, including online order for delivery from the on-campus convenience markets.

Spring has been a busy time for the PSU dining teams. A newly renovated [email protected] Food District was launched offering favorites to that area of campus from the grill such as cheesesteaks and burgers and was celebrated with a grand reopening of Market North. The program also added an additional location of its popular Bowls concept for students to enjoy acai and overnight oats bowls with fresh fruit and a variety of toppings and drizzles. Both locations have been very popular and hours have already been expanded to accommodate demand. Several on campus markets have also shifted from mobile order only and reopened for in-person shopping as safety and distancing guidelines have allowed. The other significant addition is to one of the on-campus markets, Louie's, which has added mobile ordering and delivery for students in isolation/quarantine spaces, allowing them much more freedom in selection of snacks, meals and other convenience items.

After a brief hiatus last semester, pop-up menu features have returned to PSU Dining locations and students have enjoyed a wide variety of events from made-to-order grain bowls for National Nutrition Month to dessert bars paired with gourmet hot chocolate. Additional upcoming specials include an upscale fig and Brie grilled cheese to celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day and the celebration of National Cold Brew Day with program partner Chameleon Coffee. Dining teams have also supported universitywide initiatives such as Wellness Days with special dinner features focused on Sustainable Eating and Fueling your Mind and supporting the first all-student-run, virtual THON with vouchers for participants.

Recent initiatives

In addition to specific grab-and-go service in each of the Dining Commons, UMass Dining also offers a dine-in service with food to-go options at all locations while adhering to state and university safety guidelines. In order for customers to gain entry to dining locations, they are required to show green checkmarks on their mobile devices that indicate that they are in compliance with the UMass Asymptomatic Testing Program. A new zone seating protocol that allows the maximum number of students to dine while still allowing for proper cleaning and social distancing has also been instituted. Capacity limits have been set for all locations and students are able to check dining location volume using the UMass Dining App and live web cameras. This has resulted in some changed student behavior and dining preferences. For instance, more than 70% now take advantage of both the dine-in and food to-go options during each dining occasion and instead of visiting dining outlets 3.4 times daily, they visit an average of two times only.

UMass Dining offers mobile ordering in eight retail locations: Deli Delish, Green Fields, Roots Café, Tamales, Tavola, The Grill, Wasabi and Worcester Café. Hours of service are available when each location is open, typically between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. for most.

In terms of new venues, there is a brand-new, business casual restaurant with 100 seats, a bar and a functional teaching kitchen that was part of the larger Worcester Commons complex that opened in October 2020. With the loosening of restrictions, the program is aiming to provide even more dining experiences. For instance, there will be a slate of special events that it is prepared to execute in a safe manner. These include events that UMass Dining was unable to host during the height of the pandemic, including its annual Halloween steak and lobster special, Princeton Review Best Campus Food event, Taste of UMass, UMass’ Got Talent and the annual Welcome BBQ that is typically hosted during the first week of school in the fall.

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IU Dining expanded to 25% capacity seating in its dining rooms for spring 2021. The requirements include a limit to number of guests at each table, and seating areas are being cleaned and sanitized as each guest leaves after their meal. Large outdoor tents with seating and heaters have been placed outside campus eateries for additional dining space. 

Meanwhile, IU Dining has been partnering with GrubHub since spring 2019 to offer mobile ordering and had seven shops on the service that term, reaching a milestone of one million total online orders logged in fall 2020. Also in fall 2020, 40 new shops were created, with full menus available. Meals can be ordered daily between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and one convenience store stays open until 12 a.m., with hours varying by location at other sites. In-person ordering is also available, and delivery through GrubHub is offered from one campus store. 

Students with special dietary needs or food allergies may also request specific meals prepared by designated trained staff any day of the week through communication with the chef team and registered dietitian. 

Self-serve salad bars were discontinued because of COVID; however, based on customer feedback, IU Dining’s Romaine micro restaurant was relaunched at four locations in February, with made-to-order fresh salads available in-person and through GrubHub mobile ordering. IU Dining also created a shop on GrubHub for each eatery called Takeaways, a consolidated location with fresh-made bakery and pre-prepacked items.

In Feb. 2021, IU Dining was pleased to open newly renovated restaurants at the Indiana Memorial Union. These include Quarry Pie Pizza, which has made-to-order pizzas baked in a brick oven; Lantern, which offers Asian-style cuisine; The Mix, which serves fresh greens, salad toppings and soups; and Whitfeld Grill, which has chargrilled burgers made with locally sourced beef. The Memorial Union’s iconic Sugar & Spice bakery and ice-cream shop also reopened in 2021 after a renovation and is again able to serve very popular local favorites such as Chocolate Moose ice cream and Brown County Coffee. A large renovation of McNutt dining hall is also underway and due to open in the fall of 2021.

This spring semester, IU Dining continued a partnership with Sustain IU and IU’s Office of Sustainability in a small initiative related to the Real Food Challenge (RFC). As IU Dining seeks to reach the goal of 25% of purchases meeting real food criteria by the year 2025, posters have been placed in all six campus stores, outlining the criteria that qualify food for the RFC: local, fair-trade, humane and ecologically sound (i.e., organic) practices. The posters have an image of select shelf tags that show the various RFC categories that the items fall into and in which specific eatery the items may be found.

The two other projects that IU Dining is undertaking for the spring semester are a relaunch of two campus food trucks—Stripes, offering popular fare such as tacos, and Gloriana, which menus smoked/barbecued meats, while both also offer gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options. Also being relaunched are special meals and menus for different occasions such as St. Patrick’s Day, March Madness, Passover, Easter and the month of Ramadan. The meals and menus were created by the chef team for dining locations across campus, with various, interesting offerings. For example, the St. Patrick’s Day menu has Guinness slab cake, Irish soda bread and vegetarian shepherd’s pie.

Recent initiatives

The University of Alabama is currently operating both dine-in and take-out at all locations, and venue capacity is about 50%, following state guidelines. Both residential and retail dining locations offer mobile ordering, with the earliest venue, Starbucks, beginning to take orders at 7 a.m. and the latest, Terrace Market, accepting orders up to 10:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the dining program was able to reopen its Raising Cane’s facility this spring after it was closed during fall term, and it has been a huge success. It has also been able to hold its Crimson Kitchens Cooking Classes this semester, doing Mystery Basket, Mardi Gras and Sushi classes to date and planning one on Mother Sauces to complete the term.

Recent initiatives

The majority of meals served in residential dining at UGA currently is take out, though both grab and go and dine-in are offered, with dine-in restricted to 20% to 25% of a given venue’s normal capacity. Retail dining is all takeout. The dining program is partnering with mobile-order platform GrubHub in both its residential and retail dining locations with the service available at any given location during its operating hours.

It also added three residential dining Quick Markets across campus where meal plan students may select fresh grab-and-go options such as sandwiches, salads, snacks, sweets, frozen entrees and bottled beverages. Quick Markets provide a convenient alternative to visiting a dining commons and are located near residential areas.

Service hours have remained the same at all locations with the exception of Bolton Dining Commons, where hours have been extended to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Two retail coffee shops are temporarily closed but Campus Market Express locations, which are cashless/automated c-stores, continue to be added at select locations across campus.

Recent initiatives

With reduced seating to meet public health guidelines, ISU Dining allowed dine-in at all of its locations as well as carryout at the dining centers, which typically do not supply this option.

Face coverings were required to be worn when not seated or when not actively eating/drinking.

The program also created two GET & Go pickup locations to supplement the pickup locations at the majority of retail outlets for mobile orders, which accept dining center swipes for an entrée—including hot prepared foods—two sides and a beverage, and are available during all hours of operation. It even created mobile ordering for groceries at three markets/c-stores and increased its grocery offerings in areas like ground beef, pasta sauces, condiments, fruits and vegetables.

In terms of new concept debuts, ISU Dining created a Poke Bowl concept in its Food Court, Pono Poke, which has been very well received. Union Drive Marketplace, the largest dining center on campus, will have a renovation this summer. It was constructed in 2003, so this will provide a refresh to the space. The project will occur in phases. Phase 1, encompassing a meeting room and dining room that hosts campus visits with the Admissions department, was finished last year. More of this look/feel and branding will be extended to the larger dining center this summer and will include new plates, silverware, glassware, tables and chairs as well.

In a few weeks ISU Dining plans to open Dolce Freddo, a gelato shop featuring scratch-made gelato that is made on campus by ISU Dining. This shop will be in the student union and will feature all the campus favorites. Unique offerings will include gelato paninis, “spaghetti” with housemade raspberry sauce, gelato pops and truffles and the location will also feature a specialty donut, created just for the location, along with espresso drinks—including affogatos of course!

The dining program also continues to expand its Quality Assurance/Food Safety team and their initiatives. This team has created a plethora of new programs, one of which is revamping Secret Shopper, which utilizes students, faculty and staff as shoppers. The team also has worked on its Strategic Plan, which in turn created Core Commitments and committees to move these commitments forward.

Finally, the ISU Dining marketing team hosted fun events to break the monotony of the academic year, knowing students were in their rooms more. On Find it Friday, it would post a picture on Instagram of a prize such as a dozen donuts, a decorated cake, cookies or a hydroflask in a location anywhere on campus and the first three to five students to find one wins the prize. This was a great way to engage students on social media, draw them on to campus and have fun.

The team also handed out study break bags at the end of the semester, partnering with General Mills and Coca-Cola on the initiative.

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Seating is at 50% capacity in the dining halls with meals served in takeout containers to give students the option to stay in to eat or take away their food. To augment the program and offer an additional venue to enjoy a meal while maintaining proper social spacing, UNH Dining transformed Whittemore Center Arena into Café Central, which offers a menu that includes soups, salads, sandwiches, pizza and chicken

Recent initiatives

UC San Diego currently provides a to-go model for meal service with 96% to 98% of orders made on its Triton2Go mobile application, and with all orders provided in a reusable clam shell. Outdoor dining is available with the addition of sanitation pucks that may be flipped to indicate a table needs to be cleaned after use. The campus community is not currently offering indoor dining options in a continued abundance of caution.

Mobile ordering is offered at all locations, with the exception of one small convenience store and is available from opening to closing daily. Offerings are expanded online with complete customization to provide the best possible service to students and the campus community.

UC San Diego opened its newest locations in February. They include Sixth Market, a 4,000-square-foot market and espresso bar, and [email protected] College, a five-platform, two-level facility with poke, plant-forward bowls, ramen, street food and BYO options, and a barbecue/comfort food concept. This will operate in conjunction with its Triton Tide specials in partnership with UC San Diego Athletics, Rooted in Flavor seasonal changes for fall and the program’s special themed meals for the quarter.

Finally, fun and exciting special events are planned in celebration of Earth Day, May the Fourth Be with You, Cinco De Mayo and DeStress Finals Brunch, just to name a few. The dining program is also featuring monthly espresso beverage specials.

Recent initiatives

Cornell Dining is offering a variety of dining approaches to meet the varying time constraints and comfort levels of students. It does have complete grab-and-go meals available from several satellite locations around campus, so students don't even have to walk into one of the dining rooms. But nine of the 10 dining rooms have been open all year, with a mix of dine-in and takeout available. The program is also offering dine-in by reservation using the OpenTable service, so students can reserve a seat and relax in the limited, carefully spread-out seats in each eatery. Students can have the same meals via takeout, and in addition to disposable takeout containers, Cornell is offering reusable takeout containers for a small fee to help students be sustainable.

The dining program also expanded its online ordering—via website or app—to more retail à la carte locations than it had offered in the past, knowing students wanted to spend less time waiting in line. Online ordering is available anytime these locations are open. The grab-and-go meals at the satellite locations are also available to preorder using the same app, showing each day's menu of prepared meals to choose from.

Already in the works for a few years, the new redesigned Martha's Café was launched at the beginning of the spring semester, featuring Mediterranean-inspired salads, grain bowls and wraps. There are composed menu items, but guests can also design their own from the wide variety of grains, roasted vegetables, proteins, toppings and sauces available.

Reusable containers are part of a sustainability focus this spring, and mid-semester Cornell Dining launched an Earth Day promotion that offers a reusable container with reusable cutlery in a very affordable bundle deal. It is also hard at work preparing to launch two new eateries next academic year—a café in the fall and a new flagship residential dining room in spring 2022—in the brand-new residential buildings on North Campus.

Recent initiatives

Miami University Dining is offering take out and dine-in at a 30% capacity with full service and no help-yourself stations. All retail operations provide mobile-order capability from opening to one hour prior to close. The program also opened a new market that has a customized smoothie concept inside of it.

Recent initiatives

Locations for the newly self-operated dining department offer varying services levels to meet student needs. The resident dining hall offers three methods—dine-in with limited seating available, carry-out or grab-and-go that consists of in-house prepared, pre-packed provisions and hot items from various stations for carryout. Retail locations are carryout only. Mobile ordering is available for lunch and dinner at the retail locations only. 

While no new facilities were brought online this spring, a few were introduced in the fall 2020 semester. This spring has seen the reintroduction of pre-COVID sustainability standards with a reusable solution for to-go containers in the dining halls.

Recent initiatives

In response to observed student behavior and traffic patterns over the fall, NU Dining this spring limited the use of meal swipes at its Curry Student Center to weekdays, extended weekend hours at its Outtakes residential dining location while closing it Mondays and Tuesdays.

Recent initiatives

UConn Dining Services is providing its traditional menu service in to-go containers. It has limited in-house seating available in each facility and is researching mobile-ordering options for the fall. It currently has preorder marketplaces available for its Bakery, Catering and Dairy Bar locations and is working in coordination with a student group on Crossroads, a new plant-based café that will be opening in the fall of 2021.

Recent initiatives

Campus dining at MSU for spring 2021 has consisted of limited-capacity seating within the dining halls, takeout and grab and go. Last fall, the program implemented mobile ordering at two locations and has now expanded it to two more. By fall 2021, it anticipates it being available at several more, including the new grab-and-go locations. With the service, students can order breakfast through dinner and pick up at specific locations conveniently located throughout campus. The mobile ordering and grab-and-go options have been integrated into the dining plan for Silver, Gold and Platinum dining plan holders while the Combo-X-Change program, which previously limited students to one meal exchange per day, now allows unlimited daily exchanges with a maximum of six per week for added flexibility.

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For the spring, NCSU Dining has consolidated its dining operations to Fountain Dining Hall, Talley Student Union on the main campus, On the Oval on the Centennial campus and PCJ-Terry Center in the College of Vet Med, with Fountain and One Earth in Talley operating as dining halls. For the retail locations, all meal plan holders need to order via the GrubHub app.

Recent initiatives

Michigan Dining currently is all take out with no dine-in and there is no mobile ordering as the units that supported this service are currently closed. The program did open one new location, the Eigen Cafe in the new Ford Robiotics building, which offers a mixture of fresh grab and go, snacks and beverages with staffed service during the day and self-service after hours.

Recent initiatives

No dine-In has been available at Rutgers, New Brunswick this academic year but the program does offer mobile preordering during all of its operating hours. Program changes this year have been confined to enhancing menu options at two retail locations.

Recent initiatives

Currently all UCSB dining is takeout, but a dine-in option is planned to be available in Portola Commons sometime in April, at 50% dining occupancy. The dining program does offer mobile, online preordering for dining commons takeout but there is no retail preorder available at this time, though the plan is to offer this feature soon.

In addition, UCSB Dining has restarted its food recovery program this year, packaging surplus dining commons prepared foods and redirecting these ready-to-eat options to its Miramar Food Pantry, which serves UCSB’s food-insecure student community. It is also continuing its Community Meal Program, which provides fresh-prepared and ready-to-heat-and-eat packaged meals to Santa Barbara area charitable organizations for distribution to the growing number of individuals and families in need in a community heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, UCSB Dining continues its Isolation and quarantine meal service, providing meal delivery to students who must quarantine due to COVID positivity, or for close contact with COVID cases.

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ASUCLA, which operates retail dining on campus, recently launched an automated food delivery service using Starship Technologies robots that bring meals from three campus outlets to students on campus.