Students praise new mobile ordering at UM dining halls

BY LAUREN WHITESELL STAFF WRITER

From the relocation of the Corner Deli to the installation of Instacart last semester, the University of Miami has had no shortage of new dining experiences. When campus re-opened for the spring 2023 semester, UM students quickly discovered another change to UM dining: mobile ordering in the Hecht-Stanford and MahoneyPearson dining halls.

Instead of ordering from the staff, students getting food from the Flame, Deli by Design, and Create stations place their orders using a QR code located at the dining hall entrances or the station itself.

Many students feel this new system has created positive changes.

Derek Hart, a sophomore majoring in English, thinks mobile ordering prevents long waits, which can be helpful for students in a hurry.

“It’s nice not having to wait. There’s times where there was a very long line. You don’t necessarily have to be waiting for 10 to 15 minutes sometimes, especially in a rush that could be very hard,” Hart said.

Sofia Passante, a sophomore majoring in English, says she and her friends all use mobile ordering and points out that this new system streamlines students’ dining experiences.

“It’s great because they text you when your order is ready,” Passante said.

Passante and Hart both agree that mobile ordering should have been introduced to campus dining halls earlier.

“I think that it would have been great if it was implemented earlier, but it’s here now,” Passante said.

The implementation of mobile ordering was announced less than a week before dorms re-opened, so the new system came as a surprise to some students.

“I was not expecting mobile ordering to be implemented this soon, but it definitely is a great addition to the school environment,” Passante said.

Unlike the dining halls, not every dining option on campus offers mobile ordering. UM Dining announced that Daybreak, Tossed, Miami Chicken Company, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Pollo Tropical and Archivist Cafe would have self-ordering kiosks beginning this semester. However, some other UM dining locations still lack self-ordering options. Some students think mobile ordering should be a widespread feature of dining options at UM.

“I think more mobile ordering would be better, just considering that students have had really busy schedules for a long time and mobile ordering is a great way to eliminate the need of having to wait in line,” Hart said.

While this is freshman mathematics major Kinda Khoury’s first semester at UM, meaning she has not experienced the dining halls without mobile ordering, she thinks it should be implemented in other locations across campus as well.

“I feel like some places that are super crowded should do it,” Khoury said.

Even though many students are in favor of the mobile ordering system, Hart, Khoury and Passante do not think it creates enough of a reason for students to eat in dining halls as opposed to other dining options on and off campus. Passante argues that students may choose other options for reasons other than convenience.

“I don’t think mobile ordering is necessarily incentivizing people to go to the dining halls over the food court or other dining options because other off-campus dining options offer delivery and other food on campus might be better,” Passante said. “I think it’s also about food quality.”

Students can visit @UMDining on Instagram or Twitter for more information and updates.