Mercy College recently collaborated with Grubhub to offer students and faculty an ordering service for on-campus cafes. They don’t deliver, but customers are now able to order quickly and skip the long lines when picking up their food. Visitors at Mercy College also have access to the Grubhub ordering service. 

There was mention of this collaboration in a video Mercy College released this past August, along with a plethora of changes they had in store to keep the campus safe through the pandemic. However, the application did not go live until November.

Now, Dobbs Ferry campus-goers can use their dining dollars or meal plans to order food from the Hudson View Cafe located in Main Hall, and the Starbucks on the first floor of Hudson Hall. 

For students residing in Dorm 34 on the Manhattan campus, the Herald Square Cafe has also implemented pickup options through Grubhub.

Users of the new service say that the process is undeniably simple.

Mercy College junior, August Campbell, feels that the large crowds and long lines in the Main Hall cafe are a pain, especially since the pandemic started. 

“Using the Grubhub app is just so convenient. I can order all the food from my room and then I’m sent a notification when it’s ready. I walk down and pick it up, it’s already paid for, and I can walk back with no hassle at all,” he shared.

Campbell uses the feature regularly. With the implementation of COVID-19 guidelines, getting food from the grill and deli stations in the Mercy cafeterias can take up lengthy amounts of time.

Ordering food from the Grubhub app has allowed Campbell and other students to avoid unnecessary stress.

“It is also so much more customizable than simply ordering food,” he said. “When you can see all the different toppings right there on the app, it gives you time to decide what you want on your sandwich. Now, I can truly pick the cheese, bread, and toppings that I want without feeling rushed by the chef or the people in line behind me.”

The cafeteria menus are displayed the same as they would be for any other restaurant on the Grubhub app. All menu items are separated by category and users can customize their orders to their liking and add special instructions.

Grubhub is available for download on the Google Play Store, IOS, and Android. Once downloaded, a prompt comes up on the sign-in screen reading: “Ordering on campus? Find my campus.” A single click of that hyperlink brings the user to a screen with the heading: “Campus Dining,” where the next step is to type in the name of their college – in this case, “Mercy College,” and then specify their affiliation with the chosen institution. Users who plan to pay with their dining dollars or meal plan will be asked to enter their graduation year. 

Next, it will ask the user to either enter their preexisting Grubhub account information or create a new account using their email address and a password. The welcome screen will appear, instructing the user to enter the information from their campus ID card. By clicking: “Add campus card” and logging into Microsoft Outlook using a valid Mercy College email address in the area provided, the user’s information attaches to the account and gives them access to the campus cafeterias’ menu options, leaving only one more thing to do: place their order. 

Commuter student, John Assimacopoulos, lives 10 minutes from the Dobbs Ferry campus and has gotten into the routine of ordering food through the app. He places his order before he heads to the campus so that it’s ready when he gets there and he has time before class to eat it at a leisurely pace. 

“I don’t have dining dollars or a meal plan this semester because I am no longer a resident student, but I’ll continue using the app for its ease of ordering reasonably priced food from Mercy’s cafes.”

The GrubHub and Mercy College cafeteria collaboration will continue to expand and improve going forward. The college has plans of adding Victory Hall’s cafe menus to the app in order to maintain this seamless process during a less than seamless time.