Meal Swipe 101: Where to use your swipes outside of dining halls

Even though Rutgers has closed many dining locations for the fall semester, there are still several great places to go for using up your meal swipes that aren’t dining halls, whether you want a place to sit and eat or just something on the go. Here are some highlights for each campus:

The College Avenue campus: Cafe West

No place on the College Avenue campus is more convenient for grabbing a meal, snack or drink than Cafe West. Located in the West Wing of the Academic Building, Cafe West has a diverse menu featuring deli sandwiches, salads, baked pasta and more. Whether you need a quick lunch or your cookie fix, Cafe West has you covered.

My recommendation: Orzo pasta

Livingston campus: The Rutgers Club

Your only opportunity to use a meal swipe at this premium restaurant if you are under 21 years old (too young for a membership) will be on Monday nights with a reservation, but it’s worth it. For one meal swipe, you will receive a three-course dinner at a beautifully set table above the Livingston dining hall. You can even use guest swipes to share the luxurious dining experience.

My recommendation: Chicken black bean empanada

Cook and Douglass campuses: Douglass Cafe

Douglass Cafe is a staple on the Cook and Douglass campuses for its grill specials named after different campus sites and hot dishes for every meal. You’ll want to go there after 10:30 a.m. at the Douglass Student Center to get the most out of your meal swipe.

My recommendation: The Duggie Burger

Busch campus: Woody’s Cafe

Woody’s Cafe has all the essentials if you are a medical or pharmacy student — a prime location at the Kessler Teaching Building on Busch campus, a deli line and a variety of snacks and drinks. Note: Meal swipes are not accepted from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., so you might want to consider grabbing lunch early.

My recommendation: Wrap

All campuses: Food trucks

Rutgers has three food trucks that rotate campuses throughout the week. So far, only the Starbucks truck has been confirmed for fall 2021. You can keep track of the Starbucks truck, the Knight Wagon for medieval-themed fare and the Three Chilies truck for tacos via their Twitter accounts.

All other meal swipe locations can be found on the Rutgers Dining Services website.