Introduction
We are all looking forward to the long-awaited renovation of the Clayton University Center (CUC) beginning soon, and for the vision of the reimagined space as a community crossroads to come to life. Our goal is to offer plenty of healthy and nutritious food options to choose from and to minimize any disruption as much as possible during the transition. As you may be aware, the Cort @ Lower CUC Student Restaurant, Upper CUC Food Court, Baker’s Junction and Clutch and Go will be closed beginning in January 2023.
The needs and wants of students have evolved; as the University is reimagining the Clayton University Center, we will also be reimagining the dining program. Come Spring 2023, the dining program will have less "all-you-care-to-eat" student restaurants and will become more of a mix of retail options offering students more “on-the-go” options that complement the dining hall options (Rathbone Dining Hall and Brodhead Dining Hall). While meal plans will remain the same for the Spring 2023 semester, a new line up of meal plans will be introduced for the Fall 2023 semester.
This page will outline the changes to the dining program that are now in effect or soon will be. Please continue to check back for future updates.
NEW for Spring 2023!
Lucy's Cafe
New Food Truck - The Talon
Meal Credits at Food Trucks
Innovations at Rathbone
When students return to campus for the Spring 2023 semester, they will notice several significant changes as they navigate dining locations on campus. Below is a preview of what to look forward to.
Hawk's Nest
Beginning in Spring 2023, Hawk's Nest will be the retail food court destination on campus featuring state-of-the-art kiosk ordering, four dining concepts, grab & go items, pre-packaged snacks and Pepsi products. Once re-opened, Hawk's Nest will feature:
- ChickNBap - The Korean BBQ inspired NYC Street Food that can be best described as “Born in Korea, Raised in New York.” This concept (a first in PA) features made-to-order Rice Bowls, Salad Bowls, Burritos, award-winning Korean Fried Chicken Sandwiches, Chicken Wings and more.
- Mein Bowl - This Asian Market offers a harmonious experience with authentic global flavors and vibrant made-for-me menu combinations from familiar favorites to exciting new choices.
- Tres Habaneros - Fired up flavor is here! Tres Habaneros offers 100% customizable burritos, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, rice and salad bowls with speed of service in mind.
- Good Batter - Good Batter is a fried chicken project with a hyper-focus on a better batter. Aside from their famous fried chicken sandwiches, they believe that even the simple things should be done the "batter" way. From their house made pickles to their Korean Buffalo sauce, everything is made from scratch with intention and care. There's good. There's better. Then there's Good Batter.
- Signature Milkshakes - While there will be new menus to explore, students will still be able to satisfy their cravings for our signature milkshakes.
Lucy's Cafe
Lucy's Cafe will re-open for the Spring 2023 semester with expanded retail space for our Simply To Go lineup of freshly prepared Sandwiches and Salads, hand-rolled sushi, pre-packaged snacks and bottled Pepsi products. Additionally, the cafe will offer Seattle's Best Coffee (exclusive on campus), made-to-order Breakfast Sandwiches and fresh Baked Goods.
New Food Truck - The Talon
Our mobile food fleet is growing by one in the spring! Our new truck, The Talon, will be on campus and in operation to kick off the Spring 2023 semester. Its menu will be a diverse mix of comfort foods including unique Breakfast Bowls (served all day), unique sandwiches and entrees along with complementing side dishes.
Meal Credits at Food Trucks
Speaking of food trucks... students will benefit from the added flexibility of being able to utilize Meal Credits at all three on-campus food trucks (Fud Truk, Simply Skewered, The Talon) beginning in January 2023. In addition to Meal Credits, our food trucks also accept Dining Dollars, GoldPLUS, cash, credit and debit.
Innovations at Rathbone
We recognize the popularity of Rathbone as an all-you-care-to-eat dining destination. We are instituting two new initiatives that will aid in enhancing the student dining experience.
- Students can now click on this link to gauge how busy the student restaurant is in real time. Simply look for the person(s) icon next to Rathbone and compare it with the key on the left side of the page.
- Our new "Rathbone Express" line will expedite wait times for students on the go. Students will be able to enter the Express line, get their ecoContainer, grab their food and go.
Hours of Operation
Hours of operation will be expanded at select dining locations on campus. Please click here to view our Spring 2023 Hours of Operation.
Interactive Campus Dining Map
Please click here to view our interactive campus dining map for the Spring 2023 semester
Increase to Meal Credits for Carte Blanche Meal Plan Members
Meal Credits will increased to 10 per week for Carte Blanche Meal Plan members in the Spring 2023 semester.
Retail Meal Deals
A Meal Deal is a meal combo at select on-campus retail locations in exchange for one Meal Credit. For example - A sandwich, bag of chips and a beverage for one Meal Credit.
Please click here to view our complete list of Meal Deals.
Meal Credit Increases
Effective October 17, 2022, Meal Credit values will increase to the following amounts. These increases will remain in place beyond the Fall 2022 semester.
Breakfast - $5.00
Lunch - $7.00
Dinner - $7.00
Brunch - $7.00
Meal Credit Times are:
Breakfast - 7:00am - 10:29am
Lunch - 10:30am - 4:29pm
Dinner - 4:30pm - 10:00pm (Monday - Friday) | 4:30pm - 9:00pm (Saturday - Sunday)
Brunch - 7:30am - 4:29pm (Saturday) | 9:30am - 4:29pm (Sunday)
Expanded Offerings at Iacocca Hall
A new fresh-food vending operation (similar to Hillside cafe in Hitch House) will be installed at Iacocca Hall along with a Yo Kai hot noodle bowl vending machine.
Tips for Navigating Dining
- Check online menus to see what is being offered at all locations.
- Take advantage of our new Meal Deals to help with meal plan budgeting.
- Plan ahead and budget. Keep an eye on the balances of your Meal Swipes and Dining Dollars. These balances are available at any cashier.
- Utilize Grubhub to order food for pick up or delivery! Meal Credits, Dining Dollars and GoldPLUS are accepted through GrubHub when you sync your LU ID card within the app.
- Don't depend solely on "All You Care to Eat" student restaurants. The dynamics of on-campus dining are evolving. We encourage students to explore all of our great offerings at our retail locations and food trucks.
- Take advantage of our new "Meal Deals" which offer great value throughout our retail locations.
- Be sure to understand all of the components (Meal Swipes, Meal Credits, Dining Dollars) of your meal plan. Click here to learn more about meal plans.
- Try taking a meal to go once in a while. Beat the lines at Rathbone by using our new "Express Line".
Frequently Asked Questions