The staff at McMahon Dining Hall have chosen six finalists for the inaugural Senior Slice. Congrats to the finalists! Voting is open until the end of the day on March 12th, 2021.
Thank you, students, for keeping the #UConnPromise and following dining guidelines throughout campus. We know that it’s been a tough year and we appreciate all that you are doing to keep #UConnNation a safe community for everyone to continue to live, work, eat and have fun! #ThankYouUConn
Like Senior Scoop, we are looking to make this a fun and tasty UConn tradition for the senior class.
Members of the Class of 2021 can build and submit their favorite kinds of vegan and non-vegan pizzas.
Dining Services will then select a few finalist pizzas for seniors to vote on. The winning vegan and non-vegan pizza will be served at McMahon, North, and USM this spring. Stay tuned, more locations may be added!
The idea of a plant-based café on campus was first brought forth to Dining by Maddie Pickett, a fourth-semester biomedical engineering major. Dining created a survey to see what students at Storrs thought of the idea and many were in favor of seeing this idea come to fruition.
This new venture for the fall will involve students through the entire development process and also provide dining with more opportunities to support CT farms, in particular, our student-run Spring Valley Farm.
Stay tuned! Next steps are to create a mission statement, invite students to share their favorite plant-based recipes, and then test some of these recipes with students in our innovation lab. Check out the article in the UConn Daily Campus http://bit.ly/3jkh2Ho
With the Spring semester quarantine period ending soon, the following changes will take place:
Dining Hall Updates
Indoor seating begins Feb. 1st
Buckley & North will transition to quarantine-only units on Monday, Feb. 1st. Both units are take-out only.
Swiping in another UConn student (that has been COVID tested) with a Flex Pass is allowed as of Feb 1st; Swipe in’s are not allowed at Buckley and North
Late Night Dining at McMahon and Northwest starts Sunday, Jan. 31st (Sunday through Thursday both units are open for dinner until 10pm)
Retail Updates
Locations in the Student Union will have expanded hours starting Feb. 1st
Up and Atom Cafe, Mango*, and Bookworms Cafe will reopen Feb. 1st
Dairy Bar Too will reopen on Feb. 8th
Dairy Bar will reopen on Wednesday, Feb. 3rd, with online ordering and curbside service. Hours will be from 12:00 -5:00pm;
please place orders by 4:30pm.
*Mango will be closing early on Monday, Feb. 1st & Tuesday, Feb. 2nd at 2:30pm due to the Rec Center closing early (4pm) for student staff training
Stay Up To Date with Dining through our social accounts or through the myUConn App. Dining has an opt-in channel on the app to receive notifications for important information and updates.
Just Ask
If you have a dietary request –“Just Ask”
If you are looking for a particular item, and don’t see it-“Just Ask”
If you are vegan or vegetarian and are looking for a different menu option –“Just Ask”
If you are looking for a slight modification to a menu item, “Just Ask: if it is possible, we will do our best to accommodate your request.
If there is anything else, “Just Ask” for a manager and we will be happy to assist.
Gelfebien Grab & Go window will reopen on Saturday, Jan 16th for the Spring semester with continuous service. For Spring, specialty dinner bars, Friday through Sunday, have been added to the menu.
For the Spring semester, the Food for Thought Food Truck will be located Whitney Dining Hall offering an expanded menu, including daily specials, and accepting meal plan swipes.
Hours: Monday-Friday; 11am-6pm (weather permitting); open January 19th-April 9th
Points, cash, Husky Bucks, and credit/debit cards will also be accepted.
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,’ said Piglet at last, ‘what’s the first thing you say to yourself?’ ‘What’s for breakfast?’ said Pooh. ‘What do you say, Piglet?’ ‘I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?’ said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. ‘It’s the same thing,’ he said.”
– A. A. Milne, ‘The House at Pooh Corner’
Greetings:
Click image to view UCuisine
As I write this semester’s introduction to UCuisine I would like to reflect on this past year. For many of us 2020 has been a year full of challenges and hurdles. If you feel like I do, you are looking forward to a time where we celebrate meals together as a community and where we once again join together as we interact with each other in our daily lives on campus. While this semester has been a challenge we could not have made it happen without our foodservice employees who I would like to honor and recognize. These are the employees, that for those students who resided on campus, have been there to make it all happen. Their hard work and dedication matter. We are fortunate to have them all as part of our team. No one individual can prepare all of the meals served in our residential, retail, and catering departments. No one individual can bake the thousands of chocolate chip cookies that literally float out of our bakery on East Campus. It is our committed employees that start work late in the evening preparing muffins, breads, and a cornucopia of desserts. These are the morning crew who are grilling eggs when you are hitting the snooze alarm for the third time. These are the employees, who behind their masks are smiling as they greet you when you purchase your coffee in the morning. These are the full-time employees and student employees who together are a great team of dedicated employees. As mentioned in the quote above by A.A. Milne, these are the individuals who perform the tasks that are there for you, our customers, so that we can have the opportunity to make your day “exciting”.
This year has brought an incredible transformation for Dining as we shifted our services to meet COVID-19 requirements. When campus shut down in March, when some students quickly transitioned to remote learning while others continue to reside on campus, Dining quickly adjusted to a takeout service model much like the grab and go system that was in place prior to COVID-19. We continued to offer our traditional menus that students have come to expect. This spring we are ready and prepared to provide service at South, McMahon, Putnam, Northwest, and Gelfenbien for traditional dining and also have North and Buckley open for those students that have been assigned to a quarantine period. This spring, in order to meet the needs of those students living in East Campus we will be repurposing our mobile food truck, “Food for Thought”, and will be positioning it in the rear of Whitney so students will have access to meals Monday through Friday, lunch, and dinner. Hours and additional information for this service can be obtained from our website.
If you are new to campus or a returning student please remember communication is important to us. If we are not aware of how we are not meeting your expectations it is difficult for us to provide the dining options that you require. Speak up and let us know. When you are in a dining unit bring your concerns to us immediately, not days later. If you have suggestions we are eager to receive feedback through our website. Each semester we meet with representatives from the Resident Area Association Councils and USG Advisory Committee to listen to their concerns and requests. In addition, our dining surveys demonstrate that we are achieving our goals but as my predecessor always said, “you are only as good as your last meal served”, so feel free to contact us and share with us your thoughts.
Lastly, to keep in touch with Dining and the services we offer, please utilize UCuisine. If one is not available, because we will be printing fewer copies than usual to save on paper, you can find all of our information on our website www.dining.uconn.edu. Your dining experience has to be a memorable one while
at UConn or we have failed to meet your expectations.
Eat well, enjoy life, and pursue your dreams,
C. Dennis Pierce
Executive Director of Dining Services
South, McMahon, Putnam, North, Northwest, and Buckley will be open to all students for take-out only from 1/16-1/31
All Dining Halls mentioned above will be open normal hours on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mon., Jan. 18th
Buckley & North will transition to quarantine-only units on February 1st
Gelfenbien take-out window opens on Saturday, January 16th
There will be no indoor seating until February 1st
Late Night Dining at McMahon and Northwest begins on Sunday, January 31st
The Food for Thought Food Truck will be stationed behind Whitney Dining Hall (opening 1/19/21) for the Spring semester serving lunch & dinner – meal swipes and other forms of payment accepted
Retail hours for the quarantine period and spring semester
Dairy Bar will reopen on Wednesday, Feb. 3 for online orders with curbside pick up
Deadline to downgrade your meal plan is Friday, February 5th. You can upgrade your plan at any point in the semester.
You cannot swipe in another UConn student into a dining hall during campus-wide quarantine periods or any point into a quarantine-only dining unit.
Food allergy or intolerance? Click here for more info.
Stay informed throughout the semester and review our updates and COVID FAQshere.
Flex Passes
Flex Passes will be taken in all of our open cafes, with the exception of Market Cafe – located in the Student Union. The meal equivalency of a Flex Pass is $7.00. When you are at that cafe, multiple, separate Flex Passes can be used. If you choose to only use one Flex Pass and your order is over $7.00 you will need to pay the balance with cash, credit/debit card, Husky Bucks or points. There is no limit on the number of times you use a Flex Pass during the day. SWIPING IN GUESTS: Please note that during COVID-19 swiping in guests to the dining hall with your Flex Passes is limited to UConn students (that have been tested for COVID-19). You are not able to swipe in another UConn student during campus-wide quarantine periods or at any point in a quarantine-only dining unit.
Points
Points can be used during all hours of operation at our retail locations: Union Street Market Food Court outlets, Market Cafe, Mango, The Beanery Cafe, Up & Atom Cafe, Bookworms, Dairy Bar Too, One Plate, Two Plates, Earth, Wok & Fire, and the Food for Thought Food Truck. Points may also be used to purchase guest meals in the dining units.
Just Ask
If you have a dietary request –“Just Ask”
If you are looking for a particular item, and don’t see it-“Just Ask”
If you are vegan or vegetarian and are looking for a different menu option –“Just Ask”
If you are looking for a slight modification to a menu item, “Just Ask: if it is possible, we will do our best to accommodate your request.
If there is anything else, “Just Ask” for a manager and we will be happy to assist.
