As of January 2025, Northwestern State University of Louisiana has officially begun using Grubhub, an online and mobile food ordering and delivery service, at on-campus dining locations.
The new partnership was announced on Jan. 13 in an Instagram post made by campus dining which stated, “We’re very excited to announce that Grubhub has officially launched on NSU’s campus. Sign up using our QR code or the link in our bio.”
Grubhub campus dining services allow students to use the app to order pickup from on-campus dining locations while paying with a card, cash or declining balance. Additionally, as users of GrubHub campus dining, delivery from restaurants off-campus dining locations is offered with $0 delivery fees and lower service fees as a student-only deal. Available off-campus locations include Johnny’s Pizza House, Pizza Hut, Flying Heart Brewing & Pub, Subway, Whataburger, Mariners Restaurant, Wendy’s and IHOP.
Grubhub app services are only available at the on-campus Chick-fil-A and Steak and Shake, excluding Iberville Dining Hall and Vic’s. Additionally, Grubhub’s order-taking screens are not available at the on-campus Steak & Shake but only inside Chick-fil-A.
Personally, I was quite surprised to find the newly installed Grubhub screens at the on-campus Chick-fil-A upon my return from break. I’m sure many students were surprised since the changes took place while we were off-campus, with no prior announcements.
While the changes are not major, I like to know things in advance if they may affect my average routine. For instance, my first time in Chick-fil-A once the Grubhub features were added, was perhaps the most crowded I had ever seen it. Yes, the on-campus Chick-fil-A is packed more often than not, but this time rather than the usual one long line to the door, there were three lines just as long. People were everywhere. I think this was largely due to the fact that there was no prior notice. It seemed as though wait times were delayed since we were no longer working at the speed of a trained Chick-fil-A employee, but instead at the speed of a student who is learning to operate the screens all while deciding what they want.
Jasmine Ball, freshman criminal justice major, feels that the practicality of this partnership has not shown through its execution.
“I personally think it’s a good idea in theory, but the application of it doesn’t really work,” Ball said. “I feel like it doesn’t have as positive of an effect as they were hoping. It could have a very positive impact if they applied it better.”
She specifies that using the Grubhub app with declining balance is quite difficult.
“The easiest way to explain it would be if they, say, made it easier to add your DB on the app as well as promote it in a better manner,” Ball said.
However, as the dust has settled, I personally feel that the adjustment was quite easy for the student body. After speaking to several Chick-fil-A staff members as well as my fellow students, I suppose the pros outweigh the cons here. I believe that time to adjust to the changes made the process much smoother as well.
Juan Campos, junior music education major, shares a similar opinion.
“I think that the little self service machines at Chick-fil-A are a good improvement,” Campos said. “Since I’ve seen them I feel like wait times have been a lot shorter.”
Many said that they prefer the Grubhub screens and services versus previous because they create faster speed of service times. Rather than having one Chick-fil-A worker taking orders, there are now four order taking kiosks as well as the option to order with an employee. Having 5 separate order-taking options seems to make the overall order taking process quicker.
In addition to the faster service speeds, Josh Noyola, junior music education major, said he can choose to order with a worker or on his own.
“Ever since Chick-fil-A added the kiosk they’ve been faster at giving people their food. I really like the kiosk because now I don’t have to talk to someone to order, and my phone tells me when my food is done,” Noyola said.
Overall, students of NSU and workers of Chick-fil-A seem to like it, myself included. Once the public adjusted, wait times were a lot faster and overall operation seemed to be more efficient, but maybe a heads-up would have been nice.
Here’s my thing though, if we can use Grubhub in the Chick-fil-A then how come we still can’t use the Chick-fil-A app? Where’s that partnership at? How about we get a move on there cause I got rewards to earn and redeem here guys.
