It's the end of the semester and besides having a ton of work and exams, students probably have a lot of meal swipes left. I personally have about 90 meal swipes left, but other friends I have talked to have anywhere from 120 to 170 swipes left. Ending the semester with this many swipes is terrible and a HUGE waste of money.
Here are the best ways to use those meal swipes up!
1. Woody's
Woody's is my holy grail. Living on Busch campus, I'm a quick 15-minute walk from amazing wraps, sandwiches and Ben & Jerry's. At Woody's, you can use swipes for practically anything, except bottled drinks. The meal swipe amount is limited to $7.50 for lunch and dinner and $5.50 for breakfast. Breakfast is available from 7:30 to 11:30 am, and lunch and dinner from 1:30 to 7:30 pm. For $4.99 you can get a full pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and another $2.50 worth of food! Other cold treats for the warmer days include slushies, ice cream sandwiches and Snickers ice cream bars. For one meal swipe you can also get five containers of to-go cereal cups, which are great for saving for next semester or for the summer. Other options are king size Reeses, Kit Kats and Hershey bars, and various other candies. On the healthier end, you can get trail mix, nuts and granola bars. If you're actually hungry, and don't want to just use up a lot of swipes and leave, Woody's has amazing wraps and sandwiches, the line is always long, but trust me it's worth it. Woody's has a giant variety of non-perishable items, so if you want to use up a lot of swipes and save food for the future, this is your place!
2. The Rock Cafe
Based in Livingston Student Center, The Rock is a major destination for hungry students. You can get anything here from to-go salads and sandwiches and yogurt, to wraps and chicken nuggets, to all-day breakfast foods. Until its closing time at 8 p.m. you can get delicious breakfast sandwiches and hash browns, as well as burgers, fries, grilled cheese and chicken nuggets. The Rock does have specific rules for their swipes—you MUST get a “meal." They are very specific about what qualifies as a meal, and if you don't comply you can't meal swipe. They have signs up stating what counts as a meal, so if you follow those guidelines you'll be fine! The Rock changes their swipe allowance at 10:30 a.m. Before that time swipes are $5.50, and after that time, swipes are $7.50. The best bet for getting the most for your money is to buy one of the least expensive “meals" such as a plain bagel, yogurt cup, Danish, or fruit and adding more food to get the $7.50 swipe allowance. Unlike Woody's, in order to swipe for cereal cups you MUST get a juice or milk. A great way to get a lot of food to store is to follow this break down: two cereal cups ($1.50 each), one Fig Newton ($0.75), one Pop Tart ($1.50) and a Tropicana juice at ($1.99).
3. Sbarro
Craving Italian food? Sbarro, located in the Livingston Student Center, is a mecca of Italian goodness. Offering calzones, pasta, as well as pizza and wings. For a meal swipe you can get two slices of pizza, or one slice and five wings, or 10 wings or a calzone. All meals come with a drink and a delicious bread stick. Have any hungry friends? Two people can meal swipe for a full pizza pie. Sbarro is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a $7.50 meal swipe amount at all times.
4. Cook's Market & Café�
If it's a quesadilla you crave, the Cook Café is the place to go! The Cook Café offers delicious quesadillas, as well as subs, breakfast sandwiches and pancakes during breakfast. Grab-and-go items are also available, as well as cereal and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The café is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. BUT if you want to use a meal swipe or two, there are specific hours. Breakfast meal swipes, priced at $5.50, last from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Starting at 10:30 a.m., lunch starts and lasts until 6 p.m., for $7.50. Please note the Cook Café does NOT accept meal swipes after 6 p.m., but you can still pay for your meal. On the weekends the hours change to an 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. brunch for $5.50 and dinner at 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at $7.50.
5. Knight Wagon
The Knight Wagon is a mysterious enigma on campus, never in the same place day after day. The food truck goes to a different campus each day but usually goes to the same location on said campus. It usually parks on the corner of College Avenue and Senior Street on College Ave, across from the ARC on Busch, across from the towers on Livi and on the corner of Biel and Dudley roads on Cook. The best way to know where and when the Knight Wagon will be available is to follow them on Twitter @KNIGHTWAGON where they post their localtion and how long they'll be there, as well as advertising deals for other Rutgers eateries.
The food truck has amazing freshly made sandwiches and waffle fries. The "scales" (waffle fries) are delicious and come with all meal combos, or you can order them on their own. Besides sandwiches and fries the food truck also offers French toast sticks, kabobs and a huge turkey leg. Other than their specialty items the truck also offers like paninis, burgers, soups, grilled cheese and mozzarella sticks.
6. Guest Swipes
Help out someone without any meal swipes left! Plenty of upperclassmen who live in apartments or off campus don't have many meal swipes left. Treat a graduating senior to one last meal at Brower, and let them relive their underclassmen memories. While you're moving out with your parents, take a break and bring them to the closest dining hall or meal swipe establishment. Your parents will love the “free meal" and spending time with you. Or if you're heading home for the weekend, head to one of the places listed above and get your parents, siblings or friends some snacks or a meal! Every time I go home to work, I always try to grab a meal at take out or Woody's for my younger brother. If you're looking for something nicer than the dining hall for your parents, for $2 and a meal swipe take them to the Rutgers Club located above Livingston Dining Hall. When friends come to visit show them around campus and take a quick stop at the dining hall, even if it's just for an ice cream and coffee! Each student is allotted 10 meal swipes at the beginning of the semester so use them wisely!
7. Take Out
Take out is a blessing for busy students who don't have time for a sit-down meal. Available nearly all day long, these quick grab-and-go meals are great for picking up before or after class. At take out you can swipe up to three times and can bring it home, or save it for later in the day if you don't have time for dinner that night or lunch the next day. Breakfast take out has a large variety of foods including coffee, yogurt, cereal, breakfast sandwiches, fruit and hash browns. Lunch take out, at least on Busch, is stepping up their game, including new items like shrimp spring rolls, chicken Caesar wraps and, my favorite: teriyaki sesame tofu sandwiches. Dinner is a different meal every day, and the schedule depends on the dining hall. Usually the menu will include wings, chicken and vegetarian nuggets, burgers and veggie burgers, pasta, subs, burritos or a "bite nite"or "fat sandwich night." Busch has now started offering special meals worth two swipes, including meatloaf, shrimp scampi, chicken and pasta and other meals that are nicer than burger and hot dogs.
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