RIT adds dining options with food truck, a kosher deli, micro-markets, and more

A kosher deli, a food truck serving gourmet burgers, self-checkout micro-markets, and a buffet-style, all-you-care-to-eat Gracie’s are welcoming Rochester Institute of Technology students back to campus this academic year.

Easier ordering and accessibility to know when an order is done will also be found throughout campus.

“We listen to what our customers ask for as we try to adapt our programs to the changing needs of the RIT community,” said Don LaFlam, executive director for RIT Dining. “We change things up every year, and RIT Dining is excited to provide these changes to the community.”

24-hour self-serve options

Micro-markets with self-checkout kiosks that offer a variety of food options including beverages, snacks, grab-and-go meals, salads, and microwavable brand-name frozen entrées are now available in Booth and Gannett halls. Users will select their food option, swipe their card for payment, and microwave it if needed.

“We were asked by the College of Art and Design to have more food options for 24-hour service,” LaFlam said. The area is also close to the SHED, where students will frequent throughout the night.

Expect to see a micro-market in the Saunders College of Business’ Lowenthal Hall expansion in the spring semester, he said.

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Carlos Ortiz/RIT

Renovations at Beanz coffee shop in Grace Watson Hall mean a new look, more seating, and easier and more accessible ordering with the addition of order service screens, which will display when an order is ready for pickup.

In order to improve accessibility, service screens have been installed in Midnight Oil, Artesano Bakery & Café, Beanz, and The College Grind. The screens will display an order whether it is received online or in-person, and the order number will appear on the screen when it is ready.

“Once the customer places their order, they don’t have to wait to hear their name called, they can see it on the screen when it is ready,” LaFlam said. The first screen was piloted at The Grind last spring.

Ordering food will also be easier at The Commons, where two order kiosks—one at the deli, and one at the grill—will give customers an additional method to place customized orders. Ordering kiosks are also available at The Grind and Beanz.

Popular dining spot Gracie’s is now all-you-care-to-eat and features new menu items, including BBQ, brick oven pizzas, and more vegan entrées. They are open until 10 p.m. during the week and serve brunch on the weekends.

At the Cantina and Grille at the Global Grille station, a Mediterranean bar now offers a large variety of Mediterranean-style animal and plant-based proteins, as well as pita chips, salads, and hummus toppings. It will rotate monthly with previous Indian offerings and an Asian noodle bar.

“A customer can get a grain bowl or Mediterranean-style salad,” LaFlam said. “You could come in 100 days in a row and not get the same meal. We’ll even have baklava for those with a sweet tooth.”

More plant-based foods will be available throughout campus as well. Earlier this year, RIT signed a “Forward Food Pledge” with the Humane Society of the United States to offer 50 percent of restaurant menu items be plant-based by the end of 2025. In return, RIT is receiving culinary training, ongoing consultation, hands-on support, greenhouse gas assessments, and virtual training. RIT chefs received training in May to show what can be done with protein and high-fiber ingredients such as chick pea flour, soy, Tempeh, tofu, lentils, and kidney, pinto, and black beans.

“We have been making more plant-based options available because students have been asking for more plant-based choices,” said Herlan Manurung, RIT’s corporate executive chef and associate director of RIT Dining. “Our goal is to provide diverse menus that meet dietary needs and preferences and become more sustainable. We’re never going to get rid of meats as options, but we want our customers—students, faculty, and staff—to have variety and know that we are listening and working to elevate their dining experience.”

Loaded Latke offers kosher dining

Another new option this year is Loaded Latke, a kosher-certified deli, located in Monroe Hall, next to Artesano Bakery & Café. It is the first kosher dining option for students on campus and is serving handcrafted sandwiches featuring premium meats, house-made pickles, bagel chips, and Jewish comfort food such as matzo ball soup, potato salad, and latkes.

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Traci Westcott/RIT

Food offered at Loaded Latke in Monroe Hall, including handcrafted sandwiches, matzo ball soup, and other Jewish comfort food, is certified kosher

The station is kosher-certified by the STAR-K Kosher Certification agency. An RIT alumnus is the deli’s mashgiach, or kosher supervisor, who ensures that the traditional customs, quality, and cleanliness of the food required by Jewish law are being followed. In observance of the Sabbath, the deli will close at 1 p.m. Fridays and reopen at 11 a.m. on Mondays. The same closing time of 1 p.m. will be on the eve of Jewish holidays and the deli will reopen at 11 a.m. the day after the holiday’s conclusion.

The mashgiach will check the deli’s food when it arrives to make sure the chicken and red meat is labeled kosher and seals aren’t broken. He’ll inspect produce for its cleanliness as well, making sure that all the deli’s equipment is new, clean, and disinfected.

“The act of kosher supervision ensures there is no cross-contamination with foods or equipment that are not kosher,” the mashgiach said.

The mashgiach also must light the heating sources for the food to guarantee they have been prepared properly.

“I will turn on all the flames and raise them,” he said. “I start it, and other people can place a pot or pan on them as needed.”

Much of what will be offered could be considered Jewish comfort food. Latkes, often served around Chanukah, is a fried potato pancake with onions. The deli will also feature hot pastrami and chicken sandwiches, and fried schnitzel, which is sliced chicken that is breaded. On the sweeter side, applesauce with honey, and chocolate or cinnamon babka is also planned, and there is discussion with a local kosher bakery to perhaps offer other desserts.

True kosher restaurants aren’t common in the area, so visitors from the community are welcomed to visit campus if they desire.

RIT’s new food truck

RIT’s new food truck, making its debut during Tiger Fest, will regularly appear during food truck rodeo Fridays at M Lot. Inside is a stovetop, a flattop grill, a deep fryer, as well as a refrigerator.

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Provided photo

Look for RIT’s new food truck, offering six gourmet burgers, on Fridays at food truck festivals. It’s one of several new dining options on the RIT campus this semester. Molly Van Dyke, in purple, a graphic design major who graduated in May, designed the artwork for the truck.

“We don’t have a food truck vendor that offers burgers regularly,” said Autumn Geer, director of event operations for RIT Catering and Concessions. “So we did some research and development and came up with a menu of six burgers we will be offering.”

They include a barbecue burger; a deluxe burger with cheese, lettuce, and tomato; a mascot burger with pulled chicken braised in Tiger sauce on top of a burger; a flaming hot burger with Flaming Cheetos, jalapenos, hot sauce, and nacho cheese sauce; a notorious BLG burger with bacon, lettuce, and guacamole; and a hunka hunka burger, served on French toast with bacon, banana, peanut butter, and maple syrup.

Weekly specials may also be available, such as a plate burger, a mac and cheese burger, a donut burger, tacos, or a rib special, Geer said. “The plan is to make everything as fresh as possible. And they can be modified to meet the wants of the consumer.”

The burgers are 6-ounce patties of a gourmet blend of beef, made to order, and veggie patties can be substituted if desired. All come with French fries and a bottle of water.

Students may pay with Dining Dollars, Tiger Bucks, or a credit card. Tickets are purchased at the event and used for any of the trucks. 

The truck may also be requested for special events, and even appear at events off campus.

“Food trucks became really popular 10 or 15 years ago, they are well-received and extremely popular, so it’s been a goal of mine to acquire a food truck and build it from the ground up,” Geer said. “We’re really excited to take on a new venture. It’s another avenue to explore as a dining department and offer the students something they can’t get elsewhere.”

The artwork on the truck was designed by a Molly Van Dyke, a graphic design major who graduated in May.