Soon enough, ordering food for delivery might be as easy as opening your Web browser.
Web site www.campusfood.com is a free service for students that lets them place fast food orders online using interactive menus, then have the food delivered to your door.
There are also discount coupons available only on the site.
According to the site, a student at the University of Pennsylvania started the service in 1997.
He decided there had to be an easier way to order his tuna hoagie than over the phone. So he turned his frustration with busy signals into an innovative online food court – campusfood.com.
The site essentially faxes orders and doesn’t require a phone. However, it seems as though students would utilize the site if it had more restaurants available.
“It is something I would be interested in, but the length of time it would take for this site to send the fax is a big concern,” Steak and Fries owner Ed Awada said.
He also said the business of fast food needs to be fast.
“One order of a sandwich and fries could be done in the time it takes to place the order on the Web site and then fax the order over,” he said.
Awada also said the cost of the restaurant belonging to the Web site is a possible hindrance in signing up for it.
Sophomore nursing major Angela Menningen said she thought the Web site could be very useful.
“I think it’s convenient for people with night classes because the dining halls are often closed by the time we’re out of class,” she said.
The only option on the site for Bradley students is Bacci Pizzeria.
Freshman chemistry major Erik Zdanksky said he has ordered from Bacci’s using the site, and he said the service was efficient.
The site could also be useful for students who do not have a car, but would still like food from places relatively close to campus, especially in poor weather freshman civil engineering major Ryan Chapin said.
“It would definitely be nice to use in the winter so you don’t have to walk to the restaurant,” he said.
Many of the larger universities that use the Web site have listings for everything from pizza to Mexican food to cookies. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign there is a listing of 25 places to order from.
