At Lafayette College, dining is integral to the residential college experience and plays an important role in helping students make connections, form communities, and learn from their food and consumption.

As part of the College’s Connected Communities Program, Lafayette Dining Services provides more than nutritious and appetizing food. The College’s residential dining program, spread across seven different cafés and dining halls, provides social gathering places, opportunities to refuel, and out-of-the-classroom experiences where students are taught about “food service for a sustainable future.”

Lafayette Dining Services works to provide students with a variety of appealing, convenient, and healthy dining options for all palates, dietary restrictions, and allergy sensitivities. Lafayette Dining Services supports small, local farms with food cooked from scratch. That means no processed or canned foods, homemade dressing, and sauces, including soups and stocks. Accomplishing this is a mouthful indeed, but the bottom line is that staff strive to cook delicious food that’s good for students, the animals, the workers, the community, and the Earth — because they’re all connected.

All students are required to have at least the minimum qualifying meal plan for their class year. Meal Plans can be increased above the minimum qualifying plan by logging into MyHousing by Adirondack Solutions, Inc. using your Lafayette ID and password. Full descriptions and fees for the Meal Plans can be found on the Finance & Administration website.

Join our Reusable Eco-Clamshell Program for food to-go at Marquis and Upper Farinon. Learn more

The 20-, 14-, 7-, and 5-Meals-Per-Week Plans

Each of these meal plans allows a student to access either of the all-you-care-to-eat campus dining halls (Marquis and Upper Farinon) and, using Meal Exchange, Lower Farinon Commons, Gilbert’s Café, and ECO Cafe for the number of times each week specified in the plan name. Meals must be eaten during the designated week and do not carry forward from week to week or semester to semester. There are four meal periods on most Mondays through Saturdays when the meal plan is in effect. Those periods are:

  • Breakfast, Saturday and Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 10:59 a.m.
  • Breakfast, Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 10:59 a.m.
  • Lunch, Saturday through Friday 11:00 a.m. and 4:29 p.m.
  • Dinner, Saturday through Friday 4:30 p.m. until 8:59 p.m.
  • Late Night, Saturday through Friday 9:00 p.m. until closing

Meal Exchange

Subscribers to the 20-, 14-, 7-, or 5-Meals per Week Plans have the flexibility to use a meal allotment for a “meal exchange” at one of the retail dining venues on campus (Lower Farinon Commons, Gilbert’s Café, ECO Cafe, and Simon’s Deli) for the number of times each week specified in the plan name. A designated meal exchange will typically include an entree, a beverage, and one or two sides (e.g. a piece of fruit, a small bag of chips, and a dessert treat). Select entrees are not available on meal exchange and meal exchange options are limited during breakfast in some venues. During times the meal plan is in effect, meal exchanges are available at the locations and meal times listed below (subject to the operating hours of each facility):

  • Lower Farinon Commons: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Late Night
  • Gilbert’s Café: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
  • Skillman Coffee Shop: Lunch
  • ECO Cafe: Smoothie Shop and Grab n’ Go Items, Breakfast and Lunch

Guest Meals

Students are invited to bring visiting family or friends to a meal in one of the College’s all-you-care-to-eat restaurants. All Meal Plans include an allotment of meals to facilitate dining with non-student guests. Unused guest meals do not carry forward from semester to semester.

Pard Dollars

Pard Dollars, a pre-paid declining cash balance account, are accessible using the Lafayette ID card and for use at any on-campus dining venue, at the college store, and at participating local merchants below. Balance checks for Pard Dollars can be performed at the registers in any dining hall or retail location, at the ID office located in Marquis Hall, Office 011 or online through Lafayette College eAccounts.

The Pard Dollar account tracks two types of Pard Dollars:

Meal Plan Pard Dollars:  All meal plans include an allotment of Pard Dollars for use during the fall and spring semesters which are non-refundable and do not roll over from semester to semester.

Additional Pard Dollars:   Additional (non-mandatory) Pard Dollars will carry forward semester to semester and year to year and ends at graduation. Only non-mandatory Pard Dollars are available for use during the summer and interim periods. Upon graduation, accounts with remaining funds in excess of $25.00, will be refunded to the student. Accounts with $25.00 and less will be transferred to the Student Activities Fund. Additional Pard Dollars can be added to the account in one of three ways:

  1. Online via the Lafayette eAccounts portal.  Students and their benefactors can add Pard Dollars through this service.
  2. Mail a check made payable to LAFAYETTE COLLEGE including the student’s name and ID number to: Lafayette College, Controller’s Office, 730 Sullivan Road, 030 Marquis Hall, Easton, PA 18042-1779.
  3. Bring cash, check, or credit card to the Controller’s Office on the basement floor of Marquis Hall during normal business hours (8:30 to 4:30)

Participating Local Merchants

NameLocationPhone
Aman’s Artisan Indian Cuisine336 Northampton Street(610) 573-1823
Big Woody’s Sports Grill1855 Sullivan Trail(610) 252-4442
Chocodiem325 Northampton Street(610) 829-2722
Colonial Pizza & Spaghetti House136 Spring Garden Street(610) 252-3033
CVS215 Town Center Blvd(610) 250-3650
Don Juan Mex Grill300 N 3rd Street(610) 438-5661
Giacomo’s Italian Grille700 Cattell Street(610) 438-1945
Greigo’s Feast154 Northampton Street(610) 252-2002
Hana Sushi and Teppanyaki 218 Cattell Street(610) 330-0888
Miss Jackson’s Kitchen201 McCartney StreetTBA
Mojo Hill Cafe516 March Street(610) 438-1350
Pearly Baker’s Alehouse11 Centre Square(610) 253-9949
SURV1800 Sullivan Trail(484) 544-0624
Sogo Fusion Lounge237 Northampton Street(610) 250-0198
Stoke Coal Fired Pizza1 Lehns Court(610) 829-1400
Tandoor Grill9 North 3rd Street(610) 250-1922
The Local Eatery669 N. 13th Street Suite A-102(610) 438-0311

Restrictions:  Even if you meet the legal minimum age, Pard Dollars cannot be used to purchase any alcohol, tobacco products, lottery tickets, money orders, traveler’s checks, or gift cards.

 

Get Involved!

See the Dining Services job listing in Handshake for more information on these opportunities. (Access Handshake from the “Get Student Career Support” section of your my.lafayette.edu portal