Picture this scenario: It’s 6 p.m., and your stomach is growling. You definitely need to eat something, but there’s a problem. You have no idea what you want. Rather than taking time out of your day to walk all the way to Sadler, the College of William and Mary has recently gifted students with a new virtual tool to ease their dining experience: The Everyday App.
Although the Everyday App existed prior to this academic year, this semester the College expanded the app as a way to enhance the school’s dining services. It’s very easy to access too, as all you need to do is download the app off the App Store, sign up for an account and then select the College as your university.
Within the app, there is a variety of menu options for all of the major dining spots on campus, such as Commons Dining Hall, Marketplace and Center Court at Sadler. And with the menus, one of their main benefits is that they include nutritional facts about the majority of items that are on these menus. The app lists the ingredients, calories, protein content, common allergens and more. In other words, if you are someone with a severe nutritional allergy or intolerance, this app is perfect for you.
Students can now be confident in choosing what they are going to eat. An important feature is that you can browse through the menus by the different stations at each dining hall. Additionally, the menus include the operating hours for each of these locations so that if you ever forget what time a dining hall or cafe closes, for example, you can simply just open the Everyday app and the information is all there for you.
In addition to these familiar dining halls though, the app also provides ways to order from some food collaborations with Buddy V’s Cake Slices, Pardon My Cheesesteak and, most notoriously, the Mr. Beast Burger. These new options provide something new and exciting to the community — all at the fingertips of any student with Dining Dollars to spare. The Mr. Beast Burger selection includes burgers named after all of the influencer’s friends, in addition to chicken sandwiches, fries and even chocolate chip cookies. The Pardon My Cheesesteak offers a variety of cheesesteak options, as well as fries and brownie bites. Buddy V’s serves as a good dessert option to offer some delectable cakes for those with a night-time sweet tooth. The menu includes cake flavors like red velvet, fudge and confetti.
With these new dining alternatives, students at the College are very intrigued. Because dining often feels limited here, introducing new meal options is always something to strive for. However, something to note about these new options is that they are more targeted towards those who dine later in the night, as they are only open for ordering between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. For these folks, the later operating hours mean that if you feel that late night at Sadler isn’t what you’re in the mood for, the Everyday App has you covered.
When it comes to these specialized food options though, one of the best things about them is that they give the option for virtual takeout. If you are crammed with work, don’t have the time or energy to wait in long lines for your food or just aren’t in the mood to eat in a public setting, you can pick up their food at a time of your choosing. Eating no longer has to be a burden on a full-time student’s schedule.
The Everyday App is an exciting development for students. The concept of virtual dining, personally, is something that I feel will definitely be an overall improvement to the school’s dining experience. However, I definitely feel there are some things that could be improved within the app, such as the glitches that occasionally hinder how effective it can be. Additionally, takeout is only offered at certain locations and specific times, which can sometimes defeat the easy dining experience that the app is meant to provide. I also feel that it would be ideal if the app could also include a delivery service in the future, similar to Doordash or UberEats. For now, I encourage all students at the College to download the app and take advantage of the instant access to all need-to-know information about dining at the College.