Residential Programs and Services introduced two food trucks to IU Dining roughly three weeks ago to provide students with more options and easier access to food.
The two trucks are named Gloriana’s and Stripes. Gloriana’s offers breakfast food, and Stripes offers internationally inspired food. Stripes is open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 4:30 to 7 p.m., and Gloriana’s is open from 7:30 to 10 a.m.
IU Dining Executive Director Rahul Shrivastav said RPS took inspiration from the popularity of the Traveler at the Goodbody and Bookmarket Eateries, which offer international food, when developing the menu for Stripes.
Shrivastav said the food options at the trucks are designed to add more variety to IU Dining.
“These are the items that we don’t offer in the dining halls,” Shrivastav said. “We differentiate that a little bit in the food trucks so students get excited about what we have to offer in different areas.”
Shrivastav said the food trucks are located in areas that will most benefit students.
“We want to be of service,” Shrivastav said. “That’s the most important thing for us.”
RPS has been determining which locations are best for the food trucks through trial and error. They have been receiving a lot of traffic near the Showalter Fountain.
Junior Amanda Drobek is a cashier at Stripes. She said the truck served over 100 customers between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. when it was parked near the fountain.
Shrivastav said he wants to use the food trucks to help fill food deserts on campus.
Students can find the location of the trucks through social media. Each truck has a Twitter, a Facebook and an Instagram account.
Freshmen Mehar Guleria and Anshuman Punj ordered from Stripes for the first time Friday. They both said they liked that the trucks provided more variety of food than is available in the dining halls.
“We were eating the same thing at the dining halls pretty often,” Punj said.
Shrivastav said the food trucks have been doing well so far. Gloriana’s is looking to expand its menu to food other than breakfast.
“The folks who are getting food from them have nothing but great things to say,” Shrivastav said.
