CHICAGO—Grubhub Campus has revealed dining trends from its more than 270 partnered colleges. The report, “‘22 – ‘23 Delivered: Campus Edition,” shows that college students craved warm, convenient comfort food.
Burritos were devoured as the No. 1 order among college students—aligned with Grubhub’s national findings for the top food in 2022. This fan favorite proved to be versatile as it was a top selection at breakfast with sausage and as a bowl at lunchtime. Coming in as the second most ordered food by college students was a cheeseburger, and No. 3 was a chicken quesadilla. The most popular day and time to order was Tuesday at lunch time.
The report found that the top convenience store items were macaroni and cheese, ice cream and steak and cheese taquitos. Additionally, when it comes to coffee orders, the top three ordered were iced: cold brew, vanilla iced coffee and Frappuccino.
The top breakfast, lunch and dinner orders were:
Breakfast
- Donut
- Sausage burrito
- Bacon, egg and cheese bagel
Lunch
- Burrito bowl
- Mac and cheese
- Spicy chicken sandwich
Dinner
- Pad Thai
- Boneless wings
- Miso soup
Grubhub also found that the top three most popular late-night add-ons were all hot sauces: fire sauce, hot sauce and mild sauce.
While burritos, burgers and quesadillas were the most popular orders across all campuses, three schools notably preferred a traditionally healthier fare: University of South Carolina, Columbia, University of Delaware and Auburn University.
Also, Grubhub found that California Polytechnic State University, North Carolina State University and Colorado State University were the top three schools for the most pizza orders.
Looking to up your foodservice game or just getting started? Check out the NACS Certified Convenience Foodservice Management Online Training Series powered by NACS e-Training partner Ready Training Online. Retail operators can now earn a Certified Convenience Foodservice Management (CCFM) designation by completing a 10-course online training series which tackles the key aspects of developing and growing a successful foodservice offer. More information is available at https://www.convenience.org/Solutions/Training-Development/CCFM.