What Does Rutgers Camden’s New Dining Partner Mean For Students?

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As of the Fall 2025 semester, Cooper Street Hospitality has taken over for Gourmet Dining as the campus dining partner. This means students can see a more varied dining plan, the ability to order meals from the nursing and law buildings, as well as price increases on campus food.

“The quality of food in the dining hall didn’t live up to my expectations in the past, and that’s coming from someone not hard to please… There’s also been times where I’ve gotten food from the dining hall and had an upset stomach an hour later,” explains a junior nursing student who asked to stay anonymous.

Cooper Street Hospitality is emphasizing healthier, more diverse dining options, including more culturally diverse meals and easily accessible dietary options and resources. Students can book appointments with dietitian Blanca Cats, RD, to discuss special plans for allergies or nutrition tips. She’s also available at Plate Checks, which, according to Cooper Street Hospitality’s Instagram page on September 15th, 2025:

“…give you the chance to ask nutrition questions right at the dining hall—while building a plate that works for YOU.⁣”

All of these changes have come with a price increase on meals. A meal swipe at the dining hall costs $9.75 in October of 2024, but currently costs $13.00 according to the Rutgers Camden GrubHub. Food from the Scarlet Food Court has gone up in varying amounts, with a vegan burrito bowl, for example, previously costing $7.32 in March of 2025, now costing a student $13.38 as of the Fall 2025 semester.

“The old dining hall food was good for what it was worth. It’s saved me on days I didn’t bring food from home… Now they’ve raised the prices I’m probably not going to go as often because the food isn’t worth it,” states Adriel Rebancos, a junior commuter student.

Another large change coming with Cooper Street Hospitality taking over dining services is creating a dining hall outpost that starts on October 1st. This allows students in the nursing and law buildings to get food from the Scarlet Food Court delivered to them with no additional charge. The system is all through GrubHub, and students can use their meal cards or credit/debit cards. The pick-up locations for the outposts will be in the law bridge of the law building and in the lobby of the nursing building.

The junior nursing student also commented on the outposts:

“Last year, a big reason why I didn’t get [campus] food, not only because it was bad, was because I couldn’t get it in the nursing building… it was just kind of impossible for me to get between my classes… I’m a little bit nervous because it really depends on how long it’s gonna take them to deliver.”

All of these changes come after several student-staff discussions and input surveys over the past year, led by the Student Dining Advisory Committee. The school also took into consideration student voices that were heard at Student Governing Association meetings. SGA is always looking for feedback about students’ dining experience on campus, which can be expressed at their regular meetings. SGA hosted a dining-focused Town Hall on October 1st to hear responses to the new partnership with Cooper Street Hospitality. SGA President, Jennifer Levy, gave a statement to The Gleaner on the dining changes:

“SGA is committed to continuing to work with Cooper Street Hospitality and our University partners to make the experience for students the best it can be. The town hall aims to provide clarity on the changes that have taken place and allow students themselves the opportunity to share their voice and advocate for an experience that best serves all.”

Cooper Street Hospitality has taken on a bigger campus presence, online and in person. Their Cooper Street Hospitality ambassadors share information about dining services and events on their Instagram. They’ve also hosted more events on campus, such as the taco truck that was on the quad on September 17th, 2025. The company’s Instagram page @cooperstreethospitality features information on events and allows students to keep up to date with the ongoing campus dining changes.