When the trek to the dining halls or Marshall Street seems too tough this winter, Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF students now have the option of ordering various foods from local restaurants through the Internet.

Campusfood.com, a national company that serves more than 200 universities and colleges, has expanded this February to serve the Syracuse area. Students can visit the Web site, click on their state and university to find menus from numerous local eateries, including Cosmo’s, King David’s Restaurant, Spring Chinese Food, Pizza Hut, and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Students can review the items on their menu and select the ones they want. The order is generated into a fax that is sent to the restaurants, and within regular delivery, is delivered for free.

‘It’s a great idea and could be very successful, especially since nobody wants to go out during the winter. But they need to get their name out or no one will use their service,” said Sasha Vaut, a junior speech communications and international relations major.

To entice SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students to use the service, Campusfood.com is offering a free food promotion until Feb. 23. If any student places an order more than $2, then he or she can receive a free medium pizza from Cosmo’s Pizza, Pizza Hut or Movino.

John Stieler, head of sales at Campusfood.com, said that students, restaurants and the company benefit from the service.

“Students get specials they couldn’t find if they had just walked into the store,” said Stieler. “The restaurants like it too because once a student places an order they have a customer for four more years, if he’s a freshman.”

Sergio Salomone, marketing director of Pizza Hut, agreed that the service and the free food deal are beneficial to their restaurants.

“It’s a great way to let students know about our location, and the site does a good job advertising,” Salomone said. “When students see the word ‘free’ they’ll order the pizza, and hopefully they’ll come back and order it again.”

The fax the restaurant receives includes the student’s name, address and phone number along with the order. Customer service is available in case a fax fails to go through, Stieler said.

“It’s faster, easier, and there’s no language barrier,” he added.

The company began in 1997 after President and C.E.O. Michael Saunders could not get through to his favorite restaurant and brainstormed a way for students to place orders without waiting in line or getting busy signals, Stieler said.

“We’ve got it down to a science, and we’ve had a lot of success at so many universities,” Steiler said.

Published on February 12, 2003 at 12:00 pm