New app helps Boston University students find out what’s for lunch

BOSTON — Looking for a good meal on campus? There’s an app for that.

BU Food, an app that was released in the iTunes store at the beginning of September, is the brainchild of Santiago Beltran (ENG’17) and Darryl L. Johnson (ENG’17). The app posts weekly menus from campus dining halls in West Campus,Warren Towers, and Bay State Road in a convenient mobile format so students can explore what’s available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the touch of a button. “The menu information is all taken from BU, and we convert it over to an application format,” Beltran says. “It’s all about accessibility, so we worked on making sure that the information is delivered in a context that’s friendly for mobile users.”

But, the app does far more than tell users what is available in dining halls. Unlike the Dining Services website, BU Food has a sophisticated search feature that allows students to find specific dishes and navigate menus based on specific dietary needs. “With ‘Search,’ you can type in, ‘I love beef burritos, but I don’t know where they are,’ and the app will say, ‘On this day in this dining hall during lunch or dinner, beef burritos are available,’” Beltran explains. “Or, let’s say you can only eat gluten-free foods. You can type in ‘gluten-free’ and it brings up all the gluten-free items. We want to make this easy and accessible for people who have special dietary needs so they can find what’s available really quickly.” In addition, the app sends reminders to users about special dining hall events, like Make a Difference Mondayand Lobster Night.

Beltran says that the app’s most innovative feature is “My Tummy,” which currently allows students to not only see the calorie and fat content of each dish served, but keep track of everything