One Way CIA Students Use Their Meal Plan for a Fine Dining Experience on Campus
Author Tina M. Cortez ’26 is a Food Business Management major.
At CIA we have three restaurants: Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici, American Bounty Restaurant, and The Bocuse Restaurant, and one bakery café called Apple Pie Bakery Café. Fun fact, one of the best things about our student meal plan is that we get to use our points at the restaurants!
There are two ways points can be used. The first one is to just make a reservation like any other customer and once the bill comes you pay with your school ID. You are essentially paying a student price with your Gold Points. It’s great!
The second way, is to go on a Student Swipe Day. On these days you’ll usually get an email telling you which restaurants have availability for a Student Swipe Day. Here you make a reservation and pay with your student ID with the option of using either Green or Gold Points. I’ve noticed that on these Student Swipe Days the food tends to be a bit cheaper. Lunch usually runs around 15 Green/Gold Points and dinner is around 30 Green/Gold Points. You have so many ways to use your meal plan!
Recently, my friend and I went to Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici, the Italian restaurant on campus. The first thing you hear when you step inside is “Welcome to Caterina!” Afterwards the host will ask for your reservation and take you to your table.
Each restaurant uses a prix fixe menu. This basically means when you sit down and are ready to order, you will order all three courses at once. At Caterina, there is a variety of different dishes that range from salads, pasta, steak, chicken, and so much more.
I personally ordered an arugula salad for an appetizer, chicken Milanese for the entrée, and an affogato for dessert. On the other hand, my friend ordered a pepperoni pizza for an appetizer, a grilled steak for the entrée, and a budino for dessert.
While you wait for your first course the servers will bring you a breadbasket and engage in conversation with you. At each restaurant you will notice you not only get great food, but great service as well! Once we finished, we each paid around 45 Gold Points for our three-course meal.
There are so many fun ways to use your meal plan points!