Imagine, you are sitting in a Hibbard Hall classroom. It’s 11:40 a.m. and you are ten minutes away from a mouth-watering, hunger-quenching lunch, which you plan to snag at the Marketplace in Davies Center.  Your professor
dismisses class and you speed walk across campus.

It’s common knowledge that for every classmate you pass, you jump up one spot in the future line.

As you glide into the Marketplace to file your day-changing order, your heart quickly drops as you see the vast and endless line you yet again failed to avoid. It’ll be another ten to 15 minutes until you can eat.

How can this problem be solved? Enter Tapingo.

Tapingo is a wireless service that allows students to order their food ahead of time through their online website or mobile app. Students can sync their Blugold declining dollars or block meals to Tapingo, allowing them to bypass not only the ordering line, but also the payment lines.

Currently, Tapingo’s services are available on 25 campuses in the U.S. Here at UW-Eau Claire, students can access Tapingo and get service from Erbert & Gerberts, Sushi-Do, The Cabin and Intermezzos.

Most students are aware of the colossal line that forms at the Erbert & Gerberts inside Davies during the lunch rush, and a similar time-consuming line can be found during the breakfast rush at The Skillet. Tapingo is going into their second year on campus, yet the lines at student’s favorite meal stops aren’t shrinking. This is because students are unaware of the time Tapingo can save them.

I polled 15 students while they waited in line at Erbert & Gerberts and asked them if they knew what Tapingo was. Of the 15, only four said they knew of the service. Some of the students said that they had thought they had heard of it, but it sounded like a difficult service to access.

Students need to become aware of Tapingo. College students are busy to say the least, and this service UW-Eau Claire Dining created on campus has the opportunity to shave 10 to 15 minutes off the dining experience in Davies, allowing students to use their time more efficiently.

Tapingo also has room for expansion.  Adding services at the other food outlets in Davies like The Skillet and the Blu Flame Grill would help the app reach more students, spreading its popularity. Tapingo is always taking suggestions for other dining options students would like to see included in services.

Long lines during times of heavy traffic in the Marketplace is the problem. Eau Claire has  a solution. That solution is Tapingo. Now it is up to the students to unlock the full potential at their fingertips.

Download Tapingo, bypass the lines and dine on time.