The smell of freshly cooked bacon cheese fries, the taste of boneless buffalo wings reaching your taste buds after a long day of classes. In 2019, the idea of walking to the dining hall at 10 p.m. was a reality, not a dream. Since the pandemic began in March 2020, night dining has become a distant memory for students. Fortunately for students, night dining is making its way back.

After conducting a 24 hour poll on our Instagram @thejtac1919, the results showed that 47% of students knew of and missed night dining. The other 53% of voters were confused about what dining was. In another poll the JTAC conducted, asked our followers if they wanted to see night dining come back to campus. Half of the voters were still confused about what exactly night dining was and the other half were excited at the idea of being able to eat in the dining hall after hours. 

Essentially, night dining is a dining opportunity offered to students that experience the late night munchies. Currently, the dining hall is open to students, staff and parents on Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. , on Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Although the dining hall does have flexible hours for students. 

“When I was a student, I think we had late dining but it was just wings and pizza. I think night dining would be cool if people enjoy it and go to it consistently,” JTAC advisor, Caitlyn Oxford said.

According to the Tarleton Sodexo website, night dining, also known as the 1899 Grill, is scheduled to reopen in Sept. 2021. The 1899 Grill will be open from Monday to Thursday from 8:30 p.m. until midnight. 

“Night dining was something available to all students when it was offered! It was fun being able to go and hang out with friends and enjoy really good food on campus rather than having to drive off campus! Since it was offered late at night, it was fun to be able to just walk over rather than driving off campus,” JTAC advertising manager, Kylan Mills said. 

For more information about night dining and all things dining hall, follow @tsudining on Instagram and Twitter.