UC Riverside’s Dining and Hospitality Services is opening its two residential restaurants to the whole campus for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner through its Community Dining Plan.

The plan, launched in early October, provides commuter students, faculty, and staff a more convenient option for dining regularly at the Glasgow and Lothian restaurants and a greater variety of meal choices, said Kourtney Gilbert, marketing and communications coordinator for Dining and Hospitality Services.

The plan also makes the restaurants accessible to students in campus family housing and apartments.

Both restaurants had been restricted mainly to students in campus residence halls who had purchased meal plans, although Glasgow began welcoming non-meal-plan holders for lunch in spring. 

“There’s been a huge demand,” Gilbert said. 

The Community Dining Plan offers 25 meal swipes for $350, or $14 per meal. It gives diners a 12% discount, as individual meals cost $12.99 for breakfast, $15.99 for lunch, and $17.99 for dinner.

Plans can be purchased online at the Dining Services website or in person at the Highlander Service Station, located next to the UCR Book Store. Diners can add as many meals as needed to their plans. The balance is loaded onto their R’Cards.

Both restaurants provide freshly made all-you-can eat meals, snacks, and beverages prepared by dining staff with menus that change daily. 

Glasgow, which serves about 5,000 diners a day, is the newest and largest campus dining venue with five food stations on two floors. They include a grill; a soup, salad, and deli bar; a carvery with roasted or baked proteins; a hot plate serving pizza; and a dessert bar with baked goods prepared in the exhibition bakery.

Lothian, which serves about 1,800 diners a day, offers seven food stations including international cuisines, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.

“The Community Dining Plan was launched to better serve the campus community, especially commuter students, by offering healthy, delicious meals that are more convenient to them,” Gilbert said.