Most everyone on campus this year knows that Purdue Dining & Catering has added several new ways of using meal swipes, beyond just eating in the dining courts. Some of these new ways include The Daily Bite campus food truck; Lemongrass, Pappy’s, Flatbreads and Oasis at the Union; and Take Back Hillenbrand. For today’s post, we tried out the Hillenbrand option, and we wanted to tell you about our experience.
If you guys haven’t tried out Take Back Hillenbrand yet, it’s a super convenient way to use your meal swipes. You won’t always have time to sit down in the dining court to eat, so this allows you to grab your favorite food and take it home with you! We were ultra excited about giving this a try, so we thought we’d fill you all in on how to use your meal swipes for takeout.
So let’s move on to the specifics. Unlike the other new meal swipe options, Take Back is available any time the dining court is open, not just for dinner. When you walk through the door, there is a separate line for people getting take-out and people dining in. The first time, you’ll have to pay $5, either with Dining Dollars, BoilerExpress, credit or cash to get your container. When you use a meal swipe, they will hold your ID while you grab some grub, and you’ll pick it up on your way out.
When you give up your ID, you get a heavy-duty green box to fill with food, along with a little container for soup. The container is made out of thick plastic, so instead of throwing away a box every time, the Hillenbrand staff clean and replace the box for a greener system.
As you can see, the box really holds a lot of food! We easily fit enough for dinner and leftovers into our boxes. You can fill up the container and the soup bowl, and grab a piece of fruit. You’re even allowed to take out two orders of wings if you can fit them in your box!
Don’t worry about bringing your own drink; if you bring along your Purdue Dining & Catering reusable tumbler, you can fill it up while you’re there! And on your way out the door, make sure to stop and grab some plastic ware and napkins.
If you decide you love getting takeout, you can either bring your used box back and they’ll give you a fresh one when you’re ready for more, or you can drop it off anytime and they’ll give you a token to redeem a new take-out box for whenever you’re ready.
Has anyone tried Take Back Hillenbrand? If so, do you like it better than sitting down in a dining court? Let us know in the replies below!
See you next week!
Sarah & Amanda
Purdue Dining & Culinary 
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