Hungry students, rushing to their third class in a row, have only 10 minutes to eat. To their rescue comes a hero: an app called Tapingo.

UK has recently followed in the footsteps of seven other SEC schools, including LSU and The University of Alabama, by implementing a modern way of dining. Tapingo is a food app that has revolutionized dining on campus, making it a quicker and smoother process for students by allowing them to order meals ahead of time, skip lines and have food delivered to their dorm or apartments. 

The app has over 35 restaurants which offer delivery options. There are also over 20 restaurants that provide pickup choices, including the Subway and Panda Express at Bowman’s Den. The app allows students to use meal swipes and Flex at on-campus dining facilities, and their first two delivery charges are free.

When students download the free app they will need to set up an account with credit card information, their college and their name. After that, they are ready to begin skipping lines and having a more pleasant dining experience. A countdown timer with the wait time will display on the app and users will receive a text when their order is ready for pickup or when their delivery driver has arrived. The wait time varies depending on how many people are in line.

“Anywhere in Bowman’s between 12 and 1, they’re impossible to wait in line for, but if you’re just there and you do Tapingo pickup you can skip the lines and it makes everything a lot quicker,” Wally Johnson, a freshman civil engineering major said on why he enjoys using Tapingo.

However, the app is sometimes criticized for the long delivery wait times, order errors and glitches resulting in students not being able to use Wildcat Deals. Also, other students waiting in line who are not using the app may think it is unfair when Tapingo users get their food before them.

Between balancing classes, a job and extracurricular activities, dining on campus should not be another thing students have to juggle. Tapingo provides a solution to the stress usually associated with eating on campus. Students will no longer have to worry about skipping meals or being late to class from standing in a 30-minute line.