Dining Dollars Program Expands to More Downtown Grinnell Businesses
Grinnell College is excited to announce the expansion of the Downtown Dining Dollars program at Grinnell businesses. Popular with both student and downtown businesses, dining dollars will now be available as a payment method at Pagliai’s and El Cascabel in addition to businesses previously established as a part of the program: Dari Barn, Jay’s Deli, McNally’s Foods, and Saints Rest.
Last fall, Grinnell announced a dining dollars pilot program would be available to use as a result of a student initiative first pitched by Caroline Cassidy ‘25 for the SPARK challenge— a yearly community-based social innovation competition hosted by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. Based on student feedback gathered by Cassidy as part of her initiative, the three pilot businesses included McNally’s Foods grocery story, Saints Rest coffee shop, and Jay’s Deli. Dari Barn was added to the program when they re-opened for the season during the Spring 2024 semester.
This initiative plays a significant role in the College’s efforts to increase civic engagement and strengthen College-community partnerships. Rachel Bly, assistant vice president for Auxiliary Services shares, “we want to have a strong, vibrant downtown so that we can attract more students and more visitors to our community, and programs like this support that goal. It is also great to see students creating lasting friendships with community members that they may not have met had they not spent time in some of these local establishments.” Bly also wishes to recognize the dining staff, Jeanette Moser, director of Dining Services, Joe Culver, associate director of Dining Services, and Scott Turley, executive chef, who have worked hard alongside these businesses to ensure the program runs smoothly.
Business owners have also expressed their support for the program and its promotion of small businesses. Joey Pagliai, 3rd generation owner of Pagliai’s expressed his excitement for newly joining the program—noting that he had been eager to be involved since he first learned about the trial period last fall. “This is a huge opportunity for us. It opens a whole new market” remarked Pagliai. “It’s also interesting to get to know more students, especially those from outside of the U.S.” he added.
Students similarly appreciate the added dining options.
Last year, students spent $116,784 in dining dollars at downtown businesses. The College does not currently collect any income from these transactions. Excluding small service and transaction fees, local businesses receive all payments directly from students’ dining dollar balances through the College’s dining card system. This means that all businesses are reimbursed within 48 hours of purchase.
Ryleigh Hayworth ‘25, said, "I love using my dining dollars at businesses in town, it opens up so many different meal possibilities without costing me extra money and also gives me a reason to spend more time outside of campus in the community.”
A list of the Grinnell establishments accepting dining dollars:
- Dari Barn: https://www.daribarngrinnell.com/
- El Cascabel: https://elcascabelia.com/
- Jay’s Deli: https://diehmjd.wixsite.com/mysite/
- McNally’s Foods: https://www.facebook.com/p/McNallys-Foods-100045701810255/
- Pagliai’s: https://pagliaisgrinnellia.com/
- Saints Rest: https://www.saintsrestcoffee.com/
Did you know?
The Global Café at Grinnell College is now partnering with DoorDash to offer community members access to fresh, unique items they may not find elsewhere in Grinnell including the Global Café's Vietnamese Coffee and Grinnell College Bubble Tea. The Global Café also uses authentic recipes to offer pastries made around the world such as the Apple Ponchiki and Koeksister Donuts. DoorDash allows a convenient delivery option for these items. Dining Services is excited that The Spencer Grill is now available on DoorDash as well.