The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is committed to providing our community a variety of quality dining choices. SAIC’s dining facilities promote sustainable and healthy eating while also showcasing organic, fair-trade, and local ingredients. Options include grab-n-go items as well as hot entrees and fresh food options including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free.
Cafés are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snacks and late evening dining.
On-campus dining is found in the following locations:
- The LeRoy Neiman Center, 37 S. Wabash, 2nd floor
- 280 building, 280 S. Columbus Dr., 2nd floor
- MacLean Center, 112 S. Michigan Ave, 12th Floor
Residence hall students are able to take advantage of SAIC's meal plan. To learn more about this plan, visit the meal plan section.
Visit the Food For Thought website
Mobile Ordering
We encourage all community members to take advantage of mobile ordering, where you can place your order ahead of time and pick it up at a location outside of the café service and payment lines. In order to do this, download the Transact Mobile Ordering app from Google play or the App Store. Once you download the app, select "SAIC Mobile Ordering" and sign in with your SAIC email address. The app takes both ARTICard payment (e.g., your meal plan) and credit cards. We encourage everyone to use the mobile ordering option whenever possible.
Payment Options
All of our cafés are cash free locations. All Cafés take Credit and Debit cards, as well as ARTICard. Should a student need to add cash to their ARTICard, there are locations around campus to quickly add funds to your ARTICard.
