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‘Drunk meal’ food truck discontinued due to slow sales

A large orange and black truck with a tiger silhouette sits in a parking spot. A blue sky is in the background.
The de-commissioned “drunk meal” truck parked at the Graduate College.
Emily Leon / The Daily Princetonian

The “drunk meal” food truck outside Frist Campus Center, which provided students with another late-night meal option, was quietly discontinued this semester following “slow sales,” according to an emailed statement to The Daily Princetonian from University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.

The truck, which opened last September, operated on the north side of the McCosh Health Center from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. According to the University, the truck had its hours scaled back to Friday and Saturday last year due to a lack of popularity, which persisted. As a result, the Food Truck has not reopened this year.

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With the truck closing, there are no longer any University-affiliated food vendors that operate after 2 a.m. Frist Late Night, or “drunk meal,” operates on Saturdays from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Frist Food Gallery. Studio ’34, located in 1976 Hall in Butler College, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m, and the Princeton University Store at 36 University Place also closes at 2 a.m.

Wawa, located near Princeton Station, is open 24 hours. One Wawa employee told the ‘Prince’ that the store has been busy recently, and added that the weekend of Nov. 1 was “mobbed.” The store manager confirmed that Wawa has been extremely crowded on weekends, but was unsure whether this was outside the norm of previous year.

Some students, however, did not seem to mourn the loss of the truck.

Athan Zhang ’26 wrote to the ‘Prince,’ “There is no real value of having the food served in a truck. If anything, it’s a detriment because people have to be outside.” 

“I do remember often passing by ‘drunk meal’ after studying at Frist … and just seeing the prices and thinking they were ridiculous,” he added. “As a former Forbesian, it made no sense for me to buy a meal there when I could get something just as good for literally half the price.”

Frankie Duryea ’26 told the ‘Prince’ in an interview, “I think it being in Frist makes more sense than it being the outside food trucks. It’s safer for drunk kids that don’t need to be cold and stumbling around, they can sit down and they can get water inside.”

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In an email to the ‘Prince,’ Dhruv Raghuraman ’27 wrote, “I am mostly ambivalent because I hardly went.”

However, he added that he “knew a lot of people who appreciated having somewhere between the Street where they could rest and eat after a long night out.” 

Enzo Kho ’26, Undergraduate Student Government Social Chair, told the ‘Prince’ in an interview that going to drunk meal was more convenient for him, compared to Wawa and Studio 34.

 “I lived in Whitman … so drunk meal was usually the easiest one,” he said. However, the long lines often deterred him. 

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He noted that drunk meal accepts Dining Points, as did the food truck. Wawa does not.

Morrill wrote to the ‘Prince’ that, “Dining Services welcomes any feedback from students to help guide next steps, particularly regarding menu items they’d like to see return to Frist.”

Emily Leon is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’

Olivia Sanchez is an associate News editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from New Jersey and often covers the graduate school and academic departments.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.