Tulane’s Nolabuck$ system allows students to combine their meal plan with food from local New Orleans restaurants. Students, however, have encountered inconsistencies between Tulane’s list of Nolabuck$ venues and those that actually accept Nolabuck$.

Tulane introduced the Nolabuck$ system six years ago to encourage students to take advantage of the unique dining opportunities in the city.

Last semester, many students reported to Dining Services that some venues on the list of restaurants accepting Nolabuck$ had stopped accepting them.

Freshman Christian Hyde said he went to Juan’s Flying Burrito and was told after eating that the venue had not been accepting Nolabuck$ for more than two years. Hyde said he now takes the time to call venues beforehand to confirm that they take Nolabuck$. 

According to Dining and Auxiliary Services Director Lisa Norris, this issue is often due to venues failing to communicate to Tulane that they no longer accept Nolabuck$. 

“Ideally a venue will notify us if they no longer wish to participate. Sometimes we don’t know unless a student informs us,” Norris said.

Freshman Bryna Loranger said she likes the fact that her Nolabuck$ allow her to have a variety of dining options in the city. Loranger said she was left disappointed, however, at an event where food trucks falsely advertised that they would be taking Nolabuck$.

A third-party vendor manages Nolabuck$ and charges participating venues for equipment and transactions. Norris said these charges are easily covered during the school year, but some venues lose money in the summer from keeping the unused equipment. This can contribute to venues choosing to stop accepting Nolabuck$.

Some venues no longer accept Nolabuck$, including Domino’s Pizza, Liberty Cheesesteaks and Slice Pizzeria but remained on the Dining Services’ list of locations accepting Nolabuck$ until they were recently removed.