Pizza Days, a standby for many students looking for nourishment late at night, will accept JumboCash beginning early next semester after coming in atop a student body-wide vote.
Dining Services is in discussions with another restaurant that may also come on board in January as the university works to expand the Merchant Off-campus Points (MOPs) program.
The Boston Avenue delivery establishment received the most votes last month in the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate's survey of undergraduates. Pizza Days owner Hakki Dengizli said that his restaurant's addition to MOPs will strengthen his business in the Tufts community.
"Students are going to be happy," he said. "I think we're going to get more business."
Pizza Days hopes to start taking JumboCash as soon as students return in January from winter recess.
The establishment originally sought membership in the MOPs program last year after receiving calls from students asking whether they could use JumboCash, or "points," according to Dengizli.
"I always wanted to be on the points, because [students] want to pay with the points," he said. "It's going to be convenient for them."
Pizza Days lost out to Boloco in a campus-wide vote last fall to add a restaurant to MOPs. But TCU Parliamentarian C.J. Mourning, a junior who has played a central role in expanding MOPs, said the ascension of the popular pizzeria seemed virtually inevitable.
"I would have been completely surprised if Pizza Days did not make it onto points this time around," Mourning said. "Everyone seems to order from them already, so it just adds to the ease."
Meanwhile, Dining Services Director Patti Klos said yesterday that her office is moving ahead with a second addition to MOPs, but she would not disclose which eatery it would be.
"There is another restaurant we've asked to join, but I have not been able to confirm this with the owner, so I cannot provide more information at this time," she told the Daily in an e-mail.
This semester, Dining Services has looked seriously at revamping its infrastructure to create a more comprehensive off-campus dining program, similar to those at other schools. With the addition of Pizza Days and one other restaurant, the program will include eight eateries.
The MOPs program allows students to use their identification cards to pay for food from local restaurants. Those ordering with MOPs use JumboCash, money that comes from their bursar accounts. Students paying with JumboCash can only order delivery and can only place orders after 7 p.m. on weeknights and after 1 p.m. on weekends. Dining Services charges restaurants a 15-percent commission on all MOPs purchases.
Pizza Days, as its name suggests, primarily serves pizza, but also offers calzones, salads, chicken wings and other side orders. It is located on Boston Avenue a block from campus, and with its 3 a.m. closing time, it outlasts its neighboring restaurants in the early morning hours.
The Senate asked undergraduates in its semesterly survey last month to choose two restaurants — from seven designated choices and an "other" option — that they wanted on MOPs. In conjunction with the survey, the Senate held a fair at which restaurants vying for a spot on MOPs treated students to complimentary food.
Approximately 48 percent of students who responded to the survey chose Pizza Days as one of the restaurants they wanted to add to MOPs. Virtually every respondent to the survey answered the MOPs question.
Rob Silverblatt contributed reporting to this article.
