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You’re almost there, first-years! Soon, Notre Dame will no longer just be your future home, but the center of much of your life. Because of this, it’s important to understand what’s new on campus so you can be in the loop heading into the fall semester.
Food delivery robots discontinued
The Grubhub robots have been a staple of campus life since 2023. They’re always rolling around, threatening to knock you over if you don’t watch out for them. Some students praised these little orange-and-white machines for their convenience, while others hated their tendency to get in the way. However, the debate stops this school year, as Starship Technologies, the operator of the bots, is pulling them from college campuses nationwide. Instead, the company will be focusing its robots on grocery delivery.
Previously, the fleet of 50 robots delivered food straight to residence halls from on-campus restaurants like Modern Market, Taco Bell and Gipper’s (which exclusively offered late-night robot delivery). The 2026-2027 school year will see no such thing.
Taco Bell, Modern Market and Street Fare closing; to be replaced by new restaurants and a cafe
Earlier this summer, The Observer reported that three popular campus restaurants would close their doors to make way for new spots. Taco Bell, located in the basement of LaFortune Student Center, will be replaced by Gipper’s Pizza, which previously did not have a storefront and was delivery-only. Street Fare, also located in LaFortune, will be replaced by Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, a chain restaurant with locations across the U.S. Modern Market in Duncan Student Center will be replaced by two restaurants: Garbanzo (a Mediterranean restaurant formerly located in the Hesburgh Center for International Studies) and Barberitos, a burrito chain. In place of Garbanzo will be a coffee shop.
Coyle and Grojean Halls welcome Howard and Fisher students
The wait is over for the previous residents of Howard and Fisher Halls, who will be moving into their freshly-built dorms in August.
After Fisher was demolished at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, residents moved to Zahm Hall, the swing hall where they would remain for the next two years while their new and improved dorm, Coyle Hall, was being built.
Howard residents received word that their hall would be retired as an undergraduate residence — and that they would soon move into the new Therese Mary Grojean Hall — in the fall of 2025. Howard is not slated to be demolished; rather, the University is still evaluating its options for future uses of the building. It housed students for over a century.
Coyle Hall occupies 82,728 square feet and includes 258 beds. Grojean Hall occupies 83,416 square feet and includes 275 beds.
Lyons renovation
Lyons Hall, located on South Quad overlooking Saint Mary’s Lake, is getting a facelift. As a result, Lyons residents will be moving into Zahm Hall for the entirety of the 2026-2027 academic year. Lyons, unlike Howard, was deemed capable of withstanding extensive renovations, so students will return after a year rather than relocating permanently — just in time for the hall’s 100th anniversary.
Though the University has not specified exactly what renovations will be taking place, an email to residents from director of Residential Life Dan Rohmiller said they will comprise an effort to “modernize the mechanical systems and improve the community building spaces.”
Student-athlete dining hall unveiled
On July 6, the University unveiled the Patrick Kramer Dining Room, “a premier nutrition center designed to fuel every student-athlete through the integration of culinary excellence and nutrition science,” according to The Fighting Irish on social media.
The dining room, named for former defensive lineman Pat Kramer, is located in Shields Family Hall, a new football facility on the east side of campus. The Shields family made a gift to the University in 2024 for this facility, which will be next to the existing Guglielmino Athletics Complex and will “allow for future renovation of the Gug to advance the performance of student-athletes across Notre Dame’s 26 varsity sports.”