“It’s definitely helpful in the winter because you don’t have to walk if you’re on campus,” said Davis, a business and pre-law sophomore. “And if you’re not on campus, you don’t have to go out there and drive.”

In East Lansing, Campusfood.com and GoGreenMenus.com provide access to menus for most area restaurants.

“Students have all the options, plus there’s less human error,” said Ross Lipson, a general business administration junior and managing partner of GoGreenMenus.com, which surpassed 100,000 orders last week.

David Duke, general manager of Papiano’s Pizza, 1219 E. Grand River Ave., said he loves the online ordering service his store offers.

“The online orders are nice because we never have to deal with the phones,” Duke said.

In addition to online orders, Papiano’s Pizza and Campusfood.com have recently introduced a feature through their Web sites that allow customers to order via text message.

“People love the convenience, the speed and the no hassle,” said Julie Shimshack, the director of marketing for Campusfood.com.

The companies receive the text messages within seconds of your text like an online order, Shimshack said.

Papiano’s Pizza and its larger franchise, Papa John’s International, launched their service in November, while Campusfood.com started using text messaging in April 2007. The text orders work on all networks and do not charge for the service.

While ordering food online provides several benefits for restaurant managers and employees, some businesses prefer students to order by phone. Online services receive a small cut of the food outlet’s sales each week, Shimshack said.

Overwhelmed employees also is a concern, said Sunni Schoenberg, an employee at Pita Pit, 219 E. Grand River Ave.

“When there’s a lot of people in the store, we have delivery people and customers waiting,” Schoenberg said. “So it’s difficult to choose who to take care of.”