Matilda Weaver planned to move off-campus after her freshman year. The UCLA dining experience changed her mind.

Weaver, a first-year biology student, is among the thousands of undergraduate students wrapping up their first year of eating UCLA dining options – from food trucks like BittieBitez Mini-Donuts to the more traditional Bruin Plate breakfasts.

“All of the options are amazing,” Weaver said. “Everywhere I go, I’m always finding new dining halls or new dining things.”

Weaver said the dining experience is not perfect, but she added that the variety of options made UCLA Dining unique. Weaver also said the variety of ingredients at the dining halls give her the opportunity to build her own dishes like avocado toast or rice bowls, allowing her to vary her dining experience.

However, this year has not come without dining challenges, including long lines for food trucks and wait times up to two hours for mobile ordering, Weaver said.

UCLA Dining also announced Aug. 30 that meal swipes would only be accepted at ASUCLA locations during weekday lunch hours.

Ricky Huang, a third-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, said he appreciated the flexibility of on-campus dining in previous years because there were less restrictions and more flexibility for busy students. He added that, in the future, he hopes dining will be more accommodating to student schedules.

Transact Mobile Ordering, the app students living in on-campus housing use to order meals, temporarily shut down multiple times this year – which meant students had to visit dining locations in person to order food.

[Related: Transact Mobile, online meal ordering becomes temporarily unavailable]

Hailey Jung, a first-year psychology student, said she did not mind when the app went down because she could often grab food quicker in person.

“Usually, the lines would be shorter because people aren’t willing to walk all the way up and order and get it (food),” Jung said. “Sometimes it’s faster if there’s no mobile ordering.”

UCLA Dining also changed its website at the beginning of spring quarter. UCLA Housing said in an emailed statement that the update was meant to align the design with other university web pages, increase compatibility with a new food management system and improve user experience.

Huang, said he does not find the new website as user-friendly in its new form. He added that the dining information is not consolidated to one page and the nutrition facts also seem inaccurate.

[Related: New campus dining website sparks criticism from students]

“Every time I’m on the website now, it brings me to a different date. It’s not even the current day sometimes,” Huang said. “You have to scroll through a lot more on your phone. Back then, you could open it (the dining website) on your phone and it’d be one page. That choice gives you everything. But now it’s not – it’s just kind of inconvenient.”

Weaver said she feels like she has to scroll endlessly on the new website – and added that she believes some menus have been incorrect.

This year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 – which represents UCLA Dining workers – also struck four times. The strikes limited dining options and shifted dining halls to takeout models, including De Neve Residential Restaurant, Feast at Rieber and Epicuria at Covel.

Abigail Androlowicz, a first-year public affairs student, said that while the dining adjustments were sometimes inconvenient when getting breakfast, the changes during the strikes did not affect her much. She added that she hopes the non-dining area of The Study at Hedrick – which was closed during the strikes – will still be open for students as a study location in the future.

“That’s a very necessary resource for a lot of people,” she said.

Huang said the dining halls were crowded during the strikes – and added that ASUCLA restaurants were packed as a result of more restrictive dining options.

“I remember going to B Plate and it was a line of 30 people for a dish,” he said. “I had to go to class, so it kind of makes it hard to eat.”

[Related: AFSCME Local 3299, UPTE-CWA 9119 announce May 1 strike against UC]

In the past few years, students have also been able to use meal swipes at food trucks on the Hill. Food trucks are a staple of UCLA dining culture, Androlowicz said, because of the diverse options they offer.

“Anytime someone has come to visit me, they’re always so astounded by the food quality,” she said.

ASUCLA changed its policy for on-campus restaurant meal swipe usage Sept. 26, only allowing meal swipes at weekday lunch period hours from 11 a.m. to 3:59 p.m.

Huang said the lunch-only meal periods for on-campus swipe usage restricts his food options, since school and research keep him busy from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m almost everyday.

[Related: Students express discontent on changes in ASUCLA meal swipe exchange hours]

For incoming first-years, Jung said she recommends they try all of the dining options available to narrow down their preferences. She added that students should be aware that meal period times are not always conducive to busy student schedules.

“The awkward time between 3 (p.m.) and 5 (p.m.) when nothing is open – definitely be cognizant of that,” Jung said. “Because if you’re hungry at 4, you’re out of luck.”