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Crow's Nest

Students having fun with friends while eating at the Crow's Nest

World-Class Dining 

At the heart of the Lumen Vitae University Center lies the Crow’s Nest, the university’s campus restaurant, open 24/7 to students and guests during the school year. This innovative campus dining experience abandons the confines of the traditional college cafeteria, offering a venue for great food and a hearth by which real friendships flourish.

For All Tastes

“The Crow’s Nest” is an homage to the lookout post high on the mast of a marauder’s sailing vessel, and also to the crow or raven that fed the young St. Benedict as he first nurtured the thought of Benedictine life. 

The interior continues the Marauders theme: The Stern offers soup and salad (to include Knoephla Soup, a local favorite); Davy Jones Deli provides a self-service sandwich bar complete with panini press; the Treasure Chest offers a display of fine desserts; The Seven Seas offers cuisine from around the world; the Main Deck features the entrée of the day; the Buccaneer Breakfast Bar provides continental breakfast options all day long; the Jolly Roger Grill provides grilled fare like cheeseburgers and brats, while the Plank serves up pasta dishes and true wood-fired pizza. The Allergies Avast! station caters to particular dietary needs (intolerances, allergies, aversions, etc.), while the Dakota Homestyle station showcases cuisine particular to the German-Russian and Scandinavian heritage of North Dakota. The Crow’s Nest also features Susanne's, a full-service We Proudly Brew Caribou Coffee shop that is accessible at no extra cost to all guests with a university meal plan.

The Crow’s Nest Campus Restaurant offers students 24/7 anytime dining making meals plans at great value.
The Crow’s Nest is a great place for students to socialize around the fireplace or to gather with study groups.
The lower level of the Crow’s Nest provides students with more space to spread out and study while dining.
With multiple chefs and a registered dietician on staff, students dining at the Crow’s Nest have a large variety of meal choices from fire grilled pizza, burgers, snacks, fresh fruit and vegetables, stir-fry and even ice cream. For students with special dietary needs there is a state-of-the-art Allergies Avast! food station.
While dining or hanging out with friends at the Crow’s Nest, students can also play a game of pool, board games, a shuffleboard table and a bubble hockey table.

Susanne’s Coffee Shop 

This bustling coffee shop located in the Crow's Nest is open 7 am-10 pm, with its Grab-and-Go service outside the restaurant for those without a meal plan. Susanne’s serves We Proudly Brew Caribou Coffee--hot, iced, and blended--as well as a variety of teas. For guests ordering from inside the Crow’s Nest, Susanne’s is free of charge. Along with traditional forms of payment, the Grab-and-Go service also accepts Marauders Bucks!

Community Just Like Home

The Crow’s Nest is a great place for dining, but also for studying and hanging out with friends. The uniquely designed dining area provides plenty of areas for quiet study (complete with charging stations for computers, tablets, and cell phones). It also offers in-house printing and monitors that can be used to cast a group project to the big screen or to watch a favorite TV channel. Each table has a treasure chest with a cribbage board, poker deck, and trivia cards. The north end of the dining area boasts two custom pool tables, a shuffleboard table, and a custom UMary Bubble Hockey Table. Students can also vote on what music plays throughout the space, adding an extra layer of interaction and friendly competition. 

There is more to discover in the Crow’s Nest! Guests enter the Crow’s Nest by purchasing one of the University’s various meal plans or simply paying at the front desk.

UMary Dining Services is now cashless. Please use MCard, credit, or debit card to pay.

Crow’s Nest Hours

Open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for Mary students

  • Breakfast: 7 am - 11 am
    Door Price: $10.43; ages 5-10: $4.74; ages 65+: $8.53
  • Lunch: 11 am - 5 pm
    Door Price: $14.22; ages 5-10: $7.58; ages 65+: $11.37
  • Dinner: 5 pm - 10 pm
    Door Price: $16.11; ages 5-10: $9.48; ages 65+: $13.27 

Summer Hours
7 am to 9 pm (every day)
*Hours may vary

Featured Staff

Have Dietary Needs?

Visit the Dining Accommodations page or contact our registered dietitian at nutrition@cranioklepty.com.

Questions About Catering?

Contact Jerilyn Stocker, our Senior Director for Hospitality Operations