Tapingo offers ‘secret menu’ for Seeds


Since 2013, USC students have become familiar with the bright orange colors and easy-to-use interface of the Tapingo app, which allows users to order food from numerous venues on and near campus. However, fewer students know they can order from a secret menu at Seeds Marketplace, available only through the app.

Showing up as a bright red asterisk on a white background, the logo of the Seeds Secret Menu directs students to choose from several sausage options that are not available in the usual menu of the Seeds Marketplace. Dishes such as Bavarian Bratwurst, Herb Chicken Basil Sausage and Spicy Orleans Sausage are all available for pickup.

David Corral, assistant director of hospitality for USC Auxiliary Services, said in an email to the Daily Trojan that this decision is due to the desire to attract students to Seeds through the commonly used Tapingo app.

“[The goal] is to create a certain cool factor with our guests and a sense of underground knowledge,” Corral said. “We feel the offerings deliver a different-than-usual menu offering.”

The USC Hospitality team, Corral said, was looking for a way to enhance the student experience beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar presence of the Seeds Marketplace, located in the University Park Campus at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center, as well as at the Health Sciences Campus in the Soto Street Building. Seeds focuses on offering artisan salads, sandwiches and on-the-go entrees, as well as healthy snack options for students across both campuses.

“We gave ourselves a challenge of how we can create the best USC experience,” Corral said. “We felt providing a secret menu on the go will deliver on that challenge.”

The Seeds Secret Menu currently offers combo options, which include a drink with the meal for an extra dollar. Alongside this innovation, however, Corral said that there “is a possibility” that further expansion will take place in the future.

“We are always developing new items and new ideas,” Corral said of the Hospitality team.

Though the Seeds Secret Menu is still new and most students are unaware of the options it offers, Corral said that the student response has been largely positive. This is driven, according to Corral, by guests who are “looking for something new,” and finding it at Seeds.