Questions, answered

It's a meal-matching app for USC students. Browse tables other students have already opened near campus and join one, or tap I'm feeling lucky to get matched with other students and a place picked for you.

USC students, undergrad or graduate, 18 or older, signing in with their @usc.edu Google account. We're built to support more schools over time, so if yours isn't open yet, you can still leave your email to hear when it is.

With your USC Google account, the one tied to your @usc.edu email. There's no separate password to set.

No. Signing in with your USC Google account already confirms you're a student, so there's no extra code to enter. Confirmation codes exist in the system for schools that need them later.

You say your mood, budget, where, when, and how many people, then we match you with other students and a short list of places to vote on. Once everyone says yes, a chat opens and you check in when you arrive.

A meal another student has posted for a place, a time, and a number of seats. You can browse open tables and join one, or host your own.

You pick a few quick preferences first (cuisines, budget, how far you'll travel), but photos and most profile details can be skipped and added later.

Yes. Eat With Me is free for USC students, with no ads and no paid tiers. The only thing you pay for is your own meal at the restaurant.

No. Eat With Me runs in your browser on your phone or laptop, and you sign in with your USC Google account. If you'd like it on your home screen, add it from your browser's menu. On iPhone, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.

Another USC student, or a small group within the size range you set, searching nearby at the same time. You'll see shared interests before you decide.

Yes. Declining costs nothing, needs no reason, and is silent. The other person is never told it was a decline, they just go back to looking for a match.

Either share your location once to confirm you're at the restaurant, or type the code shown on the other person's screen. Your exact position is never stored; it's compared once, then discarded.

Only if you choose to share it, and only for a moment. When you search, your phone rounds it to about 500 meters before anything is sent, and it's thrown away when your search ends. When you check in, your exact position is compared once with the restaurant's, then discarded; it's never stored. Nobody ever sees another student's exact position.

If only you check in, we ask "Did they make it?" Saying no costs their reliability; saying yes costs nothing. Either way, nothing happens to your own reliability.

Yes, from any chat, profile, or meal. Blocking is silent, and only you can undo it.

No. Every meal happens at an actual restaurant or cafe with a public listing, never a private address.

No. That was tried and removed before launch. Eat With Me is about meals and company, not dating.

Cancel with plenty of notice and there's no hit to your reliability. Cancelling close to the meal costs a little; not showing up at all costs more.

Pick a restaurant, a time, and how many seats to open, then post it. Anyone who can see your table joins in one tap, no approving requests one by one. Choose Private to invite people yourself instead.

It depends on how you set it: Public tables are visible to any student nearby, Friends tables to people who follow you and follow back, and Private tables are invite-only.

No. A stranger browsing sees the restaurant, time, and open seats, never a name (yours or anyone else's), until they're actually seated with you.

They can't. Trying to join any table you host just tells them the table isn't open right now, the same thing they'd see if it were full. You're never shown the attempt, and they're never told it's because of a block.

Yes, from the table's page. Leaving close to the start is scored the same way a late cancellation is for a one-on-one meal.

Only after you've matched or you're seated at the same table. There's no cold-messaging a stranger.

Not yet. Today messages are encrypted in transit and at rest, and only the people in a conversation can read them through the app, but our systems could technically access message content, for example to investigate a report. End-to-end encryption is planned.

Any signed-in student, unless you make it private; then only your photo and username show, and people whose follow request you've approved can see more. Allergies and dietary info stay hidden unless you turn them on yourself.

It's one-way, like most social apps. Following a public profile is instant; a private profile has to approve you. Anyone can see your follower and following counts, but only you can see the actual lists.

Look them up by exact username, check people you've already eaten with, or share or scan a friend link or QR code. There's no directory or partial-name search.

It's how we confirm you're actually a student, and it keeps the app to people from your own campus. Only usc.edu addresses (and its email.usc.edu alias) work today.

For USC, no. Signing in with your USC Google account counts as verified from the start. Other future schools may have a short grace period before full access.

Yes, from Settings → Account → Export data. You'll get a JSON file with your profile, preferences, meals, messages, and more, downloaded straight to your device. No email link to wait for.

Settings → Account → Delete my account. You get a window afterward to change your mind and restore it; after that, deletion is permanent.

No, never: not on your profile, in a chat, in a search, or anywhere else in the app.

A public score that only ever goes up, built from eating with people, checking in on time, rating meals, and writing memos. It's shown on your profile and the school leaderboard.

It's a measure of whether you show up, based on attendance and ratings. Other students only ever see a band (Excellent, Good, New, or Low), never your exact number.

Badges for things like completing your first meal, trying different cuisines, or being reliable about showing up. You can pin a few favorites to your profile, and some are kept hidden until you find them.

No. Badges are never tied to Elo or reliability. They're just for fun, and once earned they're never taken away.

It marks a streak: consecutive weeks you and that person have actually eaten together, not just messaged.