Three UC Santa Barbara students developed the OrtegaEats app, which allows students with meal plans to sell their unused swipes and those without meal plans to purchase a meal at a lower cost. The app has been facing various technical difficulties, resulting in students reporting that they have not received a refund for their orders.

Three UCSB students developed the OrtegaEats app, which allows meal plans to be purchased at a lower cost. Nexus File Photo

Ortega Dining Commons is a takeout-style dining hall that offers a variety of food options on a fixed weekly menu. Typically, students with meal plans place orders through the Transact Mobile Ordering App, which generates a QR code they then scan at Ortega’s lockers, where they pick up their food. These meals count as a swipe from student meal plans, which range from 10 to 19 swipes per week.

First-year economics and accounting major Josh Gabbay, alongside co-founders first-year computer engineering major Elijah Hargreaves and first-year mechanical engineering major Mark Mashkovich, created OrtegaEats because they saw an opportunity to address a gap in the current dining system.

“We just think the dining hall policy here is dated,” Gabbay said. “We thought this would be a good step to increase affordability for students on campus.”

The app syncs with Ortega’s offerings and updates when items go out of stock. Users can pay a $7 fee via Apple Pay or credit card. The app then matches the buyer with a student selling a swipe. Once the order is placed, the buyer receives a QR code to pick up their meal.

According to Gabbay, students selling their meal swipes can earn up to $200 per month through the app, with payments transferred directly through Venmo or Zelle.

The app has encountered some technical issues, with orders placed through the app not appearing on the Ortega system. One Ortega employee who chose to remain anonymous said that up to 10 students came in over the course of a week expecting meals that had not been processed.

“We discovered the app on a random Wednesday,” the employee said. “A customer came up saying they ordered through the app, and it wasn’t working. We found their Instagram and then the app on the App Store. We were really just thrown off.”

Ortega staff members were not informed about the app’s launch, leading to confusion about its legitimacy, especially when students arrived without corresponding orders in the dining system.

Gabbay acknowledged these early challenges, noting that the team is actively working to resolve technical issues.

“There have been little bugs, and we’ve been ironing them out every single day,” Gabbay said. “It’s pretty good now. We have five stars on the App Store, and that’s organic — people are having a good experience.”

However, not all users report positive experiences. Some students say they encountered problems receiving their meals or refunds.

Sanjana Lingham, a third-year philosophy major, first heard about OrtegaEats when the founders were tabling at the Arbor. Lingham alleged that she has not gotten a refund for an unfulfilled meal. 

“They told me there had been a little bit of a bug going on, but they’re able to refund and I said, ‘I’d like a refund.’ They then responded by sending an email, which I had already done. I still got no response. And they told me they didn’t get my email,” Lingham said.

Gabbay and Hargreaves noted that the app was built in roughly a month and ongoing improvements are part of the process. As more students use the platform, new challenges have continued to surface.

Although the app is not currently generating profits, the founders say the experience has been valuable for gaining skills in entrepreneurship and marketing. They hope to contribute to a more innovative startup culture at UCSB, drawing inspiration from universities like UC Berkeley.

According to the creators, OrtegaEats represents an effort to support students facing financial challenges. They emphasized that they do not intend to scam users and that any suspicious activity will result in a ban from the platform. They encourage users experiencing issues to contact them via email and said they aim to respond quickly. Looking ahead, the team hopes to expand the app’s reach and continue improving its functionality.

“The three of us are just focused on creating great products that people use and that can really help students’ lives,” Gabbay said.

A version of this article appeared on p. 4 of the April 30, 2026 print edition of the Daily Nexus.