KOSHER DINING UALBANY

First, A Little History:

For several decades, UAlbany operated an on-campus Kosher Kitchen. It closed over Covid, and instead UAlbany Dining contracted with a local Kosher deli and a caterer for packaged lunches on campus, and with Shabbos House to provide nightly hot buffet dinners as part of the meal plan at Shabbos House (Kosher on Fuller).

In 2025-2026 Year, after 4+ years of the above arrangement, Kosher Dining is returned to campus at Indigenous Quad. In 2026-2027 UAlbany’s Kosher Dining moved to the new “District East” dining hall in the Campus Center. Details below.

KOSHER LUNCH AND DINNER 

Starting in Fall 2026 there’s Kosher meals available at District East, the new Dining Hall at UAlbany’s Campus Center. Ask for them at the “Nosh Bar”. Freshly made, delivered to campus twice daily for lunch and dinner.

It’s a regular meal-swipe, or with Damien-dollars, with no extra charge for Kosher. No RSVP is necessary at this time, but campus dining will revise ordering numbers based on usage.

Cold LUNCHES Monday-Friday 11:00am to 2:30pm
Hot DINNERS Sunday thru Thursday 4pm to 7:30pm

These packaged Kosher meals are prepared by local caterer “518-Kosher” under Vaad Hakashruth Kosher supervision, freshly made and delivered to campus twice daily.

 

“KOSHER ON FULLER” – is no longer available as Kosher Dining has returned to campus! 

FAQ’S 

We will add to this as questions come in… 

WHAT ABOUT BREAKFAST?

Students tend not to be up for breakfast, but meal swipes can be used in dining halls for Kosher items like coffee, yogurt, cereal or fruit, or Damien dollars can be used to buy a coffee or the like in the campus center.

WHAT ABOUT THE WEEKENDS?

Friday Night dinners alternate between Shabbos House Chabad (at 320 Fuller Road, near corner of Great Dane Drive) and UAlbany Hillel, usually in Campus Center Room 375. There will always be a Shabbat Dinner during the academic calendar.

Shabbat Lunches are always at Shabbos House. Lunches usually begin 12:45pm but students can come by as late as 2pm or so.

Most Saturday Nights, Shabbos House has Havdalah with fresh hot Pizza and fries, one hour after Shabbat. When Shabbat ends too late, there’s an end of Shabbat meal instead.

Sunday mornings, Shabbos House has a Minyan 11am followed by a Bagel Brunch at 12pm, open to all.

So, there’s Kosher food available all weekend, from Friday Night to Sunday noon.

HOW ABOUT JEWISH HOLIDAYS?

There won’t be Kosher meals delivered on the Jewish holidays.

Shabbos House provides holiday meals for all holidays during the academic year. This includes Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot and Simchat Torah, Passover and more. All holiday meals are at Shabbos House for both lunch and dinner. And there are also plentiful holiday celebrations for Chanukah, Tu B’shvat, Purim etc. – when during the academic calendar.

Yom Kippur pre-fast is at Shabbos House, services are on campus, and break-fast by Hillel.

DO I NEED TO SIGN UP FOR A KOSHER MEAL PLAN?

Not this year! Sign up for regular meal plans which can be used both at any dining hall or at District East dining hall in Campus Center for Kosher Lunches and Dinners.

There is no sign-up or charge for meals at Shabbos House, which is supported primarily by donations from parents, alumni, and friends.

IS “KOSHER-ON-FULLER” CONTINUING?

No. The Nightly “Kosher-on-Fuller” dinners at Shabbos House was only during those years when there wasn’t a Kosher dinner option on campus.

But Shabbos House Chabad is most certainly continuing to host many events and programs, many of which will serve food and refreshments, as is our tradition!

 

AREA KOSHER

There have been some Kosher restaurants in town that have come and gone over the years, but the local Kosher mainstay throughout has been the Kosher Market 32 / Price Chopper Supermarket (there are many Price Choppers, this one is) in Colonie NY at 1730 Central Ave in Colonie. It is well-stocked with lots of Kosher fresh, dairy and meat, frozen and shelf-stable product and features a Kosher deli counter, a Kosher bakery (breads are Pas-Yisrael, all pastries are considered dairy) and a Bagel Shop. There’s fresh Kosher sushi and other prepared foods, even a hot-food Kosher counter during department hours. The Kosher supervision is by the Vaad HaKashruth of the Capital District. You can contact the team at the Kosher Price Chopper departments by calling: 518-456-2970

LOCAL KOSHER CATERERS

518 Kosher is large scale caterer (and provider of UAlbany’s Kosher Dining meals). They do catering for synagogues and events and by demand, they have BBQ trailers, and also provide the senior meals for the JCC.

Elisheva’s Homestyle Gourmet is a local home caterer who does meals by order, with specialty meals. Can even be for one person.

Shabbos House’s “Catering by Raizy” does some local Kosher catering, as our Shabbos House schedule and availability allows. We also at times package food and meals for seniors and others who can benefit, as and when available.