Students can now go online to order their meals instead of dealing with busy signals and fast food employees answering the phone.

On Aug. 24, Campusfood.com expanded its nationwide business to Iowa State. It is one of several online ordering services available to ISU students.

According to its Web site, the company partners with area restaurants to make ordering food easier and cheaper, managing Internet ordering for more than 1,000 restaurants at 200 schools nationwide.

Kei Kuo, owner of Golden Wok, 223 Welch Ave., said he has seen a number of online fast food companies set up in Ames and fail.

“I don’t think this company will survive, because they don’t spend enough money on advertising,” Kuo said.

Jessica Winer, marketing associate for Campusfood.com, said the company decided to expand to Iowa State because it has had success at other schools with similar demographics.

“I didn’t even know there was online ordering,” said Katie Westerheide, sophomore in management.

HungryInAmes.com offers menus from Hickory Park, 1404 S. Duff Ave., and Happy Joe’s, 551 S. Duff Ave.

DaVinci’s, 2514 Chamberlain St., is a leader in offering online ordering. It launched their online ordering services five years ago in March. DaVinci’s receives thousands of online orders a month.

“What we found was that the customers like to take time to make their order. With online ordering, they are able to see all that we offer,” Kevin Knudson, owner of daVinci’s.

Most of the Web sites require clients to register for the services.

After registering on the Web site, all customers need to do is sign in and decide what to eat.

“I would definitely use it (Campusfood.com) to avoid listening to operators or being put on hold,” said Sharla Schlake, freshman in elementary education. “Plus, if I was sitting at home and I didn’t know the number, I could just use Campusfood.com.”

Now, students can order from Pita Pit, 114 Welch Ave.; Domino’s Pizza, 118 Hayward Ave.; Golden Wok, 223 Welch Ave.; Godfather’s Pizza, 414 Lincoln Way; Gumby’s Pizza, 526 Main St., and Valentino’s, 2500 Ferndale Ave., through the Web site.

Winer said that the service is very popular. In one night at Kansas State, more than 500 orders were placed through Campusfood.com.

“The only thing that would worry me is if something was wrong with the computer and you were waiting for the food or something,” Schlake said.