The numbers
Mensa meal, Tariffa B
Official€4.70 full · €3.50 reduced
What every first-year student pays until 31 December 2026, whatever their income. Tariffs are fixed per calendar year.
Mensa meal without the app
Official€8.50 full · €7.00 reduced
Tariffa E, charged to anyone who arrives without ESUPd.EAT or a paper voucher.
Mensa switches on
Official48 to 72 hours after your first ESU login
Only once you are enrolled with your fees paid, and only if your name and date of birth match Uniweb exactly.
University canteens in and around Padova
Official7: six in the city, one at Agripolis
Two are run by ESU itself (Nord Piovego and Agripolis) and five are affiliated, one of them only for medical students. Older guides still list San Francesco and Marzolo; ESU's own list no longer does.
How it goes
Enrol and pay your fees first
The canteen only switches on for students who are enrolled for the year and have paid the regional tax for the right to study. At UNIPD that tax is already included in your enrolment fees, so paying the first instalment is what matters.
First instalment due:30 September 2026Log in to ESU's Sportello Studente with your details exactly as on Uniweb
Your first access to 's student portal starts the activation. The name, surname and date of birth you use must match what UNIPD holds exactly, or ESU cannot activate the service. Names transliterated from another alphabet are easy to spell two ways, so copy them from rather than typing them from memory.
Mensa switches on:48 to 72 hours after your first ESU loginInstall ESUPd.EAT and link it
Once the service is active, link the ESUPd.EAT app. It holds your personal QR code, which you show at the till, and an electronic wallet you can top up. Medical and healthcare students also use it to book a meal at the hospital canteen, where booking is required.
At the counter: one tray, show the QR, pay
You get one lunch and one dinner a day. A full meal is a first course, a second course, a side, bread, fruit or coffee, and a drink. A reduced meal drops either the first or the second course and is only served at Nord Piovego, Agripolis and authorised affiliates. Pizza at Nord Piovego counts as a full meal.
Mensa meal, Tariffa B:€4.70 full · €3.50 reducedRistorESU Nord PiovegoViale Giuseppe Colombo 1, PadovaLunch 11:30 to 14:30Open in Maps →Apply for benefits to move to a cheaper tariff
Your tariff comes from your and your credits, through the Richiesta di Agevolazioni on Uniweb, the same request used for the regional scholarship. First-year students pay Tariffa B until 31 December whatever their income. From January the tariff is recalculated from the scholarship results, and scholarship winners get their first meal of the day free. Your current tariff is shown in the Studente under Saldo Borsellino e Tariffa.
Mensa meal, Tariffa A:€2.70 full · €2.00 reducedMensa meal, Tariffa C:€5.70 full · €4.60 reducedRegional scholarship winners:First meal of the day free
What actually goes wrong
Collected from students who hit these. This section is the reason to read the page twice.
Turning up without the app
Without ESUPd.EAT or a paper voucher you are charged Tariffa E, the highest tariff, instead of the first-year rate. Link the app before your first meal, not at the till.
Letting a friend eat on your QR code
Access codes are strictly personal. Someone else using yours switches your service off for 20 days with a €20 fine, and three such penalties during your degree switch it off for good.
Saving a table or sharing a meal
Occupying a table before collecting your food, splitting a meal with someone, or bringing food in from outside are all against ESU's rules.
Following an old list of canteens
Guides online still send people to San Francesco and Marzolo. ESU's current list does not include them. Use the list on our Living here page or ESU's own page before crossing the city at lunchtime.
Where this comes from
Reviewed every 120 days. Something changed? Tell us.