Paprika Kicked Off of Caf Card for Apparently Double-Charging Students, Restaurant Blames Caf Card System Glitch

In an email to the student body, Dean of Students Dr. Chaim Nissel announced that “Paprika restaurant is no longer participating with the YU Dining plan.” This means that students will no longer be able to use their Caf Cards at the midtown restaurant.

The Mediterranean-style kosher restaurant was added to the Dining Club during the Fall 2017 semester, shortly after it opened next door to Brookdale Hall by the Beren campus.

According to Director of Dining Services Sam Chasan, Paprika was removed from the Dining Club following a series of complaints from students who claimed that their Caf Cards were charged twice for the same order. A review of student transactions at the restaurant by the YUCard Coordinator Sandhya Leonard confirmed the double-charges.

According to Ms. Leonard, some of the charges occurred between the hours of 2:00 and 6:00 AM, well past the store’s 9:00 PM closing time. She said that it was unclear whether those charges were made manually or by a glitch in the restaurant’s charging system.

Dining Services contacted Paprika, who denied intentionally mischarging students. Paprika owner David Yazen explained that the tablet that the store uses to charge students was locked inside the store during the time that the charges occurred. According to Yazen, video evidence shows that the tablet was unused at the times when the erroneous charges were made.

“Paprika removed the tablet,” said Yazen, “because the university … asked us to refrain from using the tablet until an investigation can be concluded to determine what went wrong with the mystery charges.”

Yazen stated there were four suspicious charges in question, spanning from January 30 to March 2.

Evidence of the double-charges prompted YU Dining Services to remove the restaurant from the Dining Club for the time being. Yazen hopes that the matter will be resolved and that the restaurant will be reinstated in the Caf Card program. He explained, “The card is a service to the students, it’s better for the students to be able to use it when they come to [Paprika].”

Mr. Yazen and Ms. Leonard are going meet at Paprika to review the tapes tomorrow, in an attempt to resolve the issue. This is part of the ongoing investigation to determine the extent of the double-charging, and to decide whether or not Paprika’s removal from the Dining Club will be temporary or permanent.

Mr. Chasan said students whose cards were charged multiple times would have their Caf Cards refunded.