By Cassie Phillips

Leaving home and moving to Quincy for college can be a significant change for any student. Finding things to do and places to eat can also create a challenge. Quincy, Illinois, is a small city but offers many restaurants, stores, and hangouts; even though many students and Quincy residents wish there were a Target!

With what Quincy does have to offer, many Quincy businesses offer student discounts. Many students either don’t know or only knew of a few businesses that provide these discounts.

“I knew that Culver’s and Qdoba offered a student discount, but I didn’t know that there was a whole list,” Laura Mackrides said.

Mackrides is a commuter senior who wanted to stay close to home for college. Some of her favorite spots in Quincy are EFB (Electric Fountain Brewing), Thyme Square, and Bailey’s Fudge and Fine Gifts.

Electric Fountain Brewing is a coffee shop located on 503 Maine St. EFB sells an assortment of coffee, tea, and espresso.

Bailey’s is another of Mackride’s favorites, it sells coffee and fudge. Bailey’s is located on 3024 Broadway street right next to Staples.

Melissa Hough is one of many QU students who did not know about these discounts.

“There are discounts? I didn’t know that, that’s cool,” Hough said.

Some of Hough’s hot spots in Quincy are EFB, Tiramisu, and the Apricot shop, which is on 6th street.

Tiramisu is an Italian/pizza restaurant located on 137 N 3rd Street. Tiramisu offers QU students a discount of 10% Monday through Thursday.

“If you can drink, the Taproom and Café is also a good place in Quincy to hang out,” Hough said.

Most college students look for ways to cut costs.

“Cheap food, like McDonald’s, that’s what we like,” Alexis Martin said.

One of Martin’s favorite places in Quincy is Walmart.

“When my friends and I hang out, we tend to stay up pretty late, and the only thing open is Walmart,” Martin said.

Student discounts include food, hotels, auto repair, and shopping.

Restaurants like Qdoba, Panda Express, and Papa John’s, also offer discounts.

Several Quincy hotels and auto repair shops offer discounts. When families come to visit, student discounts can save money on their stays. If a student’s car breaks down or needs to be repaired, some auto shops in town offer discounts.

Students need to show their student IDs to get available discounts.

Sometimes finding the right information can be difficult on the Quincy University Website.

To see the list of discounts, open the Quincy University Website, click on the search bar and type the word discounts. After searching, you should be able to click a link, which then takes you to the list that shows which business offer discounts and how much students can receive off their total.