The battle of the Kosher Korners is cooking along Forbes Avenue.

This fall, students, faculty and employees at both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University will have kosher food service on their campuses. And both are called Kosher Korner.

Pitt has had some type of kosher food service available for a number of years -- ranging from a kosher meal plan at UPMC Montefiore to a six-week experiment with a local kosher catering company -- but didn't settle on its current program until last month.

Carnegie Mellon's kosher program began in February.

"I think it makes these universities more attractive to Jewish students who would not have been able to attend before" because of the lack of kosher food, said Aaron Weil, executive director of The Hillel Jewish University Center, one of the organizations spearheading both efforts.

Weil mentioned Ohio State University, Boston University, the University of Maryland and the University of Michigan as schools similar to Pitt but with kosher food programs.

"Pitt already was on par in academics with those schools," he said. "But for kids who had issues with the lack of kosher food, [Pitt] was not an option."

Pitt's Kosher Korner is in Eddie's cafeteria in Litchfield Towers. The setup lacks Carnegie Mellon's 10-foot salad bar. Both feature fresh entrees delivered three times weekly from the Jewish Association on Aging's kosher kitchen.

Pitt's offerings will be supplemented by Sabra brand spreads and salads, desserts, drinks and frozen entrees.

The corner also includes a microwave, a refrigerator, a freezer and shelves of kosher dried goods.

Martin Millner, resident district manager for Sodexho, the company that handles Pitt's dining services, said the Kosher Korner did about $1,000 of business each week from April through the end of classes in May.

"The students have been very excited about the program," he said.