Introduction
The lunch special is a time-limited set menu, often offering at noon. The set meal usually contains a dish and rice, and the price of set meals is cheaper than ordering the dish individually. The amount of dish is less than the individual one, but it’s enough for a hungry student. Most popular dishes are in lunch specials. There are two types of lunch specials near PITT: one is a set menu, and another one is the lunch buffet.
Set Menu
There are two restaurants offering set menu: Sichuan Gourmet and Hunan Bar. They provide traditional Chinese food and American style Chinese food. Sichuan Gourmet also has xi’an food, such as hand-made noodles w.oil sauce and Chinese burger:
The price in Sichuan Gourmet is $6.99, and price in Hunan Bar is between $6-8. From my experience, I recommend Sichuan Gourmet since the serving speed in Hunan Bar is unstable. The waiting time varies a lot, depending on the number of customers. Also, you may sit with others in the same table in Hunan Bar when there is no two or four dining table. There is no difference in food amount and taste in two restaurants.
Buffets
There are two buffets near PITT: Golden Palace Buffet and Top Shabu-Shabu & Lounge. They offer buffet from noon to night, and the price is $8 to $12 depending on serving time. The lunch special in Golden Palace is from 11 am to 3:30 pm, and dinner special is from 3:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Top Shabu-Shabu & Lounge opens from 11 am to 10 pm. The pictures below are dishes in two restaurants. The left one is from Golden Palace Buffet, and the right one is from Top Shabu-Shabu & Lounge:
In Golden Palace, there are fruits, vegetable dishes, tofu, chicken and beef dishes. For vegetarians, it’s a good place to go. Clean and quiet environment, you can pick whatever you want. There is no time limitation. They also offer free drinks and soup, with fried rice, noodles, and egg rolls. In Top Shabu-Shabu & Lounge, you can pick three dishes, one soup, rice or egg rolls. Personally, I think the taste in Top Shabu-Shabu & Lounge is better than Golden Palace. Both restaurants also offer other dishes. In Top Shabu-Shabu & Lounge, there are hot-pot, Korean BBQ, Malatang, and skewer.
Tip: Go with friends and enjoy a half-price feast!
Reference of Pictures:
[1] Popular, All, Sichuan Food, Staple| Rice|Noodles, Beef Lamb, Chicken Poultry, Fish Seafood, and Egg Dairy et al. 2015. “Biang Biang Mian (Biang Biang Noodles) | China Sichuan Food”. Chinasichuanfood.Com. Accessed October 23 2018. https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/biang-biang-mian-biang-biang-noodles/.
[2] 2018. Washington Post. Accessed October 22 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/restaurants/at-these-two-favorite-restaurants-be-careful-what-you-order/2017/09/13/78b76e74-94b5-11e7-aace-04b862b2b3f3_story.html?utm_term=.ad2a90daec9d.
[3] W., Caitlin, Caitlin W., Renee T., Renee T., Nancy Y., Nancy Y., Jonathan H., and Jonathan H. 2018. “Golden Palace Buffet 3607 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA Restaurants – Mapquest”. Mapquest.Com. Accessed October 22 2018. https://www.mapquest.com/us/pennsylvania/golden-palace-buffet-345853312.
[4] 2018. Plus.Google.Com. Accessed October 23 2018. https://plus.google.com/photos/photo/112065125295598962602/6470885881048473250.
