Pittsburgh has so many amazing food places on and off campus. The different neighborhoods around campus, such as Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and South Side, offer many different types of restaurants.

After being here at Pitt for almost two years now, I think I have established a few favorites over the course of that time.

Thai Noodle Outlet

My roommate and I love to try different types of food and are always looking for new places to try. One of our all-time favorite places is Thai Noodle Outlet on Forbes Avenue, and we’ve even made it a tradition to go every Sunday for dinner. We started going during our first year because it was snowing and very cold and we were craving noodle curry. I always get the Green Curry Noodles while my roommate gets the Red Curry Noodles, and it’s our all-time favorite. We go so often that the owner of the restaurant knows us by name and our order by heart which is amazing!

Roots Natural Kitchen

My favorite quick and close food place on campus would have to be Roots Natural Kitchen on Forbes. I always get the El Jefe bowl with barbecue tofu, and it is so good. I’ve never had barbecue tofu before so this was definitely a little out of my comfort zone, but I love it. They make the bowls so quickly and the staff is so nice as well. I also really like their classic Roots Bowl because it has dried cranberries, and I think that is so different to put in a rice bowl like that. It has the perfect mix of subtle sweet but also spicy.

Tocayo

We recently went to a restaurant called Tocayo on Ivy Street in Shadyside to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and Tocayo’s food had us all in love. Their Chicken Chorizo and Shrimp Tacos were amazing. Obviously we had to get dessert for the birthday girl, so we tried the Espresso Lava Cake which was our favorite by far. We love trying the same dessert but in different restaurants to compare the taste and how much we like it, and this place definitely has the best lava cake. Since it is a Mexican restaurant, they served us chips and salsa, which were also very good and I would definitely go back very soon.

Nicky’s Thai Kitchen

Our favorite place Downtown is Nicky’s Thai Kitchen on Penn Avenue, which has never failed to amaze us. Their food is a little bit on the pricier side but the quality is amazing. I love their Spicy Noodle dish and the Spicy Basil Fried Rice. My favorite dessert there is the Mango Sticky Rice, which may not sound like a dessert but it is so yummy!

Out of all of the different restaurants in Pittsburgh on and off campus, I could not pick my favorite if I ever had to. The food here is so special and different that I want to try as many places as possible before I graduate. I’m definitely very lucky to have a roommate who is also willing to try different food places with me so I’m not alone. Our next restaurant we want to try is täkō on 214 6th St. located in downtown Pittsburgh and we are very excited!

Shriya writes about things to do when snowed in and how you can make the most out of it at the University of Pittsburgh. Talk to them at [email protected].