What’s better than cheap acai bowls? Expensive ones! All joking aside, I mentioned Bowls @ South a couple of blogs ago. However, Bowls isn’t open on the weekends, and neither are a lot of breakfast places in south. So, after a trip downtown, a few friends and I decided to get some Playa Bowls. Now, I have a Playa Bowls in my hometown, and I absolutely love them, but they’re expensive. It’s not any different here. While they have a much larger selection, the bowls cost on average $9-$13. I got a Nutaya Pitaya Bowl for $13. You can order in-person or online, so I opted for the in-person ordering. It was very efficient, so 10/10 for convenience. However, $13 for a bowl is a little more on the expensive side, so 6/10 for price. The bowls here are decorated very differently from the ones in my hometown; however, both are equally delicious. The fruit and pitaya base were definitely fresher than Redifer’s bowls. So, overall, 10/10 for taste. Personally, I love the way the stores are decorated. They’re always so cute and colorful! All the other customers also seemed happy to be there, so, 10/10 for environment. Overall, Playa Bowls deserves an 8/10.

Photo of the Inside of State College’s Playa Bowls | Image credits: Usarestaurants.info

Speaking of expensive things: the HUB. Since the HUB is so convenient, there are no MealPlan/Lioncash discounts and that includes Panda Express. At Panda Express, you order kind of the same way you would order a hoagie at Subway, except it’s more rice and bowls then hoagies and lettuce. It was super convenient to order my rice and chicken teriyaki bowl; like 10/10 convenient. However, it did cost like $12, so that was 7/10. The food was really good (8/10). I ate with a friend in the HUB, and as you all probably know by now, the HUB is a central place for all activities: for people studying, for friends to catch up, & for clubs to host arts & crafts activities. The HUB’s bustling energy in the HUB made it a 10/10 environment.

Panda Express | Image Credits: Karoline Roettger’s Blog Post

Now we’re going to talk about Piatto Felice in Redifer. Piatto Felice is not expensive as it offers the 65% off MealPlan & 10% off Lioncash/Commuter MealPlan. Piatto Felice is open 12-8pm every day except Saturdays. I don’t know why they choose Saturdays as their off day, but if you are planning to get some Italian food on a Saturday, you should change your mind. Now, as far as I can tell, the only way to order the food (expect pizza) is in-person. It was super quick and convenient and the kind guy behind the counter gave me a generous serving. So, 10/10 for efficiency. I got some spaghetti and garlic bread for a total of around $3, so 10/10 yet again for the price. Now the food was decent, and the garlic bread was great. I, unfortunately, realized that I wasn’t in the mood for spaghetti that day. So, I’m giving the food an 8/10. I ate in Redifer’s Commons dining area, so 10/10 for environment. Overall, 8.5/10.

Join me again to check out more places to eat near campus!