Guest Writer Paulina Bertilsson and Deputy Editor Sophie Conrad take on the best discounted Morningside Heights restaurants.

Sophie: It’s Restaurant Week, which means student discounts! You can eat in the area and stray from the meal plan guilt free! We’ve gone to some of the classic and most delicious spots around Columbia to give you our hot takes—is the discount worth a visit? These discounts will be offered until January 29th, so try them out this weekend!

Paulina: Me being a college student who can’t eat out everyday and has to ingest the redundant dining hall food (it’s great for the first two weeks) I was more than happy when I found out about the discount week held by restaurants around Columbia University. Thus, I took my piggy bank, broke it in half and set sail to the food stores!

Calaveras: 25% Student Discount

Paulina: This modern Mexican restaurant is a must try for all students. Their fresh drinks and wide selections of appetizers will make you try everything on the menu! I personally recommend all the tapas because they taste like heaven in a bite, especially the Quesabirria which gives me life and is a perfect pre-exam meal to get all fired up.

The colorful decorations of the restaurant and the fun event list which they have such as Taco Tuesday or Open Mic night make the spot welcoming and full of entertainment. It is a bit of a walk but it is very much worth it so go for it!

Taco Tuesday is 3 tacos and a margarita for $20– go get those tacos!

Fumo UWS: 20% Student Discount

Sophie: Fumo. The classic spot for $12 pasta on Tuesdays. Now, I have only been to Fumo once, and was assigned a very funny waiter who just stared at our table the entire time and was very confused when my friend asked for a lemon slice in her water. I would highly recommend the pasta carbonara. 

La Salle Dumpling: 20% Student Discount

Sophie: The BEST dumpling spot around. Yes, it’s a bit of a trek from campus, but if you’re studying in Teacher’s College and need the excuse to get out and about, the food is incredible. The scallion pancakes? Delectable. The fried rice? To die for. The best part about the food is that it’s great to go, meaning you can take it back to the library with you. 

Pisticci: 20% Student Discount

Sophie: Pisticci is my number one recommendation for everyone at Barnumbia. They have the BEST pasta around, incredible appetizers, and the cutest blue storefront you’ll ever see. I’ve never sat down, ordered, and had the pasta in front of me so quickly. The moment you eat the ‘Prosciutto e Spinaci’ pasta, you will ascend. It’s just that good. Cutest date spot, relatively affordable, and incredible for hot summer nights when you can sit outside. 

Paulina: When I think of Pisticci I think of Rome and the beautiful streets filled with restaurants. Pisticci is a perfect embodiment of a good Italian restaurant, the familiar scent of pasta and the incredible quality of the food makes it a must-try for all you hungry students out there. The cozy yet discrete atmosphere adds to the experience of the whole restaurant, and their tiramisu is delicious – your Nonna will be proud of it! 

Perfect date spot for all you lovers out there, especially with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, go take your significant other for a meal to die for.

The Chick Inn: 20% Student Discount

Sophie: What do you do when you have COVID-19, are trapped in Barnard quarantine, and you’re rolling in Seamless money gift cards from PCHS? You order from that one place you keep seeing on TikTok, The Chick Inn. Now, granted, the food was delivery, so I’m sure it would be a bit crispier in person, and I had no appetite because I had COVID-19. This place has gone viral for the chicken, so I’m sure it’s amazing. Check it out!

Kyuramen: 20% Student Discount

Paulina: Have you ever had a good bowl of ramen? Have you ever drank that broth and said damn that hits the spot? Do you love a good noodle soup? Well, Kyuramen is good, but doesn’t quite hit the spot that their price range suggests. 

Kyuramen: The restaurant located on the lower part of Broadway welcomes you with a cozy atmosphere and with the smell of a good bowl of soup. People are chatting and you feel welcomed as the waiter asks for your order. The tonkatsu, the baos, the noodles and ramen aroma transports you to a place with no worries, a place where comfort and joy are found in food. However, when my ramen came I smelled a smell that I would very much like to un-smell – the smell of pickled bamboo- as it ripped me away from that place of comfort that I had just set myself in. 

Unfortunately, I am not a fan of bamboo sprouts, yet I persevered as I chugged down the bowl of soup, noodles and the pickled egg, which was in fact amazingly delicious, hoping to not swallow some bamboo sprouts while I was eating away. So, needless to say the ramen was good, and the prices are reasonable for what you get; this won’t be the biggest portion of ramen you get but it will for sure be a tasty one! So the lesson to learn from this one is : DO NOT EAT THE BAMBOO SPROUTS unless you are superhuman and love them.

In conclusion, Kyuramen is a great spot for tired college students and their food tastes good for the most part , so I definitely recommend checking it out!

Mel’s Burger Bar: 15% Student Discount

Sophie: Ah yes, Mel’s, where freshmen get trashed during NSOP. But have you ever had their Au Jus burger and fries? Their burgers are so damn good, and the ambience is lovely if you’re there early in the day. 

Chowbus: 25% Student Discount

Paulina: Not a restaurant, but an amazing app for us college students whose only issue is delivery fees! The delivery service is too pricey around here. No one wants to pay 25$ for their fries and the only convenient time to use the app is when you get a discount which we did this time but that wouldn’t happen all the time. This app for me is not as good as Uber Eats where you find some good spots with free delivery while Chowbus is less likely to have that and as I browsed the platform it has been common that people complain about the wait time which is longer than what you see on uber eats.

However, Chowbus allows you to order some really good Asian food so I would not miss the opportunity to use their discount to enjoy a good meal!

Pisticci via Bwog Archives