<p>I will be bringing my D to visit CMU in a few weeks. We will be arriving early afternoon and will probably drive through the campus to see it and then see a little bit of the city. For dinner I would like to take her to a restaurant that is near CMU, that CMU students would go to for dinner. A funky/trendy type place for students. Is there something that anyone would suggest?</p>
<p>The next day we will do the campus tour and residence hall tour. After that will we be allowed to wander in the CFA buildings to check them out? </p>
<p>For Chinese, try Lulu’s noodles on Craig Street, and get dessert afterwards at Razzy Fresh a few stores up. That’s a pretty CMU thing to do, especially since it’s really the closest “restaurant” within price range near the school. This is what I recommend, since Lulu’s is pretty funky/trendy and has a really wide offering of good food at low prices.</p>
<p>If you’re in the mood for Sushi, Sushi Too in Shadyside is also pretty popular. Shadyside also has the Walnut Grill or Cappy’s, both of which are generic burger/fries pub places. </p>
<p>Primanti Bros is a Pittsburgh special, but personally I’m not a big fan of it. They are the supposed inventors of the “fry sandwich,” where you get a giant sandwich of your choice with french fries layered inside. Dave & Andy’s, the homemade ice cream shoppe, is also across the street.</p>
<p>And yes, you will be allowed to walk around inside CFA freely. Check out the architecture on the first floor - it’s neat, and you’ll hear more about it on the campus tour.</p>
<p>If you get a chance to go to Mount Washington area and look at the view and ride the Incline Plane - I would do so - it’s a great view and fun thing to do while in Pittsburgh. Also, Carnegie Museum is right next door to CMU - so if you have extra timeand want to check that out. My son found college visits more fun to check out some of the touristy things to do. mdmomfromli - I have one at CMU and one at Pitt (right down the street)It’s a great college town. Agree with previous posts above - I might lean towards some of the places on Craig Street (LuLu’s Noodles) or go into Shadyside. Recently ate at the Union Grill on Craig Street and that was very good.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the restaurant suggestions. I will check them out. We are planning on riding the incline. I did that about 25 years ago when I last visited Pittsburgh! </p>
<p>I really hope D loves CMU (and that she gets in). I think it would be perfect for her. But I am only her mom…what do I know?</p>
<p>If you go to the Union Grill be sure to either get the waffle fries or the smashed potatoes.</p>
<p>For breakfast you can go to Pamela’s either in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, or Oakland (all neighborhoods I think you should visit while at CMU since students typically spend a fair amount of time in each). Try out their crepe pancakes.</p>
<p>Also, be aware there’s not much to see on campus just by driving through (I guess there’s that terrible statue now…).</p>
<p>Yeah, I forgot to mention that - good point, Racin. There is no road through campus so to speak, so driving through isn’t really an option since it’s mostly a campus with walking paths through it. </p>
<p>You could drive down Forbes or something, but you’d only see AEPi, Morewood Gardens, and I guess the UC and Warner. Four of the least exciting buildings on campus. (Sorry AEPi.)</p>
<p>Well OP will be taking a campus tour the next day so she and her D will get to see more of the campus. I’m assuming the first day is just the first impression sort of a thing. </p>
<p>Ditto on the Lulu’s place. You can also check out Phipps Conservatory behind CMU. It’s a small botanical garden type thing that’s pretty popular amongst CMU kids. </p>
<p>Haha, you have so many suggestions that I don’t think you’ll be able to do them all during your time here. Good luck choosing and have a safe trip to CMU!</p>
<p>When we visited, we walked around campus a tiny bit the first day (arriving in the late afternoon), then had dinner locally - nice, basic Italian in the area near campus with lots of food and some shopping. The Phipps is very nice - you can easily walk there from campus. Do the dorm part of the tour too.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the great suggestions. We will be arriving on a Monday, probably around 2 pm. Unfortunately, it looks like the museums are closed on Monday’s. I think we will go to the Phipps Conservatory after we get there since it is open on Mondays. Probably then have dinner at Lu Lu’s followed by dessert at Razzy’s. Then go to the incline. It will probably be dark by the time we get there, is that ok? </p>
<p>Tuesday morning we will do the campus tour and dorm tour, then wander around CFA for a little bit and have lunch at the university center. D is a junior, so if she likes CMU she will be back senior year for a sleeping bag weekend and portfolio review. </p>
<p>We will drive around all of the neighborhoods even if we don’t have time to walk them. We are both getting excited for the visit.</p>
<p>The incline is open until something like 12:30 AM, so it won’t be a problem. Pittsburgh is a fantastic city to see at night from the incline, especially if it’s a cool crisp one.</p>
<p>(If you want to take a picture from the top, put a 5 second timer on your camera, rest it on the railing (with your hand through a lanyard or something), gently press the capture button, and let it go for a little while. I’ve gotten some really pretty shots from up there in the past.)</p>
<p>We are heading to CMU on Monday and as I finallize our plans I think we may arrive early enough on Monday to grab lunch at Pamela’s. Which location should we go to?</p>
<p>The shadyside one seems to have better food…but the wait can be as long as 45 minutes if you arrive 10-12ish…lighter wait after that. </p>
<p>The location near U of Pitt never seems to have a wait-- but we personally don’t find it as tasty. Not sure why that is the case as the menu is the same.</p>
<p>We’ve been to the Shadyside and Squirrel Hill Pamela’s several times, and greatly prefered Shadyside; food was the same at both but Shadyside had a better space and service. Never been to the one down Forbes by Pitt. You should have no problem with a table on a Monday; the long waits are on the weekend.</p>
<p>Did you know that President Obama invited the owners of Pamela’s to come to the White House and cook pancakes? That is how much he likes them!
It is a very common place for candidates and politicians…on Sunday, Dan Onorato, the Democratic gubanatorial candidate stopped by the Strip District location, along with Senator Casey.
Hope you liked the pancakes too!</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the helpful hints for visiting CMU. We had a great time. On Monday we arrived around 1 and went to Pamela’s in Shadyside. Had a great lunch. We did have breakfast for lunch. The pancakes are as good as everyone says. We also thought the home fries were delish! </p>
<p>The girls wanted to do a little shopping in some of the stores around Pamela’s. We walked around a little bit, they bought some stuff, then I hit my limit. We can shop at home! We then headed over to the Phipps Conservatory. We enjoyed the visit. Finallly went and checked into the hotel. We stayed at the new Springhill Suites in Bakery Square. Very nice modern hotel. Free parking and wifi! Had dinner at Lu Lu’s. We all really enjoyed that. It was FREEZING Monday night, so we decided to skip the incline. </p>
<p>Tuesday we did the campus tour of CMU. Very impressed with the campus. I thought it was a really nice size and when you are on campus, you don’t even realize you are in the middle of a city. When we were in CFA, D looked around and said she could see herself there. </p>
<p>Overall, we really liked the campus and the city. Looking foward to returning next year with D for the portfolio review.</p>
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