Hunan Bar

First time to Pittsburgh and found this gem of a restuarant. We got the egg drop soup and homemade dumplings to start. Super delicious and large portions. For our main course we got the sesame chicken and beef stew fun. Large portions and also delightful. We will definitely be going back. I highly recommend 👌

An absolute gem for authentic Chinese cuisine lovers! 😍 Don't let the modest decor or occasional language barriers deter you - this place serves THE most phenomenal dishes that keep me coming back daily. The chefs masterfully blend fiery Hunan flavors, numbing Sichuan spices, and hearty Northeastern comfort food in ways that teleport me straight to China's culinary capitals. Must-tries: No 116 Steamed Fish Filet with Chopped Chilies ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Huge fish - takes two people to finish! No 130 Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Trust me, it has a beautiful name in Chinese. No 168 Sichuan Mapo Fish ⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you are hungry and don't know what to order, go for this. No 177 Double Cooked Pork Slices ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One of the most classic Chinese dishes. No 215 Double Cooked Pork Slices(Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork Slices ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Same name but totally different tastes. My favorite. No 232 So Say We All Cabbage ⭐⭐⭐ Vegetable dishes are a must too. No 244 Fish Flavor Shredded Pork ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Perfect with rice. No 254 Kung Pao Chicken ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This tastes best with extra spice! While service might require some patience (and Google Translate), every mouthwatering bite justifies the adventure. Pro tip: Come hungry and ask for the authentic Chinese food recommendation - it's where the real magic happens! 🤩

About $40/person for hotpot buffet all you can eat. The portion and taste are pretty good. Food came out quick as well. I would recommend the deep fried pork with honey glazed (guo buo ro). The table was slightly dirty with grease stain that got on my sleeves when I sat down. Fyi, dress causally and avoid wearing clothes you dont want stained.

Disappointed ☹️ I would not recommend this place. The staff is kind and accommodating but the food itself is below average. I would give this restaurant another chance if they improve on their service and especially cleanliness. Hot Pot- The spicy soup base was delicious but the white soup base was not good at all. The vegetables were fresh and the meat was good too. The stove on the table was dirty and smelled bad, probably from previous food spills. Brown Sugar Milk Boba Tea- The tea was good, a little on the sweet side but the tapioca itself tasted rubbery so it was probably old. The service was poor and the restaurant is not clean. Don’t expect a good ambiance here. I would at least expect the utensils on the table to be clean. We had to ask for the tongs and plates to he replaced because there was dried up food bits on it. The receipt included gratuity up front. Not sure why that would be the case since we were just two people.

EXCELLENT AUTHENTIC HUNAN CUISINE & Pittsburgh’s TOP CHINESE HOT POT. It’s true gustatory dining, 🙃🙃🙃 very popular to the local ethnic Chinese, Japanese and Korean emigres especially among students of the local universities. It’s very busy during the weekends. The 9-page booklet menu with large scripts is very navigable 👍, a contrast to the dizzying lists so common among the uniformly dismal Chinese-style eateries of America. It’s a home for the Traditional Chinese HotPot👏👏👏, from single (large 50-oz) bowl for the single dinner to the buffet style souping dinner for a group. The classic bone broth (Mala Tang) is a rich, yet light soup is absolutely delightful 🤩🤩🤩 Any of the single bowls are outstanding!!! Then there’s the Hunan entrees, distinguished by their thick yet silken sauces. Pairing a meat entree with a Hunan vegetable is truly extraordinary😎😎😎 Service is very good, the staff are helpful in deciding which ones to try. This is a restaurant worth several visits. Prices are very reasonable.

The food is gorgeous. Authentic Chinese Szechuan/Hunan style. Come here if you want authentic spicy Chinese food. However, the dining environment needs improvement. There is gnats flying around the restaurant, which is very annoying and disgusting. The restroom is also dirty and disgusting. I know I came here for the food not for the 5-star hotel kind of environment. But it’s the details makes the perfect!

Really great food and large portions for the price. I ordered hot and sour soup and spicy chicken, both were fantastic. Cannot recommend this place enough.

This place has very authentic food, comparable in taste to some of the places I ate at in mainland China. Service was very good and portions were very good. Would definitely come back again to try their many items offered on the menu.

Great place for all you can eat hot pot! You can choose spicy, non spicy, or both soup bases. The options are beef, lamb, shrimp, spam, fish balls, tofu, fish, mushrooms, tripe, spam, and veggies. All the food comes out at once and you can get refills. Service is quick and the staff are nice. They offered to take pictures of our group. The place is very accommodating to large groups in the back room.

Good Ayce. Not much more to say so im going to repeat this. Good Ayce. Good Ayce. Good Ayce.

The shrimp hot pot was bad. It only had four pieces of shrimp, and they weren't good. The vegetables in the soup also were not good (e.g., the mushrooms were kind of flaky), and the noodles were ok. This was probably the worst meal I've gotten going out; I maybe ate a fourth of it. The service was ok, and the interior of the restaurant is also ok, but the bathroom is super sketchy and gross. My friends who were with me also were not happy with their food.

I came here on a Saturday morning at 11am with three friends and we were seated right away. There is a hot pot buffet option in the weekends but sadly none of us were hungry enough for that so we just stuck with a couple of lattes and some light fare although we definitely wanted to go back for the hot pot! The food we got was pretty good and came out quickly. The inside is fairly large and would be a good place for a big group. I saw a fair amount of Asian people dining there which is a good sign!

The selection is good but it is hard to finish everything especially since we aren't able to choose what we get. We can reorder certain items but not every item, which takes away from the all you can eat aspect. The service is pretty quick and i do love the ambiance because it reminds me of being in China again due to the happy and cheerful atmosphere & the rotating tables.

Not much to look at on the outside, but on a dark, cold night, this was the bright spot! they have smaller tables in the front and round tables for larger groups in the back section. Our group was largely new to hot pot, I enjoyed this type of meal while living abroad in China many years ago. We ordered half spicy and half plain broth, which sits on a burner. As a group, we got the "buffet" meaning that we received a little bit of everything! You put the meats and fish and veggies in to cook as needed. It felt authentic, like I stepped out of Pittsburgh and back into China! Ingredients tasted fresh and high quality. I would recommend to anyone wanting a new food experience! Beware, the spicy broth is VERY spicy. There's no alcohol on site, but a beer distributor close by, and you can BYOB. Loved the spot, definitely a hidden gem of Oakland!

Our first hot pot experience!!! Our friends came with us and recommended hunan bar for a good hot pot spot in pittsburgh! As soon as we walked in, the space was small but completely full of people enjoying their meals! We ordered the unlimited hot pot combo with both spicy and not spicy broths so we could try everything! They brought out a bunch of vegetables, seafood, meat, and noodles! Everything was so delicious, and when we wanted more, they were quick to resupply us as well! This was such an enjoyable meal, as we were able to eat for about 2 hours in peace (which is my kind of happy place) I highly recommend hunan bar for a delicious hot pot in the Pittsburgh area, and I want to come back to try some of their other dishes!

Service might not be good but I understand it is in the hustling bustling city. Food is good but becomes a bit pricy now. I love coming here once in a while when my Chinese Mainland stomach gets homesick.

This place is a go-to classic! I love coming here with friends or on cold winter nights. I've always gotten the beef mala hot pot medium spice, and while the spice does vary sometimes, it's quite spicy. I have a pretty big appetite and can usually turn mala leftovers into an entire meal the next day. They give a nice portion of meat, various veggies and tofu toppings, and more. A lot of people have made comments about the service but I've been coming here for about a year now and have never had issues with rudeness or lack of water--if anything, they sometimes even refill our water as we're signing the bill and still recovering from the spice.

We had a fun time with the hot pot here. We ordered the C3 which had the spicy broth on one side and the white broth on the other side. Both broths were tasty and we loved the variety in meat and vegetables. My personal favorite was the lamb, and my fiancé's favorite was the tofu. The only downside was the service. They handed the hot spot materials to us without any explanation. We didn't know how long to cook the items, we had to request dishware, etc... Other than that, it was a nice hot pot experience in Pittsburgh.

Amazing food. I cannot suggest this place enough. Very low key interior but this food absolutely does not disappoint. They're spicier than most US folx tastes, so keep that in mind when ordering. They use mouth numbing spices. I personally loved it but if you're not in the mood for real fire that night I'd suggest their lowest spice level. Don't forget to tip :)

Beef Hot Pot. 4star Steamed Fish. 6star(wish I could giving 6) I plan to come back again with my friends and my wife

The food is incredibly well seasoned and flavorful. The price is not exorbitant in the least bit.

Great restaurant! Food is delicious here! Very authentic Chinese food. We have had several dish items from their menu and have yet to be disappointed. From their beverages (including their boba teas), their appetizers, soups and main dishes, everything is delicious. My favorite is their hot pots, especially their beef hot pots. Choose your spice wisely, I have made the mistake of choosing spicy and my stomach and tongue paid for the price. From the tender beef, the noodles, the broth and the vegetables, everything is delicious! Their general tso's prawns are also delicious! Another one of my favorite entree items from their menu. As for the restaurant, its pretty small but its able to fit a lot customers. Servers are very amiable! Overall, great Chinese food. Food is delicious, from their soups to their entrees. I have yet to have an entree/dish on their menu that was not good. One of my go to restaurants when I am craving Chinese food.

I came here for the hot for two and the food came out pretty quick and in a pretty good portion, just right for the price. The spicy broth was delicious and paired great with the meats and veggies they gave us. The service, however, was another story. Right off the bat when we tried to ask questions about the menu but the waitress just seemed annoyed and answered without really understanding our question and we were left confused. Every time we wanted to call over the waitress was such a hassle and even refilling water was difficult and really soured the experience especially when eat salty and spicy food. It really felt like the servers actively avoided eye contact. Then on top of all of that they added an automatic 20% gratuity for our party of two after another battle to get the attention of a server for a check. The food was good for its price but the service is quite painful.

A very honest opinion from a Chinese person who has ate at many many Chinese restaurants: this is perhaps the worst food and service I have ever gotten. Two of my friends and I got the all you can eat hot pot option. One of my friends got food poisoning; he was throwing up while we walked back to CMU. They also append automatic tip to your subtotal (20%?) for shitty service. We tried ordering extra food, which only came after they said "oh sorry we forgot about you guys", like what? And no water refills or checking in on us either. Terrible service and we had to pay above average tip for it. And then our other friends who got the other food disliked it; one of them didn't even begin with eating because it was so bad. No service on that front either: no water refills, not even a check without us first asking (there was barely anyone at the restaurant at this time too). So bottom line is I am never coming back here again and I advise against anyone who comes. Overpriced, bad service, and not clean food.

This is one of the most authentic Chinese restaurants in Pittsburgh. I've never had anything on their menu that wasn't good. Today I got the Egg Drop Soup and Zha Jiang Noodles with Meat and Bean Paste. This noodle dish is one of my favorite Asian dishes and they do it well. The prices are also really decent- especially for the large portion sizes you get. I will definitely return in the future to try more items on their menu.

Food was below average and costed a fortune. The service was OK, staff was rude when taking our check and overall seemed like they had a bad attitude once we started leaving. The tip is included with the hotpot and the pricing on the menu is very convoluted and confusing. My stomach was not feeling good after this experience and I cannot recommend coming here.

The restaurant has very BAD service, we asked the younger waitress about the tip about the hotpot, she is very impatient and end her talk by '听明白了吗？' which is very 搞笑 and impolite. I can't understand why chinese people in chinese restauranttreat chinese people so bad, 什么玩意...

0 stars awful horrendous, the workers were so incredibly rude, gave us food we didn't even want and the bill was $200... with a required tip. Absolutely no one come here.

Came here with some friends for hot pot and we had a great time! The amount they give you is huge and and it was super exciting seeing the massive plate brought in, and I really appreciated the big variety of meat, fish balls, and vegetables. They have a small table with sauces and ingredients you can mix together. Price is pretty good for all you can eat hot pot! You don't choose, and instead they just bring out the entire huge platter out at once, so I would recommend coming with more friends if you want all you can eat. We didn't quite manage to finish which felt kind of bad since the leftover ingredients can't be packed away or anything. Not the most clean and hip looking of places but food was great I'll definitely be back!

They bring out a huge platter of food if you get AYCE. The spicy broth is extremely spicy and numbing!! We loved all the different choices with fish cake, meatballs, rice cake, mushroom, Bok Choy, cabbage, lamb, beef, winter melon, shrimp, fish filet, imitation crab, and tofu. They have a sauce station where you can make you own sauces and add whatever you prefer. The place is not extremely clean but if you want some authentic Chinese hot pot this is the place to go. Our servers were very nice and they constantly asked if we needed anything and came to refill water. We all left with a full and happy stomach!

Authentic hot pot spot! We ordered half spicy half white and got all you can eat buffet. It was a whole lot of food, so make sure you're starving before you go.

stomachache almost every time after dining in here. If you are just having malatang, It's usually fine. But anything else... extreme stomachache. It's not because of the spicy food. I've tried all Chinese restaurants that serve spicy food in town, and this is the only one that consistently makes my tummy hurt. Plus... very rude manager, got yelled at multiple times. But from a different perspective, she's a nice person. She could have just spit on you face and rob your money. But instead, she gave you some poisoning food. How kind.

Very rude manager! We reserved a large table for 15 people a week ago. When we arrived on time, they asked us to split into two small tables because they gave the large table to another group. We tried to negotiate because that group reserved a 10 people table but increased to 15 people after our reservation. The manager yelled at us 'I ll count to three. If you don't want to eat here, just go. Don't waste my time!' . Just very unpleasant experience. The manager is definitely a racist and very rude to Asians. Hope there would be more similar restaurant open around the area and compete with this one, then the manager does not dare to act like "eat or fuck off". Definitely not recommend, do not let this stink place ruin your mood. Also, people get stomach pain after eating in this place, the food is not fresh at all!

The very rude waitress even has no basic manners to be a human being. It is hard to believe that there is such a low-quality person as her.First of all, the customer chose to come to your restaurant out of trust and recognition, but the waitress put on a disgusting face as soon as customer entered the door, yes, it is a disgusting face, don't blame others for saying so about you, your words and deeds are not worthy of respect. If the waitress has any conscience, hope you can be ashamed of yourself! Otherwise, the service of this restaurant will only get worse and worse!

It says it's an all you can eat hot pot BUT it never gives you refills on meat. They tell you they are too busy, the order is in but as an ayce hot pot place you should be able to churn out like 50 plates of meat in a hour at least. After like 1.5 hours in the restaurant we only got our starting two plates for 5 people!!! Ridiculous

I came here to inquire about the hot pot. They quoted me a price which included tip as if tip is just automatically applied now? I didn't stay as I found this to be exceptionally rude.

OVERALL: tasty Sichuan food perfect for "mala" (numbing) spice lovers. Lunch specials are great value - especially the noodle dishes. One of the best restaurants in Pittsburgh for authentic Chinese food. Hunan Bar is one of my favorite places to go for lunch specials. It's close to many college campuses including CMU, Pitt, and Duquesne, and in a convenient location. There is almost always no wait, and service has been reliably fast every time I've been there. As for the food, Hunan is known to be one of the spicier Chinese restaurants in Pittsburgh. Many Chinese restaurants market themselves as having spicy food, but Hunan's food actually lives up to that expectation. If you're a fan of numbing spice, definitely come here. Overall, the food is flavorful and has a very authentic flavor to it. Although I'm not a fan of Americanized Chinese food, the food from the non-traditional menu, such as moo goo gai pan, is pretty good. Some of my favorite dishes are the fuqi feipian (sliced beef, tripe, and beef tongue in chili oil), beef and chili pepper, green beans and minced pork, and mapo tofu. I also have to give kudos to Hunan Bar for their generous portions of noodles. I've had the dandan noodles here, and for a low price of a $6.99, they give you a huge bowl that's enough for two meals. Same goes for the zhajiang noodles. Leave it up to Hunan to keep you full for a long time!

I was introduced to hot pot in China in the early 00s by strangers who wanted to practice their English speaking with me, and have craved it since then, having tried many hot pots but never found one the same. Until now! Highly recommend the spicy and white hotpot for two, there was more than we could eat and we were both stuffed. Authentic Chinese restaurant with as hard working staff, to die for food. It's basic and a bit haphazard inside, loud staff and busy! We did have a long wait to get menus, and longer wait to order, and an even longer wait for our food, but I will return next time I come back to Oakland.

Food is good. But the hot pot pricing is totally different from the menu. Listed as $26 then final cost closer to $36!! Beware!

Favorite Hot pot restaurant back in Pitt! Came here a couple of times for their buffet hot pot and their $10 hot pot bowls. It can get a bit crowded here during peak hours (7pm+) but food is 10/10. I'm craving it already

This place is amazing! It's very authentic tasting. I ordered the fish ball hotpot with extra veggies and it was delicious! They gave me so much more than I was expecting including noodles! The staff were very nice when I was picking it up as well. I got normal spicy and it was pretty hot but if you don't like spice there's options to get it with less!

This was my second time coming to this spot and it won't be my last. * Food: I came here with a friend from China and he knew what to order without looking at the menu. He ordered the Minced Pork and Eggplant and the Ribs with Potato. I love eggplants and that first dish definitely lived up to my expectations. It also reminded me of my mom's cooking. The potatoes in the second dish were mediocre but the meat was definitely very juicy. * Price vs. Worth: It was around $13 a dish and I would say it was a good price for it's worth. I hear a lot about their lunch specials which is around $10 and it sounds like a steal. Will I come here again? - 100% yes.

Went here because it was the only place that popped up when I googled hot pot near me and I'm so glad I did! I got the half spicy half regular broth and it was the perfect combination,especially for a chilly day outside. They brought more food than we could ever eat and everything was very fresh and delicious. The service was also great. I've never been to a hot pot before so the staff showed me how it works and I really appreciated it. Definitely coming back on a cold winter night!

Great for groups & huge serving sizes! I went to Hunan Bar for the first time this weekend around 5pm and there was no wait even though we had 12 people in our party. We were seated at a huge round table and decided to do individual dishes instead of their most popular deal which is the all you can eat hot pot ($27.99 per person I think) I got beef hotpot with clear broth and the bowl was GIGANTIC. I could barely finish a half of the dish. The beef hot pot came with beef, bokchoi, cabbage, dried tofu skin, potatoes, and bean sprouts. Be careful with the spice levels!!! My friend got the beggar's chicken which had one spice level on the menu, but he was sweating by the time he finished the dish. I think this restaurant is a great little find in Pittsburgh, where authentic asian food is harder to find with great prices but I wouldn't say its the best hot pot I've ever had. Worth checking out though!

Tip already added to your check just be aware of that... service is not great always had to ask for something... food overly salty over price... place is not recommended food they try keep fresh ... one dish was served was still half frozen !

Worst ever. The waitress makes you wait forever and lies about when it is ready. They even argue with the customer and refuse to apologize. PS: someone should really check their food and kitchen Hygiene.

I can't remember how many times I come to Hunan Bar, since it is near University of Pittsburgh Oakland Campus. This place was my lab mate favorite. In the first two years, I only ordered lunch special, because my lab mate was fond of them. Then after he graduated, I ordered hot pot (beef hot pot, no spicy, with fired egg, rich noodle and lunch meat). Every time they provide sufficient meat and noodles. Also, the restaurant owner is extremely nice and friendly.

They have pretty good food and treat the clientele different based on whether you are Chinese or not. There was a sign on the counter written in Chinese that if you pay cash, you get 5% off your bill. We paid cash but they didn't give us the discount. We come here for their hotpot bowls most of the time. These bowls are huge and filling. Personally, it's too flavorful for me and it ends up hurting my throat half way through. I also try not drinking the water that they serve because I'm not sure if they filter it or not and they serve it at room temperature (I guess that I'm used to cold water). I had their other dishes such as the sweet and sour spare ribs and I did enjoy that. Overall, it's an okay restaurant and you need an acquired taste for their food which I like but wouldn't be able to eat it too often. But I would come back!

Came here once for lunch with a friend and I've been back at least four times! I LOVE THIS PLACE! When I move, this is for sure one of the restaurants that I will miss. The tofu is excellent. The shrimp fried rice is delicious! I love the hunan rice with pork. Everything is so flavorful. I've even bought their egg drop soup by the quart. This place is slightly pricier than most Takeout restaurants but well worth it especially because the portions are pretty sizable! They do have a full bar if you're interested in that as well.

I download yelp app in order to make this review. This restaurant is probably the worst that I have ever been to. I wish I could give zero star. We ordered chili beef hot pot and found a roach in the soup after we finished 2/3 the food. What is worse, when we told the manager of this restaurant about this, the manager said we put the roach when we finished most of the dish ourselves in order to get one more bowl of soup. This is simply the most ridiculous thing that I ever heard.

I went for their hot pot twice. It was good! They will serve you all the ingredients at first but you can ask for more as you want if it's a buffet. The amount and variety of food is worth the price. They have sauces on the counter for self-service.

I went with two friends to get hot pot and it was so much food!! We didn't even have a chance to ask for more, (which wouldn't have a charge because it was all you can eat). It was very very good. The people there were amazing as well, friendly and cracking jokes with us. It was a wonderful experience and we left satisfied.

Huge variety of food. I tried their all you can eat hot pot. Which in this case they provide a plate of everything to start then you can add more. Instead of some other places where you order each small dish. Be hungry. Hot pot was good and the selection of food was decent. If that is too much, the individual hot pot is $10 and will easily fill you up, but with only one protein.

Passed by this place on Atwood street but didn't give it a try until my friend highly recommend this place for lunch. I was there for lunch, but there is a bar too if you want to get some drinks. They have a well spread lunch menu. I ordered spicy chicken from the lunch menu. It is a lightly fried chicken coated with spicy sauce and cooked along with red and green peppers. It is served with a bowl of steaming hot rice. The quantity and quality are good for the price. It is well cooked and well seasoned chicken. I was very hungry and was able to finish the lunch portion and also it is tasty which made it easier to finish the lunch portion. For me this is comfort food that is tasty, served in good quantity and available at a reasonable price. I highly recommend trying this place and I am going back again!

Our go-to place for big groups and all you can eat hot pot. Their meat is not the greatest and they don't have a whole lot of selection for protein. However, it is really good enough for Pittsburgh's standards. In addition, they have a huge selection of veggies so that's a big plus. Definitely recommend coming when the cold winter hits!

I went with a group of friends for AYCE Hotpot. There are lots of options except for meat selection, Only Beef, lamb, shrimp and fish. The meat quality is not that bad. But I just wish there are more option to choose. We sat in the back room with no window or door so it can be hot in there. The spicy soup base is real spicy so be careful with it

Came here to do the AYCE hot pot buffet with my boyfriend, but we couldn't to do it because it's only for groups of 3+. Asked the waitress why it had to be 3+ people and she said that it was because it was a lot of food. I don't know why I would come for AYCE if it wasn't a lot of food.... However, I saw another table of 6 people do AYCE and there was so much wasted food. Hunan Bar really needs to re-do their AYCE and instead of bringing an entire spread out at once, customers should be given a menu with all hot pot items, so they can choose items and reorder as they go. That way small groups can do it and big groups won't waste so much food. Ultimately, my boyfriend and I did the hot pot combo with half spicy and half white broth. Both broths were good and the ma la broth was flavorful, but a little more greasy than I'm used to. It came with a plate of sliced beef, plate of sliced lamb, 4 shrimp, enoki mushrooms, bok choy, cabbage, tofu, SPAM, and vermicelli. While it was decently filling, the spread was missing a lot of the traditional hot pot stuff I'm accustomed to - fish balls, meat balls, quail eggs, etc. The sauce options covered all the basics with shacha, garlic, chili, cilantro, scallions, soy sauce and vinegar. The waitresses were nice, but service was pretty abysmal. I told my boyfriend if he saw any waitresses, to flag them down for more water because we might never see them again. I had to get up several times to find them and ask for things. I've definitely had better AYCE hot pot in DC and NYC for the same ~$25 price. They also included a mandatory 15% service fee in the bill. The place was pretty packed though, so maybe stuff other than the hot pot is worth coming for.