Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33

Always an amazing time here. Highly recommend the double fried pork belly and the garlic hot stone fish. The textures are phenomenal and I have never had a bad experience. I go here 1-2 times per month and at varying times of the day, the wait is never more than 10 minutes. Service is phenomenal.

Had a nice family dinner. Tried the fried chicken cutlet, beef stew soup, chicken basil hot pot, and soup dumplings. All of them had been so delicious. The broth won the beef stew soup was really good.

Stinky tofu and popcorn chicken tasted great, the broth of their beef noodle soup was the highlight along with plentiful beef. Dishes felt more home style and relatively light, fitting for a cafe

Soooo good. Black pepper beef with broccoli, chicken with string beans, and hot and sour soup were all 10/10. My 10 year old son said it was the best food he’s ever had. Portions were BIG, great value for the price. We had enough food for probably 3 meals each!

Hopping restaurant, serving delicious Taiwanese fare. Well priced, with efficient, friendly and fast service. BYOB with no corkage fee. Would definitely return!

Oh man, now I totally get the buzz! Those dumplings were on fire—in the best way possible—and Olga's service? Absolutely top-notch! It's like dining with a culinary wizard spinning magic at your table!

It was our 3rd visit from Virginia. Still good, and we would miss this restaurant, but we know we will revisit soon :) the best food was eggplant with garlic and shredded beef with black pepper and watercress! Chicken with basic (stone hot pot) was a little bit bland. So yummy and inexpensive! Highly recommend beef noodle soup (mild spicy), eggplants and fried chicken!! Very busy and crowded on both lunch and dinner time.

Great food and friendly service. We got the fried stinky tofu, soup dumplings, cucumber salad, and braised beef noodle soup.

Solid dinner spot. Lots of tables, both inside and outside (clearly a place that maximizes-- thats how you know its good). Service is ok but thats also how you know they prioritize food. Food is delicious, got a bunch of things to share and worked out great. Good variety and spread with decent prices imo. I forget what we ordered bc my chinese friends picked it all out but wtv you can figure out from this picture was delicious. Great for leftovers next day too.

This is another one of those places my husband and I'd been meaning to try for awhile. It's a charming space, occupying a nondescript commercial building. We'd never tried Taiwanese food before, and I must say that it's a far cry from your normal Americanized Chinese food places (although I do like that kind of chow.) As an appetizer, I tried the Bean Curd Vegetable Soup with egg and my husband went for the Gua Bao Porkbelly Bun. Now I like quid, so I tried the Taiwanese Style Squid Stir fry, which was very good. My husband, a spicy food lover, tried the Chicken With Basil in Garlic in a Hot pot. Presentation of the food was good. The service was okay. We will be coming back soon.

Had Horrible service. Sat down waited for a 15-20 minutes and wait staff ignored me. Not a single person did a thing for almost 30 minutes in. Neighboring table had to tell their waiter to help us before they reluctantly took our order, never saw that guy ever again. No one refilled water, couldn't flag anyone down, portion sizes were decreased since previous visits, and eager to take check. As a regular felt very undervalued as a customer, and will most likely never return to here again.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Cafe 33 for a huge day on Christmas. Not surprisingly, given the demographic of Squirrel Hill, they were swamped. When I went in around 5 to get a take out order, the place was packed, tables were full, and everyone was clearly working very hard to meet the high demand. They still had our order ready to go right on time and the food was delicious as always. They even gave us a very sturdy tote bag to carry all of the containers (we were picking up enough food for 6 people). Thanks for helping keep our neighborhood fed over the holidays!

Quaint little cafe behind Starbucks. They have a small parking lot attached so you don't have to fight for a spot in the main Starbucks lot. I've been a regular in the area restaurants for decades. The servers here treat us like family. Food comes out in the order they are cooked. Arrived to the table hot and delicious. Everything is full of nostalgia from my childhood in Taiwan. Highly recommend stopping by and try the homestyle Taiwanese goodies.

Love this place, it's a little crammed but I don't mind because the food and service is always excellent! The food was just fantastic, lots of flavor and cooked to perfection! Wouldn't bog pass this place up as long as you don't mind sitting close to others.

Solid Taiwanese comfort food! My friend and I came around 3 PM and were seated immediately. The menu offered very typical Taiwanese cuisine and was quite extensive, so there are plenty of options to cater to a wide audience. The fish fillet was quite solid, with a nice tangy sweet and sour sauce. The winner of this meal, however, was the duck yolk pork rib tips. The powder-y duck yolk sprinkled onto the pork ribs made the dish so flavorful and combined excellently with the fatty flavor of the pork ribs. Would definitely highly recommend this dish for first timers. We also ordered a Taiwanese sausage fried rice (not pictured), and it was quite good. Looking forward to my next visit!

This was my first trip and I am now a fan who can't wait to try more off of the menu! They have a very extensive menu but it is packed with some great dishes. The chicken with basil and garlic was by far one of the best dishes I've had in a long time! It was served in a hot pot as well which added to the appeal! 10/10 recommend this place!

Me and my bf enjoyed this place! The dumplings were delicious! The kimchi stir fry had good spice level, didn't have too much meat though. The mango milk tea also tasted pretty good. I would definitely come back again!

4th time here and exploring the menu more than ever before with an homage to my favorites. Buddy speaks pretty fluent mandarin and ordering our table spread took minutes as we ordered so many items! Beef tendon, soup dumplings, tripe with blood broth, squid, scallion pancakes, fermented stinky tofu, turnip cake, pork steam buns, green tea, and boba tea. Everything was fantastic. My favorites are always the tendon which tastes like noodles in chili oil based on how thin it's cut. Soup dumplings great as well. The new love is the turnip cake (that buddy called carrot cake). One of my favorite spots in the city...

Pricey but one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. We've had their fish with black bean sauce and fried sauce and enjoyed them. We weren't a fan of their dishes that were 'over rice' - not if because they're cheaper if the quality wasn't there

Overall, we liked the food. The inside of the restaurant is kind of unkept. The beef lo mein was filling and left a lot of leftovers. We also got garlic eggplant, the fried rice and shrimp in black pepper sauce. One thing that grossed me out was the lady behind the counter doing takeout orders started flossing her teeth--yes flossing her teeth behind the counter and then didn't wash hands and continued to pass out takeout orders and take credit cards. That made me feel uncomfortable at the end of the meal. It brought this from a 3.5/4 star experience to a 2.

Cafe 33 may be my favorite food spot in Squirrell Hill. It never disappoints. The Noodle soups i have had couldn't be better. Great soup dumplings and love sharing meals with our friends! The menu is endless. You can always come back and try something new. Truly fantastic food.

Inexpensive, quaint restaurant with flavorful and delicious food! Although I would like to return and try other dishes I was satisfied with my order of ma po bean curds. I also felt the service was fast and friendly. For reference, I went in during lunch hours.

I came to Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33 台灣味 because my coworkers wanted to feature Taiwanese food in a team-building activities. Well, more like an educational foodie event. The restaurant was busy both times we visited, Saturday dinner and Sunday lunch. The employees were helpful in explaining the quantity of few dishes. It helped us doing the planning. The width of table can fit 3 plates across. Can't order too many things if 2 people sitting at a small table. We made reservation for 10 people. We were supposed to sit at the round table. But it was taken before we got there. Then, we waited for the back section to clear. Our group got to sit along the wall. I like it this way better anyway. Between 2 meals, I have tasted wide variety of dishes. Including Taiwanese Stinky Tofu 台湾臭豆腐, Braised Eggplant 红烧茄子, Taiwanese sausages 台式香肠 and braised eggs 卤蛋, Salt and Pepper Squid 椒盐鱿鱼, Be Feng Tong Shrimp 避风塘大虾, Three Cups Chicken 三杯鸡 and Pan Fried Egg with Dried Radish 菜脯蛋. Being a native Taiwanese. These dishes were close to my recollection when I was growing up. I highly recommend this restaurant for group outings.

The food is always delicious no matter how many times I come! It is a little pricey but it's perfect when you have a group & split some dishes for a family style meal! The food comes out decently quick & I have never had a bas experience there!

A favorite spot of mine for years now. Some of the best and most authentic food you can get! I love the soup dumplings and beef noodle soup. Love the thickness of the lo mein noodles and the basil chicken. Honestly everything was great. A cute spot for sitting inside and out during warm weather. Service is always amazing and they are SO kind. I love to support small because of all of the reasons above including how amazing the food is. See you again soon cafe 33!

We ordered bok choy, eggplant with shrimp, and dim sum. In the middle of our meal, I discovered a bug in my dish, possibly from the bok choy. I initially thought it might be a cockroach. The waitress's response was, "Oh, it might have just flown into the dish," implying it wasn't from the kitchen. I was speechless--wouldn't it be worse if bugs were flying around the dining area? Although the owner apologized and offered to either remove the dish from our bill or replace the bok choy, my friends and I lost our appetite and chose not to continue eating. The service was equally disappointing. The (elder Asian)waitress never came to refill our water or check on us, and there was no warmth or friendliness. We didn't feel welcome at all. Additionally, the space is cramped. If you're seated near the aisle, you constantly have to be mindful of people walking by, often carrying hot food.

Food was great. Good portion size. Crispy pork rice plate and seafood mixed noodle were tasty. The juice from XLB were delicious. Service is mix, the older lady waitress was not very friendly but other staffs are very nice and friendly. will definitely come again if we come back to the area.

I was in town from GA, for a USW safety conference. Before departing this lovely city, my colleague and I were in search of some good authentic Asian food. I pondered upon my favorite food app, yelp, and found this place. As we walked in, there were two employees cutting FRESH green beans at the table! I knew then, I was in the right place!! The food was SCRUMPDILLIUMPCIOUS---that's southern for damn good!! The fried rice took me back to my childhood! The only reason I didn't give them 5 stars was because I witnessed one of the older waitresses prepare some iced water for a patron. Some cubes fell to the table, she picked the cubes up and placed them, with her bare hands, into the cup of water...that was pretty damn disgusting! Cost savings ain't that damn deep honey!! Please don't take away from your business by doing nasty things like that! Oh and the guy cutting up the green beans sneezed without covering and didn't wash his hands! Thank goodness I saw these things upon leaving...otherwise I would've left all together.

I was visiting Pittsburgh for a few days and came across this restaurant on Yelp. Authentic Taiwanese food is hard to come by. So I knew I had to check this place out. I came here for lunch with a group of 8 and we ordered a bunch of dishes to share. Pretty much everything we had was delicious. Not only that, but they were made in authentic Taiwanese fashion. My only regret is that because they have a really big menu, I wasn't able to try everything. I will definitely come back again next time I'm visiting Pittsburgh. Prices are reasonable and the service was excellent. Street parking was a bit difficult to find. So take that into consideration. What we ordered: 1. Stinky Tofu - A 2. Scallion pancake w/ egg - A 3. Tempura - B+ 4. Fish filet in sweet & sour sauce - B+ 5. Three-cup chicken - A 6. Taiwanese popcorn chicken - A 7. Water spinach w/ garlic - A 8. Braised beef over rice - B+ 9. Fried chicken cutlet over rice - A- 10. Stir-fried rice cake w/ pork - B+

This's my favorite chinese restaurant in Pittsburgh. I love their Scallion Pancake W. Beef. The service isn't super friendly but the food was amazing. The ambiance is pretty nice and you can hear the other person without being too loud.

We had a great experience here! We even tried the stinky tofu, which we couldn't handle. Service was great and the food was delicious.

WOW! I was so incredibly happy to have gotten a table at Cafe 33. I had seen other Yelp reviews and was so excited to see the watercress on the menu! It had a perfect amount of seasoning that it was light, but oh-so-homey. I felt like I was eating something in Asia the entire time. The braised pork on rice was different from how I normally have it. I was a little deterred at first, but once I took the first bite of the pork with rice and bamboo, it melted in my mouth. The pork was perfectly tender and the fat that was on it didn't give me the ick. The side of kimchi was a nice sweet and spicy touch (more sweet than spicy though). The soup dumpings (xiaolongbaos) was something I was so excited to try here. I had seen and watched reviews on their soup dumplings and could not wait for my boyfriend to try them (he's never had them) and he LOVED them! The broth was so rich in flavor. I like taking the first one and eating it without the sauce to see how good the base is. After, the side of vinegar sauce is generally going to enhance it. I like to take a bite from the top to create a hole in the dumping (that way the soup doesn't spill out), then pouring a small amount of the vinegar dipping sauce with a couple pieces of ginger. It was such a mouthwatering experience. Wendy, our server, was the perfect attentive but not too chatty with us. She gave us space to enjoy each dish while at the same time providing excellent service. The place is a little tight in terms of seating, but there is outside seating for individuals that want to enjoy the sun. The only thing I would recommend would be to have Asian soup spoons so that if the xiaolongbaos happen to "break" (they are incredibly fragile!), the broth will catch in the spoon instead of spilling out of the metal spoon.

Have been wanting to try this place for a little while. My mom and I were lucky to have shown up when we did because right after it got super busy, and I see why. The space, however, seems too small to hold all of the customers it brings in so it was a little tight to move around but that's alright. I definitely recommend showing up around 430-5 to beat the dinner rush and get a good seat. Food wise, it was really delicious. I'm a huge fan of soup dumplings compared to fried dumplings but I really loved the fried dumplings here. The soup dumplings were good but the fried ones were just more flavorful. I also love that they give you black vinegar and ginger to pour into the soup dumplings. We also ordered the scallion pancake with beef which was good, too. For our mains my mom got the eggplant with basil and man, it was delicious. Sweet and savory, cooked perfectly. I got the chicken hot pot with garlic and basil and it was tasty, too. I loved that it wasn't overly spiced and just let the natural garlic and Basil flavors shine. The service was nice, as well, even though my chicken hot pot was forgotten about but that's okay because they made it quickly after and it was still good. Will be coming back again to try more!

Very impressed. Pretty busy on Friday around 6p, and for good reason. Got: - A14 Steamed Mini Soup Pork Buns - A21 Scallion Pancake (Only Pancake) - C1 Chicken Casserole w. Basil - P12 Duck Yolk Pork Ribs - V03 Ma Po Tofu Ma Po Tofu (vegetarian) was my favorite. The sauce was excellent. Then it's a tie between the chicken (love the occasional whole garlic cloves) and scallion pancake (with the vinegar, which had a hint of sweetness, it reminded me of panettone bread). Then the soup dumplings and the pork ribs. There were three of us and we were so full after eating about half the entrees. Service was quick and efficient. Wendy knows what she's doing. I overhead her recommend some menu items to other people with confidence as well. Very impressed with this place and would return.

Delicious Chinese food. Great and friendly service. The food was cooked fresh came quickly . Each dish was amazing

This is a great place to go in Squirrel Hill. We had a late dinner here. Food and service was excellent!! It had a nice atmosphere with both indoor and outdoor seating available.

Located around a corner in Squirrel Hill, this is one of my favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh! The place is small, but it has a lot to offer and great service. We ordered the steamed soup dumplings, crispy chicken cutlet with garlic flavor sauce (C10), stinky tofu, chow fun, short ribs with black pepper (B2), fried rice, noodles with chicken cutlet (T3), and pan fried dumplings. My favorites were the fried chicken and the short ribs. The garlic sauce for the fried chicken was out of this world, and drizzled on top of the crispy fried chicken. The short ribs were crispy and in a great black pepper sauce as well. They both paired well with the fried rice and chow fun. The chow fun was cooked very well. The soup dumplings were also good and came out super hot! The pan fried dumplings were standard and a good addition, as well. Out of the stuff we ordered, I would not recommend the noodle soup. It was bland, and I made the mistake of ordering clear noodles with it instead of egg noodles, which did not help with the lack of flavor. We also ordered the stinky tofu to experience for the first time, and personally, I think it is a fun dish to try but would not order again. Overall, this place offers a variety of dishes that are well made. Almost everything we ordered was great, and it is definitely my favorite place in Pittsburgh.

Had the leeks w/ chicken special + wonton soup... DELICIOUS. Fresh ingredients, flavorful, food was hot. 5 stars.

I ate here for the first time over the summer while visiting family in town. I was so blown away I've been dreaming about coming back ever since. So naturally, I made my way back while in town for Thanksgiving. I ordered the same thing as last time... beef w/ eggplant. OMG this is the best eggplant dish ever!! Not to mention their soup dumplings are out of sight! The restaurant itself is a little bit hard to spot if you don't know to look for it. The restaurant faces onto Shady Ave, just next to the Starbucks that faces Forbes. It's a small spot with some outdoor seating in front. Expect a wait during rush hours but it's totally worth it. 110 % I would recommend this place to anyone that asks. I can't wait to go back again!!

This is some of the best Asian cuisine in Squirrel Hill, which is an area with some real competition. The menu is quite extensive with a wide variety of Taiwanese dishes: I especially enjoy the number of vegetable centric items. I can't comment on authenticity, but it's clear that the restaurant isn't just pushing Americanized Chinese: they don't even have a section on their menu for such things. We recently ordered takeout, and everything was well-packaged and delicious, with an excellent pick-up experience at the restaurant. Highly recommend.

We arrived around 5:30pm on Saturday. We were greeted and took the third table at that time. They offered outdoor seatings with covered canopy. The indoor seatings and wall decorations looked modern. The popcorn chicken were crispy and tasty. The fried stinky tofu came with some vegetables. The hot and sour soup had a lot of ingredients. The braised port intestine rice noodle soup was well made. The beef stew noodle soup was delicious. The squid with sa-cha flavored rice noodle soup was very enjoyable.

I had been to Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33 once before, and I was underwhelmed, but I knew it was because of my own personal preference, not the quality of the food. So today, we went back to give the place another try and I am so glad we did because it was absolutely delicious. I had been creeping on Yelp photos to decide between a couple of dishes and our server was super helpful in answering some questions to help me decide. I ended up ordering the mala spicy chicken and it was AMAZING -- crispy, spicy, garlicky, nice and punchy (I'd say 7/10 on a spice scale). The dish was bright, and flavorful and not at all greasy. My husband ordered the eggplant with beef, which had nice, lean, crispy beef with a flavorful char, nothing like the soggy, cornstarchy floppy beef that you sometimes get at other places. The eggplant was tender (and there was a lot of it) and the sauce was garlicky-soy delicious, savory and barely sweet. We shared some pan fried dumplings (tender with a nice crispy bottom) as well. This was a great meal, and after scoping out the plates of tables nearby us (sorry, folks, for gawking at your lunch) I'm looking forward to returning to try some new dishes.

This place is really cute and the food is super good they have a really great authentic selection. The service is super quick and the staff is really nice.

During a recent trip to Pittsburgh with dear friends, I dined at Cafe 33 in Squirrel Hill for a Sunday lunch. We had initially intended to go to another neighborhood restaurant, but had to punt to this place as our original choice was closed. This change of plans proved fortuitous, as the meal we enjoyed here represented the best meal of our trip. We sat in the small indoor dining room and received excellent service from the staff. To start, we opted for an order of the Taiwanese popcorn chicken and the soup dumplings. The chicken comprised shatteringly crispy chunks of chicken tossed in a mild seasoning and with fried Thai basil. The juicy pieces made for an addictive bite. The soup dumplings here are clearly homemade. The flavor of the soup within the dumplings tasted great, though the skins ran a touch too thick for my personal preference. We opted for four main dishes: spicy squid, pork with wood ear mushroom, double cooked pork belly, and fried rice. The first two shone the most. The squid dish offered large pieces of crispy squid tossed in a neon orange chili oil and a lot of flavorful Sichuan spices and chilis. The pork with wood ear mushroom consisted of tender slices of pork and copious mushrooms in a slightly sweet, garlicky sauce. Both dishes offered unique flavors and textures that won unanimous praise from the table. The double cooked pork offered plenty of thinly sliced, crispy pork belly in a slightly spicy black bean sauce. The vegetables on that dish ran a little undercooked, but overall the dish was still enjoyable. I had no complaints on the fried rice, as it represented a well executed Chinese American style dish that hit the comfort food spot. The portions of all the dishes were reasonable, and we left with a decent amount of leftovers. As alluded to, the service here was friendly and hospitable. Our waitress packaged our leftovers nearly for us rather than simply providing to go boxes, which we felt was rare in today's service environment. The bill was reasonable given the quality and variety of food we ordered. Cafe 33 is thus a great place to sample unique Taiwanese cuisine in the city and is well worth a visit when in the neighborhood.

Great service, amazing food, we drive almost 2 hours to eat here!! My kids love it too!! The service is always fast!! The restaurant is super cozy! 5

My favorite dish here is their pork chop or chicken over rice. It comes with your choice of meat over rice with braised minced pork, one tea egg, and marinated cabbage. We also ordered chicken chow fun, which was delicious. The ratio of fresh veggies to wide rice noodles to meat was very good. I was slightly disappointed by the yan su ji (popcorn chicken) because it lacked seasoning. The basil leaves were soggy and wet with oil instead of crispy. This place is super popular, so try to come earlier in the day. When it's busy, it gets very crowded and seating becomes cramped. The restaurant tries their best to accommodate everyone.

I am beyond amazed by their soup dumplings! My husband and I love soup dumplings. One of the best that my husband recommended was in NYC, and now we found another one in PA! We love to search for Asian restaurants every time when going to new area. We came across high rated soup dumpling place here. We had to try. Overall, I don't have to say more but the food was great. The soup dumplings especially were beyond my expectation. It is cozy restaurant that has tables closely setup but it was worth it. If there is a given chance, we will make another trip. Highly recommended!

We went here for Mother's Day and it was amazing! The food was so good and came out piping hot. The service was great even with the rush and busy time. They were attentive and got what you needed. It wasn't too loud so we could hold conversations at our table. It was a great experience and we would be back! The price is reasonable as well.

What went well!? Everything! Mala beans, sweet and sour soup! Everything is delicious and wonderful. I have the best time at Cafe 33.

Stopped here for a midday snack the other day and got the scallion pancake and mini soup dumplings. The pancake was delicious and came with a lovely sauce. The soup dumplings were also terrific with the chili oil. Heads up, no option to add chili oil if you order online, but they happily got it for me when i arrived and asked. Staff was very friendly.

I have nothing but good things to say about this restaurant great food and great environment. Workers there are also really nice.

Classic Taiwanese cuisine. Family style meal with my friends and the food was pretty good. The dishes had a lot of "wok-hay" (stir fry flavor). If you like traditional Asian cooking this is a place to try.

One of my favorites in Pittsburgh do far! They serve a bunch of classic dishes that pack an elevated depth of flavor while still giving you the comfort-food feels. The ones we love and continue to the-order (and we usually like to try different dishes): the Fried chicken, Eggplant dish with beef, String beans. But honestly I'd be happy with most of their dishes.

university nostalgia food tour ~ remains really popular with CMU students since this spot consistently serves authentic taiwanese cuisine! almost always requires a wait so be aware of that. service is friendly and efficient :) 三杯雞 (basil garlic chicken): my all-time favorite!! flavor-packed with basil, garlic, and soy sauce marinade. never disappoints. yum yum yum 蔥油餅 (scallion pancake): tasty appetizer that pairs with a sweet garlic soy sauce. 四季豆 (sautéed string beans): a little spicy and incredibly garlicky as well. ugh so good black pepper short rib: this dish is a bit typical but still delicious to consume. the meat was a bit difficult to pull off the bone though.

I love this place. I haven't gone in a while and so I went earlier this week with a friend and she recommended the crispy chicken cutlet and it is now my new favorite thing. It was a crisp juicy chicken thigh breaded and chopped into strips, coated in a sweet garlicky sauce. The black pepper short ribs are also a favorite of mine that I usually order. Lots of meat and it comes easily off the bone. Both dishes pair super well with rice! The service here is also super quick and they are very kind! One of my favorite places in squirrel hill.

Still one of my favorite go to places for good Chinese food. Staff is always friendly and usually a fair amount of people dining in at all hours. They're great with take out too. Portions are always generous so keep that in mind when ordering, we always like to order a little more and then pack it up for left overs!

Cafe 33 offers a wide variety of traditional Taiwanese dishes ranging from xiao long bao to popcorn chicken. The restaurant is a bit small so they have a lot of outdoor seating out in the front. Service wasn't super attentive but the food was pretty delicious and big in portion size. Double cooked pork belly was flavorful and cooked well, soup dumplings were ok, pan fried noodles were flavorful but soggy, and the spicy green beans were packing some delicious heat.