Sree’s Foods

The best place ! You can’t get a great lunch like this for the price in the city. I’ve never been disappointed in the 7 plus years that I’ve been eating here! Service with a smile!

I have been going to this place for years, back when Mr. Sree was alive (Wonderful Man by the way) And I get that some people are like OMG it looks terrible, I don’t know what I am eating yadda yadda. What I don’t think these people understand is that this is not your commercial Indian food. Its your Indian equivalent of moms home cooking, and that’s what we (the positive reviewers of this place) like. If you don’t like it fine, but don’t bad mouth the place. And to the dude saying she has fake naan. She never says its naan, she says plain and simple that its a pita. I love this place, and go at least twice a week. If you don’t like the spice or its too overpowering for you. That’s cool, just know that its packed everyday around lunch.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive meal, this is your place. If you’re looking for an inexpensive meal that looks like it scared away the health inspector, this is also your place. Despite the disheveled, unclean, and initially frightening appearance, I said hey, I’ll give it a try.
To be honest if you love spicy food, you might enjoy Sree’s. In my opinion the food was too spicy and all other favors were lost in the shuffle. I moved on to the rice, unfortunately one of the sides was on top and the rice was completely drowned in curry. If that’s your style, more power to you. Personally I was not a fan.

I just finished having lunch here for the first time. I’ve never had indian food before. A coworker recommended Srees. I had the spicy chicken and grapeleaves with cauliflower and it was delicious! And seriously, only $ 5.89? I will definitely be back with friends and family.

I went here a few times a week when I worked downtown regularly. I really like the food. I would get carry-​out. It’s cheap and good with a bit of a kick. You get it quickly and the lady is really nice. The décor isn’t great but the food makes up for it.

Mrs Sree now makes fresh of the griddle dosa (South Indian crêpe which is vegan and gluten free). Inside for a filling is potato curry and you get a side of coconut chutney and homemade soup (sambar). This lunch is my fav and fills you up but does not make you sleepy. Allthis for just $ 6, it cannot be beat. I will also go on Tuesday and Thursday for her homemade samosa (pastry with spiced potato and peas filling).
This place is the best.

$ 5 you can’t beat this place. You get either tamarind chicken and rice with a vegan side, or three vegan dishes with rice. the potato with chickpeas is very good. otherwise, the sides tend to be on the bland side.

I went to this restaurant once and will never go back. Extremely cheap food both price wise and quality wise. They basically scoop what color food you want out of 2 troughs. I like Indian food. This is very very low quality indian food.

YES YES YES YES
One of my favorite lunch spots downtown. $ 5 delicious Indian food cannot be beat!

What is with the good reviews? I swear this woman must pay these people to write them. The place is discusting. Absolutely dreadful. The place is old and towels hang up to block the mess of the kitchen in the back. The food is in old equipment from the 70s and the owner wears these soft hand casts that look like they havent been washed in years. The bottles on the tables literally have crust on them like they havent been washed and the atmosphere is old and moldy.
The food is way overpowered by spices to cover up the lack of quality in the meats and vegetables. I am all for spicy food but I could not even finish my meal. I’ve gone to this place 3 times now and figured I had a bad batch and that I needed to try other things to figure out what these reviews were all about. Nope! Every time I left dissapppinted. Even the Naan is fake! She buys store bought cheap pita bread.
Seriously I’m surprised that she passes the health inspection. If you want good indian food, Id try going to the buffets on 6^th ave. Definitely way better bang for your buck. And your not questioning what is in your food.

Sree’s is one of those places that I eat at a couple times per month for the past two years. I usually get a craving, or a co-​worker gets a craving, and that craving can simply not be denied!
The tamarind chicken with rice (great texture and taste on rice!) with chickpea potato has become my staple order. Be sure to add some of the homemade sriracha which is fantastic! It’s on the long green counter near the register in the nondescript semi-​translucent plastic bottle. I also had the eggplant curry today as well.
The included pita is indeed dry and tasteless as others have mentioned, but it serves nicely as a way to suck up the sauces.
The chicken is tender and juicy, the chickpea potato flavor and sauce is awesome, and everything is nice and spicy.
It’s true what others have said that the menu is basically static and that the daily offering is more or less the same. However, sometimes there are fish dishes, sometimes there are meatballs, sometimes there’s an alternative chicken dish (like today).
The service here is always friendly and fast and consistent. I couldn’t be happier with the price — still under $ 6 including tax!

I don’t get all of the good reviews for this place. This is like Indian-​ish food, very bland, visually disgusting, although served by a very nice woman. I went on a cold day and the heat wasn’t on so I had to eat as much as I could while shivering at the table.
2 things that I’ve never seen at an Indian restaurant – tofu and wheat pita. The tofu was pretty awful and a piece on naan might have saved the day instead of the dry tasteless pita. I’d go on but I’m getting a little sick just thinking about it.
The 1 good thing is that it is vegan friendly. But I’ll go to the Indian place on 6^th and find a vegan option there before returning to Sree’s.

I have eaten at Sree’s about once a week for the last several years. It is certainly not top end Indian food and there are very few choices. The menu rotates everyday, but most of the options remain the same. Taramind chicken, vegetable tofu, tomato dal, eggplant curry, potato chickpea and tomato cauliflower.
Although the food isn’t particularly amazing, it is an extremely good value. For six dollars you get chicken, rice, bread and a vegetarian choice or three veggie choices with rice and bread. Once in a while there are special menu offerings such as samosas and an alternative type of chicken, but not very often.
To the people complaining, my question is what non-​chain or fast food option is available as a healthy lunch in downtown Pittsburgh for six dollars?

I am definitely no expert on Indian food, but since this this place serves nothing that even resembles that, I feel qualified to offer my thoughts. Once you get past the dismal décor of the «restaurant» itself and figure maybe the food will at least be ok, you get a dish slapped into a takout plate by a pleasant woman. It all goes downhill from there. I ordered the vegan lunch which consisted of Eggplant, Tofu and Vegetables and Tomato and Lentils over rice. All three were substandard. The eggplant was ok, but did not appear to be fresh. was visually unappealing and basically not good.
The lentils and tomato served over mushy brown rice (not basmati), was light on both tomatoes and lentils but was passable as food. But by far the worst was the tofu. Large cubes swimming in a disgusting broth were like sponges of awfulness. Biting into one resulted in a gushing of water that looked like it came out of the Ganges river, (thereby establishing it’s only tangential connection to authentic Indian food.). Thank Annapurna (the Hindu God of food and cooking), for the half a slice of whole wheat pita that was laying on top of the rest of this slop.
My understanding from what others tell me is there are better things to order on other days of the week. But I don’t plan to return… maybe when it eventually becomes a Subway or Starbucks.
Hoping I don’t get sick.
Jim

Its as good as it gets.
No frills Indian food. Cheap and plentiful. Friendly, quick service. I love this place. if you are a vegan its perfect for you but the chicken dishes are fantastic also. Give it a try… at 6 dollars a plate it cant be beat.

Cheap, quick, healthy and spicy! I’ve been a devotee of Sree’s Foods for almost a decade. When my employer moved to the North Shore a few years ago I’ve missed my lunch hour visits to Sree’s terribly. I now brave Pittsburgh’s streets on my bike for my favorite ‘fast food’. If one is accustomed to the oily, creamy, high calorie meals one typically finds at Indian restaurants, Sree’s will take some getting used to.
Mrs Sree’s low-​oil vegan dishes with brown rice and whole wheat bread are the healthiest options one could imagine for just $ 6. I can get 2 – 3 tasty meals out of one visit!

In the landscape of food options downtown, Sree’s represents one of the best time/$/value ratios around.
Time = Sree’s usually has a small line inside, but the one or two staff members always push everyone through efficiently with great service and a very open and caring persona. Even in the height of the lunch rush, you never have any hidden surprises when you’re in need of a quick grab and go.
$ = Under $ 6 for an entire box of quality food… check. I can’t think of many places that offer you more, good quality food at this price point.
Value = Sree’s has some solid flavors. While not the best Indian I’ve ever had, it definitely delivers in the well-​sought after spice department. I typically order the chicken, and take the staff’s suggestion for the vegetable of the day (usually three or four options). They also offer a hearty vegetarian plate and samosas that deliver on expectations.
A few notes… if you like to sweat (like I do), Sree’s has a slow-​burn hot sauce that pairs well with everything you can order. Also, seating, while scarce, does the job if you aren’t looking to have a conversation (tables are placed up against the walls).

This is strictly «ok» place. There’s no naan. It’s the wheat off-​the-​shelf pita. The tamarind chicken was good/​better than average (which is why the 3 stars). The chickpea («chhole») were a bad average. Rice was standard (non-​basmati). The price was less than $ 6. The seating was skeletal (not fancy at all).
I would actually want to give it 2.5 stars. Definitely not worth the 4-​star rating that it has. It is family-​owned so you should support this place.

What!!! I haven’t written a review for this place yet! I’ve been enjoying Sree’s food for years while working dowtown. It used to be $ 5 for a huge portion of food but I think they raised the price to $ 5.50 plus tax which you still can’t beat for what you’re getting.
I usually get the chicken and chick peas — always tasty and never disappointed! The staff including the Sree’s are sooooo friendly. I highly recommend if you are looking for a flavorful lunch on a budget.

I miss Sree’s wagon at CMU. $ 3 for a LARGE lunch: two veggies curries, a daal, and some nan (nan is not the greattest but not bad), and that was in 1999. He made a dish called carrot methi that I have tried, without success, to reproduce, and have found nowhere else. I would usually eat ½ for lunch and take ½ home for dinner, which… eating largely on $ 3 a day anywhere is almost impossible.
I don’t think he had any meat options at CMU, at least not back then.
Looks like the prices have gone up to $ 5 since then– still an amazing deal.