I was asked to get dinner at Everyday Noodles, a restaurant I have never been to before. The menu was filled with Authentic Chinese cuisine, items I wasn’t entirely familiar with, but when walking out I couldn’t wait to go again. This small restaurant owned by Mike Chen and his son Allen came to mind after a trip to Canada. A dining experience Mike had while in Toronto motivated him to bring it to Pittsburgh. Mike, the owner of Tamari in Lawrenceville and Warrendale, opened Everyday Noodles in Squirrel Hill in February of 2013. Today, he says it has been his most successful restaurant of the 12 he has owned.
When opening, Mike worked with the Taiwanese government to hire cooks to train his employees. Every six months Mike would hand pick a group of three from Taipei who have good kitchen skills to help teach how to master noodle-pulling. Noodle pulling is not an easy task to learn quickly, as it takes about 2 years to learn and 10 years to master it, but In 2017 the Trump administration rejiggered immigration laws by tightening access and making it more complicated to secure visas for international employees. As a result Mr. Chen’s workers had to leave the U.S. Today, Mr. Chen has temporarily solved his labor problem by hiring three employees who are permanent residents in the U.S. They know how to pull noodles and two of the three who fold dumplings.
Their menu offers a wide variety of Chinese Cuisine such as soups, steamed dumplings, vegetables, rice, noodles, etc. Their items are priced from anywhere between $8-18. I ordered the pork soup dumplings and would describe them as a warm, soft outside with a very flavorful bite on the inside. The portion is shareable and comes with 8 dumplings. The dumplings are brought out steaming inside of a bamboo steamer basket and gives you a very classy and welcoming feeling.
I would recommend this restaurant to a couple, a family, and a group of friends looking for a less expensive classy night out. This restaurant was a surprise to me because I have never had dumplings and was looking forward to trying something new. The restaurant gives you a very calm and warm feel and while you are waiting for your food you can watch the chefs through the large glass from your table. I’m very excited to go back and take my parents this time.