It's an entire enterprise centered on salads, customized and created right in front of you. And that's enough alliteration for one review. The value proposition is VERY simple. If you want a salad, and you want to have a lot of control over what goes into it chosen from a variety of options, then go here. If you want anything else in the world, don't go here (they have other menu items, but nothing that can't be beat elsewhere). I will give a special mention of their beverage selection. Pretty good unsweetened iced tea sits next to a fountain with multiple Boylan brand (whoops) sodas. Better than your normal soft drink offerings. (Oh, and because you have to basically go down the counter with someone as he or she makes your salad, I think it would be a hard place to go with groups, since there will be substantial lag in between the times the first and last people receive their salads--though it's not as big a problem as it would be at other restaurants, since you don't have to worry about your salad getting cold.) read more

my meal was very good but just wish i could eat in peace. They were very loud ( yelling across the restaurant ) . overall good... the writing on the walls was hard to read. read more

This place is super ok. I had a burger and it was fresh. I think that 5 guys is a little more tastey. The fries were excellent. And I liked the choice of ketchup and ranch for dipping. The salads looked really good...next time I will go for one. read more

The staff that work here are probably the most energetic, happiest people you will ever meet. They submit themselves to your every whim. Oh you want EXACTLY two artichoke hearts? You want every sauce as a side with no charge and labeled? You want more of that heart of palm? They did everything with a smile and more. The salad itself was just a salad, but it was in a container as large as my head (I have a pretty big head). I split the salad with a friend it was so big, and she loved the homemade ranch while I loved the Asian sesame sauce. But, we loved all the sauces! read more

Come to Hello Bistro for a fresh, healthy, affordable lunch. This is my new go to place in Oakland, where it can be hard to find veggies and leafy greens (among the dive bars, pizza, and burger joints that populate this area). Salads are $7-9. They also serve burgers, bottled beer. You order at the counter and a staff member brings you your lunch (not sure how take out works). Modern, clean atmosphere. It was not crowded or busy at noon on Sunday during a 3 day weekend. I like this place! read more

Hello Bistro - Thai salmon salad - Salad Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I really enjoyed the salad that I got at Hello Bistro today--the ingredients were nice and fresh and there were tons of options to add to your salad. It's a nice addition to the Oakland area lunch options, and I think it was pretty reasonably priced for the size of the salads. I also was a big fan of the Boylan Soda machine--it's nice to have different selections for fountain drinks. The only complaint I have was how crowded it seemed to be--like there were too many people working all at once. It was also hard for the staff to hear you as you ordered things to put in the salad, but I ended up with everything on my salad that I wanted--so I can't complain too much, but I can imagine this problem only getting worse when all the students return to both Pitt and CMU. read more

Went here for lunch on a weekday and this place was PACKED. While the set up is kind of confusing, the staff will gladly help you along if you look bewildered (like I surely did). I got the Crunchy Apple Almond salad. It was OK. I like the build your own salad concept, but thought that the ingredients in this salad just werent special. The chicken was a little too similar to what you'd find on a salad at Wendy's. Average salad, although next time I'll be sure to build my own and get wild. Serves me right for playing it safe my first time. I also got a cup of the Tomato Basil soup. It was just OK as well. Very tomatoey with almost no basil flavor. So, a mediocre lunch place would be fine with me, although I felt that the items were overpriced. My lunch came to over $12, without a drink. If I'm spending that much I'll forgo the so-so ingredients of Hello Bistro and stick with Oishii Bento or Nellies. read more

Stopped in for a burger to-go. Staff were friendly and ordering process was super easy. I ordered the bistro burger and it took about 10 minutes for it to be brought out to me, which is fair for freshly made food. It was interesting that despite the to-go order, they gave me a number and told me to sit down at a table. Fortunately there were empty seats but I can imagine this might be tough if it's packed. The bistro burger was tasty, but the salt&pepper crust on the burger was way too salty. Maybe it was just a mistake on my burger, but they shouldn't be severely over salting burgers. Nonetheless, Hello Bistro will get another hello from me pretty soon to give them another chance. The build-your-own-salads are worth a shot. Update: I went back to try the salad. I got to customize what I had it in and that's fun. After choosing everything, the salad is "chopped", mixed, and dressed by a chopper. I thought the personal service was really great. I got the feeling that the staff were genuinely interested in making the best salad for you. I ate the salad until I was full and had enough leftover so that by adding some lettuce, I had another lunch. I'm looking forward to saying Hello again to this place. read more

Perfect salads! I went there for lunch and ordered the Caribbean shrimp salad. I don't usually have salads but I've gained some weight last two weeks so I decided to add salads on my diet this week. And as a person who HATES greens, I would highly recommend their salad to everyone! The food tastes fantastic and the salad size is huge that anyone can be satisfied! read more

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Great salads.....plenty of options to choose from. Make your own salad is the best option I feel. you can add upto 20-30 items and excellent dressing choices... This place has a long queue everyday during lunch time so to save some time try to come before 12p.m!! The salads are a little on the expensive side, not possible for a student to eat here frequently but the salad portion is good. Chili lime and chipotle BBQ are my favorite dressings.. read more

Very disappointed with the burgers today. Neither of the super burgers had lettuce or the cheese or pickles. The buns were stale and hard. The burgers were burned black. It's hard to believe anyone making these would believe it is okay to serve this way. read more

Hello Bistro is a nice concept for a college town. It like and express Eat N Park with a very limited menu. They had salads with a great selection of topics! It was like a salad bar but the staff prepares your salad for you (much more sanitary than the traditional salad bar). They also had a nice selection of burgers. The burgers are cooked like Eat N Park burgers (they are cooked well, you cannot choose how you want your burger cooked) The staff was friendly, the layout was nice. I wish they had a few more options on the menu and I wish they served Eat N Park cookies!!!!! read more

The salads are good, I just recently went and ordered a caesar salad but I was given something completely different. My roommate enjoyed it but I was disappointed lol read more

Oh my God, Hello Bistro was simply magnificent. It's the little things that make Hello Bistro so great. First thing that we ordered was Boylan, it was really delightful. The staff is wonderful and extremely welcoming. Hello Bistro, If you haven't been here before, you're certainly missing out. read more

The one and only star I am feeding this business is in action because of the wait time. It does not matter if there are 2 employees present, or 32 employees present. I am capable of taking a nap with undergoing a full REM cycle while I wait for the food. However, if I were rating the quality of the restaurant, I would rate this 5 stars because of how good their food is... Also, the wait is terrible. read more

I used to frequent Eat'n Park in Grove City with my friends. It was a good place to hang out late at night and order whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. For this reason, it was comforting to discover Hello Bistro, a more hip offshoot of Eat'n Park, within walking distance of my workplace. I love the chili and potato soup. It's so comforting. I used to order those all the time at ENP. Their salad bar is huge and has as many options as you could possibly think of. What really draws me to this place is the Boylan's soda fountain. How cool is that? I love Boylan's soda, but sometimes it's hard to find. I wish they served regular root beer, but they have birch beer, black cherry, and ginger ale which are satisfying enough (and free refills!). It's a great lunch option in Oakland, whether you're lunching alone, getting food to go, or meeting up with a friend. UPDATE - 4/27/16 - I would recommend only going here in the afternoon when a manager is around and things are stocked and the staff is on point. I went here for dinner at around 7 p.m. a week ago and the vegetables (and eggs?) were frozen, they were out of dried cranberries and other items, and the service was pretty bad. The students working clearly felt like they had better things to do than helping customers. Go at your own risk. read more

Have been here so many times and never disappointed. The food is soooo good and the employees have always been so nice. Really efficient workers who know what they're doing. I recommend this place to everyone. Another plus: places are usually unwilling to give you decent avocado portions, but this place always does it right. read more

I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. The employees are deliberately slow and rude. They are always talking to each other instead of taking orders or performing whatever tasks they need to do. It took me 23 minutes to get a simple burger and fries (which were ok at best). Burger was awful, the brioche bun wasn't buttered or toasted, it had way too much lettuce on it, the bacon was limp, the onions weren't caramelizad and the patty was somehow both overcooked and cold at the same time. The fries had way too much pepper on them and some were crispy while others were practically raw. Not spending my money here again until I see some change, last time I came here the bacon on my grilled cheese was dangerously undercooked. This place used to be good I'm disappointed. read more

As you may be able to tell, by the line out the door at lunch, this place is darn good. A small salad is the size of your head (dressing on the side please) and you can add 67 ingredients if you wish. Oh, and beer, for the recalcitrant lunchers who want to add some OOMPH to their afternoon (or who want to be extra sleepy). I haven't tried any sandwich yet - but the cobb salad is fantastic. but, as referenced earlier, if you are not wanting to make a 400calorie salad into a 900 calorie stomach-bomb, ask for the dressing on the side. And maybe my tongue is blanched from years of diet coke abuse - but I am not digging the boylan's. I find it to be too sweet. the root beer is good for the first few sips, but it quickly overwhelms the tastbuds - or mine at least... read more

Very casual. Open air seating when weather is nice. Order and pay, then the staff delivers your meal. For us, one item was missing from the order so it was misunderstood when placing the order. Not a big deal for us. Salads can be ordered with choice of toppings. Chicken soup was good and hot. read more

Ordered online went in at my designated time to get it and it wasn't ready which I understand at lunch time it's busy. People walking around doing nothing, asking people what their names are and skipping orders. Spent almost entire lunch hour waiting on my food. Completely unorganized. read more

good spot if you want a fairly priced salad and homemade French fries! they also have really good burgers and amazing flavors of soda! I had previously gotten the BBQ chicken salad and it was bomb, but this time I got the apple almond salad and it wasn't very good. Too much lettuce and not very colorful, looked bland and tasted bland. service was slow but it was crowded so I guess that was fine. I'll go back and try more. read more

I have written to them multiple times they don't fix anything so maybe some constant public social shaming will do the trick, watch for my Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, and Google reviews coming soon. This time I ordered a made to order the salad, with fries, I said LIGHT ranch, and add medium hot sauce in the comments. They gave me a small side of hot sauce in a cup not mixed in the salad. Like I said I ordered the salad with fries, left a comment please chop fries into the salad...Nope, COLD fries in a bag. Every time I go there it gets worse, and smells more and more like a garbage dumpster. read more

Custom salads with all of the toppings you can think of, including chickpeas, quinoa, and lentils....not to mention over twenty dressing options. They cost about $10 but the salads are large and very filling, even if you don't pay extra for meat. Add a soft drink and take in all of the delicious soda flavors. This is a favorite spot of mine in case you can't tell. I go after the gym for a healthy meal or during lunch hours at work. They now allow you to order ahead of time online so there's no excuse not to go! read more

Hello Bistro - Salad Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This is a really nice place salad place. You can get a pretty good variety of stuff just for $8. I used to go there regularly, until one fine day the realised they were running at a loss and decided to change the rules 1. They reduced the size of the salad boxes - not too bad, it is still pretty big for me. 2. This is the unstated rule that annoys me (and my friends) - Half the box MUST be filled with lettuce. Now, when I told them I dont want lettuce (i dont LIKE lettuce), the senior guy (possibly the manager) goes into a long rant as to why they would lose money if it is not filled with lettuce. It would be useful if it is explicitly stated, so people like lettuce dont go there. Why would anyone pay for something that they dont want to eat ? 3. They started reducing normal serving sizes (presumably to save cost)- these days, I find myself repeating "some more, some more,some more...." soo many times ! I wish they could revert back to the old 'Hello Bistro'. read more

This is really more of a 2 1/2 star rating, and I'm only rating the salads. I feel like I should give Hello Bistro more credit for being the only make-your-own salad place around, but that doesn't automatically mean that it's got quality, delicious food. Maybe I'm spoiled from four years of living in DC, where fresh, fast salad places like Sweetgreen and Chop't (not to mention other types of amazing, delicious fast-casual cuisine places like Shophouse, BGR, Good Stuff Eatery, etc) abound. I'm used to fresh, organic, local ingredients and house-made salad dressings for a reasonable price. Hello Bistro's produce, unfortunately, is all pretty sad-looking and tasteless. The tomatoes were pale pink and mealy, rather than red and juicy, and all the other veggies appear to come straight from a can and are floating in water. Sure, they've got a decent variety of ingredients, but they're all pretty poor in quality. Plus, what's up with the salad greens selection? I want some arugula or some baby spinach! I'm not a huge meat-eater so I didn't add any meat to my salad, but all of the meat options looked pretty lifeless. I do appreciate the unlimited number of veggie toppings and that cheese and a few meat selections are without an additional charge, though. This makes the pricing reasonable, but I expect higher quality ingredients from a $7 salad. I want someone to open a higher quality salad place in Oakland! I would go there all the time. Sweetgreen or Chop't would probably put Hello Bistro out of business, since there are other places to get burgers. It's times like these that I wish I spent all my time in Shadyside or something, but such is the life of a med student. read more

Who has two thumbs, wants a salad with every topping under the sun, likes'em big and has $9? This girl. Sometimes I miss my college days in Oakland. Football games, skipping class, laying on the Cathedral lawn, eating at Hello Bistro... NOT. Had Hello Bistro opened in Oakland during my tenure there I most certainly would've stayed ANOTHER seven years in college. It's SOOO delicious. I ordered a make-your-own type of salad and bellied up to the salad bar to have one of Hello's salad artists create my concoction. Starting with romaine I'm pretty sure I used at LEAST 40 of the 50 or so toppings available. From three types of olives, wasabi peas and crisp granny smith apples, I was in some serious salad heaven. Then, they took me and my monstrous salad to the chopping block where they chopped it up to my size specification: "small bites, big bites, or somewhere in between?" Somewhere in between - oh yeah. Amazing. I eat salads all the time. I have NEVER left a single shred of lettuce behind, yet this was one exception. The thing was just too big. It probably didn't help that I noshed a bit on the delightfully-spiced French fries that accompanied my guest's Chunky Monkey Peanut Butter and *I want this in my face* Jelly sandwich. Mmmm, mmm, mmm. I can't wait to go back and try every last item on that mouth-watering menu. And did I mention that they serve Boylan's soda, the greatest soda pop to ever grace the planet?! HELLO! read more

Bad experience! I would rather drink from the allegheny river than their coffee! Long wait, unprofessional staff and their oatmeal is sticky like chewing gum! Yuk! I would walk a but further to go to Pamelas diner! read more

This new restaurant seems very promising. The staff is very friendly, and greats every patron as they enter. They really live up to the name, Hello Bistro." Most importantly, the food is very good, especially for the price. While the immense fresh full service salad bar seemed enticing, I opted for the Bistro Burger. The burger came quickly after I ordered it the patty itself was thin, think Five Guys style, but was flavorful and tender. The toppings were very fresh and crisp; I think they came from the salad bar All in all, the burger was well built and tasty. Sadly the fries, while fresh and hot, seemed rather dry and didn't match the quality of the burger. Luckily, my thirst was quenched by Boylan specialty sodas, including cane cola and Birch Beer. The facility itself has an open and clean feel, which is impressive due to it's location. read more

Friendly busy place. Great options for vegetarians! I had the California burger (substituted the turkey with a veggie patty) with some hand made fries, and my meal really hit the burger craving spot. Would go back to try other stuff on their menu. I'm not a salad person but I noticed they had numerous options to customize salads. read more

Perfect lunch spot! I work in Oakland and my coworkers and I visit this place often. It gets crowded during the lunch rush so we try to get there by 11:45 to beat the crowd. I always choose the pick your own salad and for $7 and it is a deal. For an extra $1 you can add a half avocado and for a few more bucks you can add some protein. They offer every kind of salad topping you could want from cheeses to all kinds of olives. The fruit and veggies are always fresh and they are over generous in the amounts of toppings added to your salad. The staff is always friendly and will ask how you want your salad chopped. I have not tried anything else but the salads but they burgers look delicious and I think worth a try. I recommend signing up for their emails as they are so funny, you get a coupon for doing so and one for your birthday. read more

Another concept restaurant by the Eat n' Park group (see Porch). However, the latter is good and HB is bad. The sandwiches are small, overpriced, and dry. The salad bar, while boasting an impressive 55 items is: 1. not self-service, 2. not particularly inspired, and 3. tastes like the stuff you'd get at a regular, crappy Eat n' Park salad bar. The only real Pro is the Boylan's soda fountain but it hardly justifies regular patronage. read more

My wife and I like other Hello Bistro locations. However, this place was filthy. Service was slow, and my wife's super burger was badly burned . Also, the bun was soggy. read more

While the staff was friendly, my take out order was wrong--only discovered after I was home. The fries were hot, but so soggy they were almost inedible. Not what I expected from a business affiliated with Eat n' Park. read more

There for the first time and had something besides a salad. I opted for the burger and french fries. I got to John Wayne burger which comes with sautéed onions and barbecue sauce. The burger it's probably even worse than McDonald's burger and it was a very cheap burger. I would rather go to five guys any day of the week. The fries were terrible. Way too much spice and salt. I could not even eat them. When ordering I asked if that would be in one order be enough to share with three people and they said yes. Clearly the people that work there have no clue because it was barely enough for one person no less sharing it for three people. The worst part of the experience with how dirty the place was this is the first time we've ever dining in the restaurant and clearly all the college kids have no clue how to clean up. And the manager should know better and making it it's staff clean the place. When we left the restaurant there was a employee cleaning the windows which was probably the last thing that needed to be done and they could be wiping up the tables cleaning up french fries all over the floors even the trash bin was overflowing it was disgusting. We were the only ones in line and it took over 20 minutes to get two salads. I will never be back again. read more

Went in around 1230 and ordered a pre-chosen salad option thinking it would be faster since I did expect the lunchtime crowd and for them to be busy. People ordered, came....and went! Waited 25 min (I think they forgot about me). Checked in an woman said it will be right up. Told her I had waited over 20 min (nicely). Got salad. No apologies or anything. Salad was underwhelming but I might just be bitter about the wait! read more

If you have two hours to burn, this is the place to get a killer salad. Otherwise, it would be faster to go to the grocery store in a neighboring county, get the ingredients and make it yourself. The place itself is huge (and clean!) but it's just not staffed appropriately for a downtown lunch rush. The order ahead option online is amazing, but here's my experience: 11:20am: order salad 12:26pm: time the salad is said to be ready 12:48pm: the actual time my salad was ready An hour and a half to toss a standard salad off the menu? Why? I learned that only two people were staffed to accommodate all the to go orders. If you don't order ahead and are brave enough to wait in line between 12-1pm, peace be with you. read more

How do you go to this place and not go for the salad? Well, I did. And I'm glad I did. Lots of protein for vegetarians & vegans... lentils, beans, hard boiled eggs, chick peas, nuts, tofu... you get the idea. Chopping up & mixing the salad was the healthy icing on this healthy cake. I enjoyed the Boylan Vintage Soda Pop, a nice refreshing change. I also checked out the kids menu, with more then one veggie option for my veggie kid (PB&J, grilled cheese and a little salad). Beware, it does get jammed packed so stay away from peak hours. I will, for sure, be back. read more

I was so glad when the Oakland location opened a few years ago. I always make my own salad- great, unlimited toppings (proteins are extra though) and they've expanded to offer kale and spinach as well. Love their Parmesan peppercorn dressing! Beware of long lines (as expected) during weekday lunchtime, and there's a range in service-- some staff are friendly and efficient, others not so much. read more

Cheap, fast, good: I'd recommend this place for a quick meal that's nicer than fast-food. Hello Bistro's forte appears to be the make-your-own salad option where numerous options for salad toppings are present. The value is also tremendous: lots of food for your buck. I myself enjoyed the veggie burger and a side of fries which was solid. I don't really like how they deliver the fries in a brown bag to your seat at the restaurant-seemed aesthetically weird to me as the bag was coated with grease that soaked through, but whatever-the grease laden fries tasted great. I could see how this place would be excellent for a quick lunch. Check it out if you're in Oakland. read more