Sesame Inn

Amazing chicken. It’s a dish. Get it. It’s amazing. My ultimate favorite dish, and I seriously am still thinking about it 24 hours later. I’m not sure, maybe there’s crack in the dish, but the chicken is perfectly cooked, crispy, and perfectly sweet. The steamed white rice is a good accompaniment for the sweetness of the dish. It truly is just chicken – no veggies. The General Tso’s chicken is similar but different in a way I can’t quite describe. It’s unfortunate that we live near 51 and there’s not one near us. Service is quick, friendly, and food is hot upon pick up. I could eat here daily, if it weren’t so far away.

This place has great food, don’t listen to all the Pittsburgh food hipsters say differently. I have eaten at the various Sesame inn locations for years, it’s just as good as the Station square location was. Everyone is always looking for something new, you won’t find that here, however you will find excellent versions of all the standard Chinese dishes you’d expect everywhere. The service is top notch, however the older Asian lady who seats you could be a little more pleasant. Get the Amazing duo for a succulent, sweet, and spicy chicken and shrimp dish.

My husband, daughter, and I have come to this location about every two weeks now for the past 6 months. I have only ordered sushi/​sashimi, never the Chinese food but I can say the fish is always extremely fresh, never had an upset stomach. The service has always been good, and the prices are very reasonable. This is close to my house which is an added plus. My only complaint would be that the children’s menu is very limited — only 3 plates to choose from but most Chinese restaurants are like this so it’s nothing major. Their menu has recently been updated and does not list the sushi boats but they still have them, if you are in the mood for a ton of raw fish on a fun plate ask your server about it.

I love the Mount Lebanon location. This one, not so much. Something about this location put me into somewhat of a depression and I can’t pinpoint the exact reason. I came here for lunch and the restaurant was really clean, but the lack of windows made it really dark, even when it was bright and sunny outside.
The service was really quick, almost too quick if that’s even possible. We ordered and the waitress came out with our soup and egg roll in less than a minute. I can understand the quickness of the soup but the egg roll, it goes to show they probably just have them pre-​fried and sitting under a heat lamp in the kitchen. I ordered the Chicken with Garlic Sauce and the hubby ordered the Amazing Chicken. The chicken with garlic sauce was sweet and savory, loaded with a lot of veggies. It tasted ok, but a little heavy on the ginger for me. The amazing chicken wasn’t all that amazing, according to the husband. It was way too sweet and lacked any vegetables to cut the sweetness.
Although the service was quick, our waitress wasn’t all that friendly. She was straight-​forward and did not have a smile on her face at any point. The only staff member to ever smile while we were there was the hostess and perhaps that’s why she’s the hostess.
Compared to the Mount Lebanon location, the food seems to taste consistent since the soup and egg roll were identical. The atmosphere could use a refresher and the service could use a friendly smile.

Very good Chinese. Pad Thai pretty good.
Sushi specials are very good.
They deliver which we love!

Normally I never choose a Chinese restaurant to eat at because I just don’t enjoy the food. I gave it a shot and I’m actually really happy I did. We ordered the general tso’s tofu and omg — so good. Crispy and light with fresh rice and sauce on the side. I was so unimpressed with the soup we ordered that I don’t even remember the name. The sushi on the other hand was sizable and hit the spot. We ordered an avocado/​cream cheese roll which we haven’t had in years as well as a sweet potato tempura roll. The spicy mayo is spicy but not overwhelming and our waitress was very nice. The décor is somewhat outdated but that’s okay.

Three stars because I’ve had some truly good meals here. But today it was a one star affair.
I had lunch. The waitress was dismissive and rude. I take it she’s acted the same way to many others, since she’s frequently mentioned in the reviews here. I got general tso’s chicken. A few words about the sauce. You could literally taste the granulated sugar and bite down on it. This turned me off like you couldn’t believe. I soaked the rice up in it so it would be less noticeable, but to no avail. It was noticeable. The chicken itself was crunchy and all white meat, which was great, but the sauce really could have been better prepared.
I thought it would be easier to pay the bill and get the hell out of there, since the wait staff was so dismissive. But no. I sat around for ten minutes after I was done eating. Rude waitress comes in «you done?», takes away dish. Five minutes pass. Waitress runs through, I try to get her attention. «Miss? Can I please have my check?» «yeah yeah yeah, hold on» I hear back. Ten minutes. I get my check. «Do I pay you or at the front desk?» «It doesn’t matter» she snaps back. I leave my money on the table and leave. If I had mentioned the bad sauce I can’t imagine what her reaction would have been. Go to Bean Curd instead.

Great service. Food quality will disappoint if you know Chinese.
I think they try to make up for quality with quantity.

Excellent sushi, excellent service. I’m very picky about my sushi from how tight its wrapped to the freshness. I must say I was impressed. The menu has a lot to offer as well.

We had the orange shrimp and cashew shrimp it did not taste as fresh as it usually does, the cashew shrimp sauce was thin and watery. I hope this doesn’t become their standard. High quality and Consistency were always their most attractive qualities. I’ll give it one more try, but first I’ll go back to Hunan inn.

My favorite Orange Beef! Crunchy, the spicy Orange sauce, just delicious!!! The appetizer of boneless spare ribs and wonton soup makes for a perfect meal!!! A close second is their General TSO’s chicken, always crunchy and delicious! Don’t forget to ask for the Chili Oil!

Food is very good and consistent! Fast delivery. We have tried a variety of foods, all have been good. Always get delivery, have not ate inside restaurant.

I was told this place would be amazing. The food was good, I had amazing chicken. The service was very friendly and helpful.
The environment was very crammed, my back was about a foot from a person in a booth. No room for the waiter to walk past me to help the person behind me.
Food was good, nothing to brag about. I prefer Silk Road though.

The sesame chicken lunch special had chunks of crispy chicken in a teriyaki-​like sauce. My friends got the shrimp with vegetables and the tofu with vegetables. I tasted both and they were good. It comes with soup or egg roll. My friend thinks the Mexican waiter is very friendly and our food was served quickly. I want to go back.

Ordered the Pad Thai because I had ordered it before at their mt. Lebanon location and it was delicious! Not the case here. It was so bland that it tasted like buttered noodles with chicken. Waited forever for the waiter to come back to the table so that I could ask him about it. He was clueless. When I asked him for some of the spicy sauce that comes on the dish normally, he returned with siracha. Yes. That will give the heat that I was craving but not what I asked for. Took us getting the attention of the hostess? Manager? Not sure what her job was? To rectify the situation. To her credit. She did come back to the table with what better filled the basic requirements for pad thai but I don’t think I will ever be back to give them a third try.

The service was atrocious here. The waitress was very impatient and didn’t seem too happy that we were here. Honestly, it’s probably because she isn’t use to seeing non-​Caucasians dining here. Not only was she impatient she spoke in a tone that was fit for an argument. Perhaps she’s one of those crazy tiger moms… So definitely 1 star for her attitude.
The food is typical Chinese-​american food. My GF and I did the Sunday brunch, which consists of a soup, eggroll, and entrée. We had the general tao’s chicken and triple delight. The chicken was good with a bit of crunch and the sauce was light. However, the chicken was served next to a bed of rice and as we’re eating the rice soaked up a lot of the sauce. The triple delight had velvety chicken and beef pieces with a few shrimp. The sauce was also light but had good flavor. The veggies in the dish was a bit too raw and wasn’t mixed in well with the rest of the ingredients. Overall it’s a 3 for food.

Their Amazing Chicken is awesome and its all white meat. Their egg rolls are the best but all of the chicken is all white meat and its all very good. Clean place with lots of space.

Very hit or miss, when food is good it’s very good but when it’s bad it’s bad. The food is very bland at times so much do that you cannot taste a difference between two completely different dishes. The previous review was correct the service is always arrogant and downright ignorant at times especially takeout. I wish there was another decent Chinese place in the area, if you know one please let me know. If you can find another place, trust me go there

decent chinese food
fast service
can request white meat with chicken dishes — a plus for the kids
honey walnt shrimp is good

This restaurant is spoke of often in our local community, and we’ve done both sit-​down and take-​out on several occasions without any major likes or dislikes either way. The wait staff at the tables have always friendly, but on one previous visit, my wife and I once noted how a female «manager» was uncomfortably derogatory towards one of her counter staff. Maybe she was an owner, who knows… but we could clearly tell she wasn’t pleased with the girl for something she did. We joked about it later between ourselves, saying we probably wouldn’t let our children apply there when they hit high school!
Well, on our visit tonight, a man in a shirt and tie taking payments was very arrogant when I asked if there was duck sauce in our take-​out bag! His response was flat-​out ignorant and condescending, as if I should have known what they packed in the bag. Hey, if you can’t be at least somewhat thankful that we chose to spend our $ 50 in your establishment, then perhaps we’ll not bother calling again.
I’d like to think that we caught these folks on a few «bad days», but nonetheless, we’re not comfortable with this pattern. And so I felt compelled to «tell it like it is» for others to make their own judgements.
In all fairness, the Sesame Inn (Peters) has good food, but it’s always seemed a bit over-​priced for what you get. It’s good, but not THAT good. The food and friendly staff would get a 4, but factor in a solid 2 for the overbearing bullies in charge.
Since a customer’s overall experience includes feeling welcome… the Sesame Inn (Peters) gets a 3 from me.