Big Bowl Noodle House

Don’t let the outside appearances fool you… Head downstairs for surprisingly good Chinese food, in very large portions at affordable prices. Give it a try if you are in State College!

Totally worth a two hour drive, one of the best Thai places in central Pennsylvania. Highly reccomend the chicken pad thai– has a slight kick to it that is delicious

Basically an above average mall food court restaurant. Ordering is the same — u order and they call you when food is ready. The food does actually come on plates and chopsticks and metal cutlery is provided.
Very reasonable prices. Food is actually very authentic. Decent portions.
Cash only. May be a bit difficult for some to access this hole in the wall because it is down a long set of stairs.
Lots of Asians eating in so that’s a good sign! They have daily specials in addition to what’s on the menu.
Probably quite good for a town like State College. Not comparable to bigger cities obviously.

I loved this place when I was still at Penn State, it was easily one of my top five food places to eat. The portions were always huge, especially for the low price. The only thing better than the amount of food you’d get here is the flavor of the food itself. Their rice and noodle bowls are delicious and they offer a wide variety of your standard Chinese food beside that. Its a sit down place that only takes cash though, and the place often gets really packed during dinner due to it being so close to campus. Honestly, my only regret about ever coming here was that I didn’t discover it until my Junior year two years ago.

Great food with such a cheap price for lunch. I got noodle bowl with fried pork. I had to come back the next day to try other option.

You want a big bowl of noodles? Well, guess what? That’s what you’re gonna get. Me and the wife left completely satisfied! If ya know what I mean…

One of the best food buys in State College, right across the street from the Penn State campus; fresh, delicious, unpretentious, and inexpensive. Cash only, so hit the ATM before ordering.

Really affordable and really delicious! The fried tofu skins are to die for. In addition to other classic dishes, you have the option to either pick rice, noodles with brown sauce, or noodle soup with a protein. The noodles with brown sauce and fried tofu skins is amazing. Also, it’s cash only with no ATM so be sure to bring cash with you

One of the better restaurants downtown. You wouldn’t expect it, from the outside. You have to walk down a flight of stairs to get there. I remember the first time I went, I didn’t really know what to expect, but as soon I walked through the doors… I was blown away!
The atmosphere is just really cool & is a lot bigger inside than what I was expecting. I was used to the other divey Chinese restaurants in the area.
On top of that, the food was terrific & fresh. I got sesame chicken and rice! A tasty meal and great value for the price you pay. They give you a lot.
Just know to bring cash, pretty sure they wouldn’t accept my card when I went.

Finally I found a decent Chinese restaurant! I would definitely recommend this place. The service is average, but the food is delicious and filling. The restaurant is clean, it’s not one of those hole in the wall Chinese restaurants that you would find in State College. I would definitely recommend the general tso if you are new to Chinese food. Also the food is fairly cheap.
The only downside to this place is that they only accept cash.

Really authentic asian, a billion choices so they are sure to have something you like. Only bad thing, cause of one less star, THEY DONT TAKE ATM CARDS OR CREDIT! Wth? Lots of seats.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite places in all of State College. Not only is it super close to campus, it’s also really affordable. I think the most I spent was around $ 8 for bubble tea and a huge portion of Singapore Mei Fun (my favorite). The food is hot and delicious, and there are a ton of bottles of soy sauce, black vinegar, Sriracha, and hot oil for you to dress your food the way you like.
This place is cash only which is kind of aonnoying for students who pretty much solely use debit cards and LionCash.

The portions and the prices are great, but the taste was not… Everything we got was over seasoned, salty, and oily. The ho fun and the Singaporean stir fry noodle were alright, but the rice plates were a huge disappointment. For the tofu rice plate, there was barely any tofu and the tofu was fried, but had a slimy outer layer. And the fish in oyster sauce rice place was super sweet. But the biggest disappointment was the noodle soup. It was basically msg soup which had overcooked noodle that broke apart when you tried to grab it. And don’t get the chicken for anything because it has a strange and disgusting odor.

A college town cafeteria vibe. Lots of options, too much sauce, and noodles are overcooked. Came here while on a road trip and had the sesame noodles. They were okay, but slightly overcooked (soggy) and too much peanut sauce thrown into the bowl. Nicely cut carrots and cucumbers were a plus! Good selection of hot sauces (which you will need, as the food is a little bland).

Big Bowl is the absolute standard for great Chinese food in State College (and beyond), as far as I’m concerned. We are never disappointed when we go. But go hungry — he portions are huge! But delectable to the last bite. You can taste the freshness in all of their wonderful offerings.
I love their fried dumplings! Fantastic Chicken & Broccoli. Wonderful Ho Fun broad rice noodles! You can’t go wrong here.
And beyond all that the people who run this busy restaurant are terrific and helpful: Anne, Wade, and everybody. Five Stars fabulous.

This was my favorite Chinese place in college! It’s right by south halls, where I used to live. I would always order their General tsos chicken with white rice and cheese wontons. The cheese wontons are amazing. It was pretty good about 90% of the time.
They also have a nice dine-​in area… A lot of room and it was always full of hungry people. It’s kind of «self-​serve» — meaning you order and they put your food on a tray, call your number and you go and get it. Efficient.
This place is cash only.

Big portions, good value, some items great, some items NOT so much.
Had dinner here after a football game. Place was busy but no line and found table right away. Menu is HUGE, and covers everything (apps, soups, rice, stir fry, etc). We had chicken spring rolls, wonton soup, two had fried rice, one had chicken strips /​w rice, I had Pad Thai.
Spring rolls were ok. nothing special but ok. I doubt they were fresh made but decent.
The Wonton soup was good. No water-​down broth here, it had a good hearty flavor.
Both fried rice (chicken & veg) looked great but were not very enjoyable. Both ppl felt it later on in the evening.
Real shame about the fried rice dishes, can’t tell if they had a bad day in the kitchen or its just not one of theirs better entrees .
Chicken strips, well it’s hard to mess that up but the portion was huge.
I thought the Chicken Pad Thai was one of the best I have ever had. Lots of flavor and not too spicy (you could always add more spicy yourself). Noodles were not over cooked or gummy (a fatal flaw I have experienced many times with Pad Thai). Portion was huge and I could not finish.
I would revisit & recommend but steer clear of the fried rice menu. Even with that omission, there are still a ton of hopefully tasty items to explore.

I’m not sure why everyone seems to love this place, but I was disappointed. The portions were generous, and the prices are pretty cheap, which is good for the student on a budget. Be aware that they only accept cash.
My son and I both had fried rice. He had the vegetable, and I had the chicken. We were both disappointed by the lack of flavor. It wasn’t horrible, but we’ve eaten much better fried rice. Neither one of us cared for the spring rolls either. Again, very bland. Sadly within 20 minutes after eating here, my digestive system made me regret it; my son’s digestive system did the same thing to him shortly after. Maybe fried rice isn’t their best dish. If I came back to this place, I would order something different.

Cha Jiang Mian (#107) was aite… i actually liked their pad thai (#102) more.
Like everybody else says, great quality of food at a crazy cheap price.
You can partition ur $ 7 meal into two meals EASILY.
Food is decently authentic but not the most…
They have some dishes that are and some that arent
Either its great for the price and if u havent tried it ur missin out.
Oh and cash only

God level chicken nood soup and curry fried rice with fish or chicken. also tried the tofu skin — all was good. chicken wings lack a bit of flavor but really good
best fried chicken i have ever eaten in my life.