ABOUT GRADBITE
Fostering meaningful conversations over (free) lunch!
As an undergraduate student, it is easy to feel lost and overwhelmed by post-grad plans and prospect of graduate school. While Professors and older undergraduates can offer advice, no one understands what life is like as a graduate student better than someone who is currently living it. You may have questions about applying to graduate school, steps to take whilst still an undergraduate, and what daily life looks like in grad school: here is your chance to ask!
As a graduate student, it is easy to think back to when you were figuring it all out and imagine how helpful it would have been to get answers to these questions: here is you chance to help!
We pair undergraduates and graduate students with similar academic interests to foster meaningful, one-on-one conversations over lunch. All the while helping students explore and support local West Philadelphia restaurants. Oh, and that's right, lunch is on us!
Check Out Our Local Recs
By Nathan
Ramen Umai
Spicy ramen will get through midterm depression
32 S 40th St
Hummus Grill
Don't overthink it: Beef Kebab platter with hummus, tabbouleh, and pita
3931 Walnut St
Sang Kee Noodle House
Can't go wrong here. The beef noodle soup and congee are certified classic
3549 Chestnut St
By Haydn
Clarkville
Get the 'za with the honey drizzle
4301 Baltimore Ave
Virasat Haveli
Butter chicken, garlic naan, or try something from the tandoor
4051 Market St
Vientiane Cafe (cash only)
Check the Laotian specials. Also,Tamarind tofu.
4728 Baltimore Ave
Food Truck Favs
Tyson Bee's
The BBQ beef burrito is therapeautic
33rd and Spruce (in front of Franklin Field)
Rafa's
Chorizo and egg, don't forget a Jarritos
36th and Spruce (in front of the Wistar Institute)
Can Tho City
#5 or #8
36th and spruce (in front of lower Quad)
Past Lunches!
Meet The Team
GradBite Graduate Students
The team that will answer all of your questions!
Siddarth Narayan
3rd-year Law Student
I'm a third-year law student who is pursuing antitrust law at a boutique firm in NYC after graduation. I'm originally from Pittsburgh and graduated from Georgetown in 2020. I mainly chose Penn because of its postgraduate presence in NYC corporate law, which is a springboard from my eventual career at the FTC/DOJ.
Henry Noe
3nd-year Chemistry PhD Student
My name is Henry Noe and I am a second year PhD student in the department of chemistry here at UPenn. I am from Hopewell Junction, NY and received my BA in Chemistry from the College of the Holy Cross in 2022. I decided to pursue a PhD in chemistry at UPenn because there were many faculty members that were interested in the same are of research I am interested in.
Sankrit Kapoor
1st-year Medical Student
I am a 22 year old medical student at the perelman School of medicine. I am originally from Morganville, NJ. I received my bachelor's in biochemistry at the University of Rochester in 2023. I ended up choosing Perelman to receive my medical education due to the strong reputation and amazing research opportunities available to students. My primary research interests include quality of life studies focused around congenital and cardiothoracic surgery. Outside of academics, my main hobbies include fashion, jewelry fabrication/design, and rug making
Joseph Rudoler
1st year Statistics/Data Science PhD student and Data Science MSE
Devin Golla
1st-year Chemistry PhD Student
I’m a graduate student at The Wharton School, pursuing a PhD in Statistics and Data Science. Before this, I worked full-time doing software engineering and computational cognitive neuroscience research at Penn’s Computational Memory Lab with Michael Kahana. While working for the lab I finished a part-time engineering Master’s in Data Science (with tuition covered by employee benefits), which included a thesis supervised by Konrad Kording. I attended Penn for undergrad as well, majoring in Physics & Astronomy with a Concentration in Business and Technology, along with minors in English and Music. I grew up in the Philly suburbs and am a huge local sports fan.
Pursuing a PhD was not an easy decision – that’s a big part of why I worked in a research lab for a few years first. It’s important to make sure that you enjoy doing research and are excited about a possible future in academia. Ultimately, I felt a PhD would help me further develop critical thinking skills and intellectual autonomy that would help me do more meaningful work in the future (whether in academia or in industry).
My name is Devin Golla and I am a 1st year PhD student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (lab of Xue Sherry Gao). My research is in protein engineering, synthetic biology, and biochemistry. More specifically, I am interested in the engineering of CRISPR-based technologies for greater precision and control over genome engineering. I went to Columbia for undegrad, and I decided to pursue a PhD at Penn because I really liked the collaboration between researchers at Penn, the strength of academic connections between Engineering and the School of Medicine, and the location in a busy city near biotech hubs and near my family.