At Pandang, plates of sushi, drunken noodles and miso soup have long been staples of the campus dining scene. But tucked behind the menu is something most students don’t realize—a 5% discount offered to anyone with a Seton Hall student ID.
Unlike the well-known 10% cash discount, the student deal has remained largely hidden, leaving many diners unaware of a perk designed specifically for the campus community.
The discount has been in place for years, but it is rarely mentioned. When students asked about deals without noting their SHU affiliation, staff typically pointed only to the cash discount. With no PirateGold sticker displayed on the restaurant’s windows, many assumed Pandang neither partnered with PirateGold nor offered student discounts.
PirateGold is SHU’s campus debit program that turns a student ID into a debit card. With it, students can pay at the bookstore, the dining hall and local businesses that display the Pirate logo.
Many of those spots advertise discounts, but Pandang, launching the same year as the program, never officially worked with the school, leaving students unaware of the 5% discount made just for them.
From the start, students weren’t just customers—they were the core of Pandang’s customer base. Popular menu items were added at student request, hours were extended to 11 p.m. to match campus life, and the restaurant became a reliable partner for club events and the university’s Chinese New Year celebrations.
Owner and founder Jenny Chu said the discount was always meant as a quiet tradition to show appreciation.
“Students have been coming here since my opening in 2012,” Chu said. “They are an important aspect of this restaurant, and I’ve always offered the discount.”
Other restaurants, personal care services and stores promote their deals with a Pirate logo sticker on their windows, with signs declaring “SHU students, welcome.” The absence of these markings has fueled confusion among students.
Christina Pfeiffer, a sophomore psychology major at SHU, said she had no idea about the student discount.
“I’ve been eating there for two years with my friends, and I was not aware of any discount other than the 10% cash one,” she said.
The story of Pandang, however, begins not with discounts but with a dream. Chu grew up in Livingston, where he was surrounded by the restaurant scene.
“My parents owned a restaurant, so I was always around this,” she said. “When I grew up, my brother opened his own restaurant and helped me open mine.”
She later opened a bubble tea shop, Chipoba, around the corner.
Chu said students have always been a huge part of Pandang’s customer base.
“I know some of my regulars personally,” Chu said. “They started coming here when they were students, and I got to see them get married and have their own children.”
Student visits slowed during the pandemic, replaced by online orders and delivery.
“I miss them coming here,” Chu said.
For some, this discount could make a difference in dining habits. Loni Tufaro, a sophomore political science and diplomacy major , said she would visit Pandang more often if the deal were promoted.
“If I had known I could get an extra 5% off on top of the 10% cash discount, I’d make this a more regular spot,” Tufaro said.
Chu’s desire to see more students visit her restaurant in-person may be fulfilled after students become more aware of this discount made just for them.
Julia Roman is a writer for The Setonian’s Features section. She can be reached at julia.roman@student.shu.edu.
