The new restaurant State Platters opened last Friday on E. Beaver Ave. The establishment features reasonably priced New York City platters throughout the night.

Yes, that’s right: State Platters is open till 3 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 2 a.m. on Sundays. The owners are Penn State grads so they know that there’s a pretty large crowd of late-night eaters. Owner Sunny Shakhawala said, “everyone closes at 3 am or earlier, except McDonalds, and we’re willing to stay open that extra minute… we’d never shut the door on a customer.” Finally, we can eat somewhere besides mediocre pizza places after 10 o’clock. In fact, we can choose from gyros, chicken platters, falafels, souvlaki sandwiches, and salads, all for under $7.

Shakhawala and his partner Hartej Singh Sawhney graduated in May with finance degrees, and after co-ops, internships, working alongside their business oriented fathers, and even running a t-shirt printing company throughout college, they knew the 9-5 white collar job wasn’t for them. The pair decided to start-up a low cost, humble food cart business near their alma mater to give back to a community that gave them so much. The North Jersey duo decided on a food cart after growing up and seeing their success in NYC. They chose to make food they enjoy eating—a mix between Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern food they had as kids.

The place is modest and relaxed, and if it weren’t for their shirts, you probably wouldn’t realize that Shakhawala, Singh, and their chef with 15 years of experience, Slim, worked there. They play music from a Macbook and it feels like it wouldn’t be an imposition to go sit and eat your meal with them.

Now I’m no gyro connoisseur, but compared to the other ones I’ve had, I’d say this one takes the cake in State College. And there’s no beating the humble, down-to-earth ambiance at State Platters. So folks, this week I suggest you divert from your usual ways and head over to 137 E. Beaver Ave. to try State Platters, and if you do, let us know what you think.