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| - Oh the Galleria...I've always considered this mall to be the smaller but more expensive sister to the South Hills Village mall just up the street. How much more expensive? Enough that the Galleria is typically window shopping only for me...
On the plus side, the Galleria is a bit more upscale and beautiful than the South Hills Village by design, so at least while I'm window shopping I'm able to enjoy a lovely building and atmosphere! Although I really don't like driving in its parking lot; I often have to park in the underground segment of the lot and doing so kind of creeps out the claustrophobic in me.
And in fairness there ARE some things in here I can afford and do enjoy going to. The Hibachi place here is pretty good, and it's hard to go wrong with a Panera or Starbucks stop. Other highlights for me include the delicious chocolate shop, happy hour at Houlihans, and (to break my food and drink theme) the Coldwater Creek store. I also love just sitting around the fountain they have in here...it brings back memories from when I was little and ran along the ledge of that very fountain. (Surprise surprise, I fell in once or twice...little me wasn't a well-behaved child sometimes.)
Still, the good things here aren't enough to make me love the Galleria more than the South Hills Village mall space. There's no bookstore in the Galleria area, its movie theater is overpriced (especially considering the run-down state of the theater itself as of my last visit), and honestly I've had a bad experience with sales reps in a number of the stores here; many have been overly pushy in an obvious effort to boost their commission payments, to the point that they've tried to sell me items that don't even fit me properly.
If you're going to visit the Galleria, I say do it for the food. There are definitely some decent eateries here (I only mentioned a couple of them). As for the stores...if you're anything like me, have fun window shopping and be prepared to experience some sticker shock!
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