My mother always taught me, if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. But after yesterday's experience, I feel compelled to share.
A party of three, all using a walking cane, were led to a table in the bar. Tight booths 6-8 inches above the floor. This is where I blame myself for not saying this is unacceptable and that we wish to sit at a table in the dining room that's on level ground. After squeezing in we realize that this table consisted of two wine glasses and an empty soy sauce container. After the server/bartender took our drink order for water, service slowed down.
We were handed three beautifully designed laminated menus and after looking it over, I asked about their advertised special; a three course meal for $20 each. After looking a little perplexed, she left went into the main dining room and returned with one brand new laminated menu describing the three course meal special. We three disabled seniors ordered two hot and sour soups, and one egg drop. For the main course, I ordered beef lo mein, and my wife and her friend ordered a spicy shrimp meal. The soup arrived in a reasonable amount of time, about 10 minutes. But after my wife and her friend tasted their soup, they said, no thanks. Being an old retired military Vet. I decided to just doctor up the soup. Every combat, Vet knows how to do this. No, it wasn't Tabasco sauce. I informed the server that the soy sauce was an empty container. And it would be nice to have some silverware for the meal.
Getting back to the egg drop and Hot and sour soups. They complained that they were watered down so much that they had no flavor, but to the chef's defense, there was plenty of stock, but a far cry from Pf Chang, of not too long ago.
So now my little princess and her friend asked to replace their bland watered down soup with a salad. Which consisted of lettuce only with some dressing, about the size of a child dish. It took 15 minutes for the "small" salad, which looked like a pregnant teacup. The main course was brought to us 15 minutes later. it was at this time that it dawned on me that the server was inexperienced at being a server other than liquor. The restaurant was half empty and the speed of the service was slow for that condition.
I may be wrong, but my family has been involved in the restaurant business for over thirty years. My son is a restaurant Manager here in Louisville.
This is strictly my opinion, but if management was having her fill-in for an absent server, only temporarily, it was obvious, but if she did hold both positions, pf Chang is in need of new management.
My beef lo mein, after being doctored up, was quite good. But again, my wife and her friend thought that their tiny shrimp, about the size of a nickel, in shape and size, was not very appealing. In the past, shrimp described the food more than its size. After ordering an extra egg roll, the bill climbed another $20. So between the taste of the food and the slow service, I could not give Pf Chang more than one star. When I went to pay my bill, I presented an expired Pf Chang gift card that my son had bought for me. They refused to take it because it expired two months ago.
I could probably name 10 restaurants here in Louisville that would remind me that it was expired but still accept it because it's a wise business decision. After all, they were paid the $20 awhile ago.
Maybe in this instance, they didn't care, sensing that we probably wouldn't return anyway.
Several things needs improvement. They need new management, a bit more supervision in the kitchen, and a lot more training to take "an order taker" into an exceptional server.
I wish every server the best and hope they are well compensated for their hard work, especially when they go out of the way to make a customer feel special. read more