P.F. Changs Temecula is staffed by petulant, arrogant servers and hostesses who have no business working in a service-related profession. With the exception of the manager, who was eventually summoned to our table, none of the employees is the least bit concerned with providing an enjoyable dining experience to customers.
Highlights of our evening included:
*Being seated by a service station and a door to a patio through which a constant stream of servers entered and existed to serve outdoor diners. Each time the door was opened (and subsequently slammed closed) our dinner was disturbed by a rush of cold air. Never mind the serving trays being set up and taken down over and over and over right beside our table to serve outdoor diners.
*Upon requesting a reseating, we were rudely informed by the hostess that we could move as soon as a booth (10 feet away) could be cleaned. Naturally, it didn't occur to her to request that a server go ahead and clear that booth so we could be reseated, nor did it occur to her to request assistance for us in reseating. When the booth had finally been cleared, we moved all of our plates, glasses, utensils, and sauces ourselves.
*Midway through our appetizers, the entrees were brought. And there they sat for 10 minutes getting cold. This is such bad form! In addition to the fact that it ensures the food will be cold when the diner is ready to eat it, an obvious clue to the server that it's a bad idea should be when diners have to arrange items on the table like a very tight Chinese puzzle to fit everything.
*Soon after the lettuce wraps were delivered, one of our party began to periodically comment that she either smelled cigarette smoke or something burning. When we tried the lettuce wraps (one bite each was plenty) we immediately knew what the burning smell was. The goop that goes in the lettuce tasted like burnt marshmallows.
*A waiter not only reached directly in front of one diner in our party to place a plate on the opposite side of the table from where he was standing, the reach was within 6 inches of that diner's face. Unbelievable! Don't they teach waiters not to reach in front of people?
*Mid-meal our waiter showed up with a replacement waiter to serve us while the first waiter took a break. The first waiter never came back from break, and the replacement waiter never returned to our table. Not once. No water or tea refills. No inquiries about the quality of our meal. No offers of additional service. Nothing. In the meantime, we watched an army of servers (including the manager) tending to two large groups. This required the army to parade past our table constantly, loudly commenting to each other about what else needed to be done for the large groups. The parade of servers was so intense that they literally kicked up a constant breeze and created a traffic jam which caused other diners passing by to back various body parts over the edge of our table and also caused servers on their way to the large-group tables to stand beside our table with heavily laden trays of food or drink balanced precariously over our heads. Amazing!
*After we finished eating, we waited 20 minutes for a server of any sort to appear. Meanwhile, we watched the replacement waiter standing and chatting with other waiters during those 20 minutes. Completely uninterested in doing his job.
*When an employee did show up to our table, we expressed our extreme displeasure and asked him to have the manager come to our table. He snippily let us know that he would take care of that when he had a chance.
When the manager came to the table, she showed a genuine concern for our dining experience. Unfortunately, by that point the evening was irretrievably spoiled. We did appreciate the fact that she said the dinner was on her. She offered to bring us dessert as well, but we declined, saying we'd prefer to go elsewhere and pay for dessert than to get it free at P.F. Changs.
Overall, an amazing and truly unforgettable dining experience. Not in a good way.
A couple tips for the snot-nosed servers at P.F. Changs Temecula: 1) P.F. Changs is not ALL THAT. 2) Your job is to serve customers. If that is so beneath you, look for jobs that don't require you to serve people. 3) Go to waitress/waiter/hostess/bus boy-girl charm school and learn how to serve customers. 4) If it wouldn't break your pretty little faces to do it, PUT SMILES ON THOSE POUTY LITTLE FACES and at least pretend you are enjoying your job. This is no different than what the rest of us have to do in our jobs (it's called moderating our behavior boys and girls) and unfortunately for you, it is an absolute requirement for people working in serving jobs. One would think this would be especially useful in your quest for decent tips.
A tip for would-be diners: Keep walking past P.F. Changs to the Yardhouse. There you can get a cold beer and a reasonably polite server. Probably even a smile or two. read more