PF. Chang's

[bigguyinpasadena]

I have dined twice at 2 different P.F. Changs,once in Vegas,once at the Beverly Center.Both times were less than inspiring.The food is the blandest chinese food imaginable,totally geared towards caucassians who don't know any better.The Service at the Beverly center location was horrid-but I don't expect good service in West Hollywood any more-that way it is a real pleassure when it happens.The vegas location was a little better-but still bland bland bland.

I am sure you can find MUCH better Chinese food wherever you are.

Oh,the place is way way overpriced,and both locations VERY noisey.

Nothing to recomend about this chain at all.

[chrismac]

I have to agree with the Big Guy from Pasadena (with a super-stocked Dodge in his rickety old garage, no doubt) - P.F. Chang's is blah. I think it's days are numbered. A fad whose day has come and long since gone. I've been to the one in La Jolla (San Diego) and the one in Beverly Center. They do make brocoli palatable, however. And their crunchy sauteed tofu isn't too bad either, for those with more vegan tastes.

[kjun]

Have been to the one in the New Orleans area and agree with the other reviewers. The place is nothing to write home about:-(

[Guest LG320126]

Totally agree with all the rest. Was at the one in WEHO and you could have done as well at a Flying Chopsticks carryout. Chains are just that - mostly poor quality/poor service. Find yourself a restaurant where you can barely understand the waitstaff and I'm sure your dining experience will far surpass PF Changs.

[Guest LG320126]

P.S.

 

John-

While you're in Chicago on your upcoming trip and happen to like Italian, try Lino's on Ontario St. just up from the Hard Rock. :-)

[Guest bottomboykk]

So-So at best. The food is edible, but nothing special about it at all. Overpriced for what you get.

[Guest newbie2it]

eaten 1 time at each of 2 locations in florida and that was MORE than enough for this ersatz chinese food served at quite high prices..also in a noisy "hip" environment..

 

was curious to try it the first rime as had seen that their stock was going up rapidly BUT was also priced way beyond its inherent value..

and wondered if this was a looming disaster in the making once the novelty wore off...

 

fortunately I did not sell short as figured there MIGHT be enough folks out there who actually LIKED the place so that PF could show a rising stream of earnings ..which they have done-

so never underestimate the taste of americans-lol

curious what was the experience of guy who posed the question?

[SmallTownJohn]

Has anyone visited this restaurant chain & what did you think about it? I'd appreciate the feedback.

 

 

I'll add more later<g>

 

John

http://www.SmallTownJohn1.com

[Michael]

I've been to the one in Austin, TX, two or three times.

 

There was some novelty value the first time since the servers

were all Texan frat-boy types who insisted on on explaining the

entire menu in great (and often inaccurate) detail.

 

The food was OK but distinctly average, and the place had all

of the atmosphere of a str8 singles bar ...

[jackhammer91406]

Tried the one out here in west San fernando valley and it was so-so. Big hoopla at the opening but atmosphere seems to matter more than anything and it was too noisy. Food is below par and it seems the only thing people rave about is the lettuce wraps which I found to be not very good. Agree with other posters, stay away from chains and look for some hole in the wall.

jack

[Guest sdmuscl4hire]

Been twice, found it to be a wanna-be upscale restaurant

[bigguyinpasadena]

OK smalltownjohn,you have now recieved 11 reviews of the PF chang chain,ranging from don't bother to don't bother!Now would you please divuldge the rest of the story(as Paul Harvey would say)

[SmallTownJohn]

Sorry about the delay guys...

 

Just while visiting Orlando, my partner was determined to find " a little old lady with a flaming wok & a handful of basil" type Asian restaurant. A hole in the wall like someone mentioned in the threads. <The Rice Bowl in Nashville is his favorite cos the ladies tear it up> Anyway, he comes in with the local Orlando newspaper & they've printed their "best of" restaurant guide. Readers chose PF Changs as best Chinese restaurant. <We've eaten at the location at Vanderbilt a few times when we have redneck friends who use the fear of dog/cat excuse.> We asked several folks at the hotel, online & even escorts while in Orlando. Many couldnt recommend a place but several said PF Changs. We gave up & hit Bill Wong's Super Buffet<truly nasty> I just thought it was interesting that an American chain with really bland food was so popular in Orlando & I wanted to ask the board's opinion as a discussion topic.

 

 

 

 

John

http://www.SmallTownJohn1.com

[chrismac]

>Anyway, he comes in with

>the local Orlando newspaper & they've printed their "best of"

>restaurant guide. Readers chose PF Changs as best Chinese

>restaurant.

 

Well, that explains it. What do Floridians know of good Chinese food? They probably serve hushpuppies at the Orlando location. As someone who was born and raised in San Francisco, my mouth is agape that any populace outside Afghanistan or Somalia would find P.F. Chang's "the best" of anything.

[NY Observer]

MY PFChang's experience (in Las Vegas) was much better.

 

No, the food wasn't that great, but the entertainment value was hysterical. I was seated by myself and there was a very attractive (straight) couple sitting next to me, clearly on their first date. The date wasn't going so well as witnessed by the guy being on his cell quite a bit. He was quite antsy.

 

After a while, he left to go the men's room (avec cell) and I struck up a conversation with the young lady (she initiated it). She asked me "do you think he's cute"? (I thought it was an odd question, as I don't really advertise my sexual preference; perhaps she noticed me eyeing him and not her?). Being the "shy" type, I said, he's very nice looking, but he looks better with you than me (of course he did, since she was the model). She smiled, he returned and now she got on her cell with her friend in Miami (I think it was a spite call). I told him she was getting revenge, etc. and we had a good chuckle.

 

She got off the phone and all was well with the world. She even gave me a kiss as they departed. (Curses, he didn't pick up on that). I suspect that they had some wild sex, went back to California alone and never saw each other again. It's a cruel world out there.

 

Back to the main point of the story, I wouldn't be in a rush to go back to PF's. But if the topic ever comes back to PF Flyers, they were spiffy.

[duke37]

I'm not surprised that PF Changs won a best of contest in a newspaper in Orlando. Orlando loves the big chain restaurants. Red Lobster and Olive Garden started there. Many companies that are developing new theme restaurants build there early to finetune the concept.

 

I think the people at PF Changs are aiming for clueless middle Americans who want to step up from the mom and pop chow mein joint they might have tried. Slightly exotic and safe appeal to Ma and Pa America. In Orlando its ever worse because there are so many restaurants and they change so fast even locals have trouble keeping up. So a familiar name gets repeated in advice a lot.

 

As far as Asian food in Orlando I think you can find something worth having at any of the family places in the Little Saigon area of Orlando. Go out Colonial east of I-4 till you see Vietnamese shop signs. Park and go look around. Although I'm sure an actual Orlando resident will have better advice.

 

Oh yeah stay away from the Mongolian BBQ buffets. That shit will kill you. :-)

 

Jeff

[Michael]

The real big warning about P F Chang's is that on the occasions that I was there I can't recall seeing *anyone* who looked as if they might have even vaguely been of some kind of Asian descent among either the staff or the customers.

 

The kitchen staff appeared to be Mexican, the waiters were all Texans and the customers were pretty much entirely caucasian yuppies.