P F Chang’s China Bistro

A lot of empty tables but a ½ wait! Go somewhere else. When questioned the hostess was rude as hell!!!

Went today for lunch. Its friday so wasn’t too busy.
We ordered the chicken wrap, and for lunch I ordered ginger chicken with broccoli. Food was good, however, the customer service was the worst ever. Our server barely came to check if everything was okay, food took forever to come. He served the chicken but told us all to wait for white rice for 5 minutes, but it took 15. We just sat there waiting for rice.

Honestly only giving this place a three because our server Mike was awesome. I was going to complain about the wait time to order especially since there was hardly anybody inside but it seemed like he was the only one waiting tables.
And he did a great job at that. Now the food was nothing special probably should have went to a more authentic restaurant. I was expecting better because I had been to the location in Emeryville in the past but that was before they commercialized their dishes. I think that once you sell your dishes in the frozen section of the grocery store your food quality in general begins to suffer. Cutting corners to make a more processed dish in the groceries store probably led to them tweaking their restaurant recipes as well to save money.
The lettuce wraps were overall pretty great but the salt and pepper calamari was a lot of fried flour on previously frozen strips. That’s right the calamari wasn’t even cut into rings. They were awkward strips. The egg rolls were crisp on the outside but the vegetables inside were soggy. The pad Thai we had just didn’t taste right and the shrimp was so tiny it might as well have been non existent.
Heard rumors that this place might be closing soon. It’s a shame but I wouldn’t have been back anyway.

When attending Christmas at the Park, my family and I decided to stop by here for our Christmas Eve dinner as we were so curious about the place and heard great things about it. When we arrived, they told us it will take 40 minutes to seat 7 people. The restaurant was half empty when they told this to us, and that alone was ridiculous. We were seated 50 minutes later to a table that wpuld be more suited to seat 4 – 5 people. When seated, all of the appetizer plates were stained and looked unwashed. We asked the waiter to remove the plates and bring cleaner ones. Along with that, he informed us that few of the employees left the restaurant, thus the mood amongst those working the night was not well. When we asked for a bigger table, he barely brought out new plates. We moved to an area they originally stated was «closed off» for the night. Drinks came out perfectly fine.
When we ordered the egg rolls as appetizers, they were dripping in oil. After another 20 minutes, the food arrived. The waiter who handed in our food couldn’t tell the difference between which was the chicken and which was the combo pad thais. To find the difference, he personally grabbed the spoon and dug through the meal to find which was the combo and which was chicken only. This alone was utterly ridiculous! Why would you dig into the customer’s food to find out what it is?! However, during this time, all six of my family members received their meals, except me. After another 5 minutes, we asked where my meal was and the waiter went to check. By the time my food came out, my family was already close to done eating their food.
The food was not delicious at all. It was dripping in oil and tasteless. I ordered the Vietnamese steak and shrimp noodles. It was supposed to be a phở inspired dish. This was nothing like the taste of phở. In fact, I didn’t taste a thing close to phở at all.
Due to the fact it was Christmas Eve, we tipped fairly well as we felt terrible for the guy working the night. However, there will never be a chance I or any of my family members will ever go to PF Changs ever again.

PF Chang’s is definitely «A-​Ok!»
Pluses:
+ yummy food
+ good for groups, conducive to sharing (but see minuses)
+ decent portions, usually have leftovers
+ variety of interesting drinks (also see minuses)
+ convenient location to walk to nearby locations such as Improv
Minuses:
— A bit expensive what the atmosphere I would say
— Can be along wait even with a reservation. I wouldn’t go here in a hurry unless you have a fair amount of time to kill
— Service has been hit or miss at both this location and Santa Clara. Was very inattentive during group birthday parties.
— Drinks are super overpriced and often way too sugary. I’d stick to wine or beer or no more than one novelty drink.
I’d continue to go back but wish that they could improve their drinks and that the service was better for parties. :)

GREAT EXPERIENCE HERE!
1. allergies– i have every allergy under the sun: gluten, dairy, soy, egg yolks, yeast, walnuts… the manager came out & actually printed out different dishes that they could make for my boyfriend & I. We really wanted the lemon chicken & the manager even had the chef make a fresh new batch of unmarinated chicken (it’s usually pre-​marinated with a wine sauce which contains yeast). He also informed us that the lettuce wraps would be safe so we ordered some of those.
2. service– our waitress was very friendly. as soon as she found out i had allergies she sent the manager over. she assured us that there would be no cross-​contamination with the food in the kitchen.
3. time– we had reservations for 6:30, arrived at 6:15 & the hostess was actually apologizing that our table wasn’t ready yet. even though we were EARLY! by 6:30 we were in a quiet booth that was spacious & comfortable.
4. taste– it’s really hard to find good tasting food that i can eat with all of my allergies. it was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! we loooved the lettuce wraps (easily a new favorite) and the lemon chicken was really really good too even though they had to completely differ from the way they normally prepare it.
If I could give this location more than 5 stars, I would. If I had any complaints it would be that i wish the food was healthier. but what can you expect ordering chinese food lol

I felt like I was being punked by Ashton Kutcher.
We had a $ 50 gift certificate and my bf’s son was in town from college — so this seemed like a good plan.
We arrive around 6pm on a Saturday night, the place is about ²⁄₃ full, they ask if we have a reservation — we say «no» — they say we are going to wait 20 mins. 5 minutes later, they show us to a table.
Our server comes over and introduces himself and then goes on to explain how PF changes works. «we suggest you order a few dishes to share, would that be all right?» — Like this is my first time in a chinese restaurant. «I would suggest an appetizer and 2– 3 mains.» (Now I am not giving you the exact words or tone of the directions — but I really felt like he was telling me about some secret society of which I am utterly unfamiliar.) My bf — who can be a bit socially clueless at times even agreed that what he said and how he said it was a bit odd.
We order the lettuce wraps, the dan dan noodles, the tofu curry veggies, orange chicken and mongolian beef (yeah yeah, its a lot of food but we had to spend the entire $ 50 gift card). Every time I pick something our waiter has a comment (three of my choices are his «favorite thing on the menu»…um…do you not know the meaning of «favorite»?) fine fine, he’s a sweet kid.
Now we wait, and wait, — eventually he shows up with some (barely warm) tempura green beans we didn’t order. I shake my head saying they are not ours. he says — «you guys have been waiting so these are on the house». So — what REALLY happened? some other table ordered them, and now b/​c they are too cold to serve to the original orderers — out table gets them as a consolation prize? — whatever — free fried food is a bonus.
Next our waiter comes over and makes a big deal of announcing three sauces he is putting on the table, then he mixes a few of them into another sauce with soy sauce & vinegar — for a 4^th sauce.
Finally our (ordered) appetizer arrives. Yum — I do love those lettuce cups.
Then eventually — the rest of our food arrives, all standard and good — we are reminded which are his favorites and «look out that one is spicy». I can get better Chinese food at places I know in SF. But the food was decent for sure, and we have 2 meals of leftovers.
When the bill and the fortune cookies arrive my bf was in the men’s room. Our waiter scolds us to wait for him — «open these cookies and read them aloud to each other» Dude, trust me — we are going to leave you a nice tip, and I think a 4 year old know what to do with a fortune cookie…
The entire dinner took 2+ hours. I think I can get in and out of Gary Danko or Boulevard in the same amount of time.
Fine meal — but weird. I was in a PF Changs about 8 years ago and I remember it being better. Sadly Ashton Kutcher never appeared — but I was ready for him!

P.F. Chang, my long lost relative,
this is Amurica,
walk through the iron gates,
doing it big, giant horses,
gangnam style,
felt like ESL, self-​conscious,
same feeling waiting in-​line at Panda Express,
the only Asian here,
this ain’t take-​out, this is refinement,
sit down, have some iced water,
high ceiling, Chinese lanterns,
all they need is a dj,
felt like Hakkasan,
getting my feet wet with Asian fusion,
back to reality, this ain’t TAO,
waiter with blue eyes, straight outta ANF catalog,
ordered dan dan noodles,
looks nothing like dan dan noodles,
soy sauce, chili sauce, toss that,
had my doubts, pleasantly surprised,
China Bistro,
name misleading,
good to go with anything besides white rice,
mysterious but one of a kind,
much like the legend of general Tso
would come back here to experiment,
no doubt

I’d hoped to be surprised by the chain at this location, because I always try to give places a fair chance and be aware of my preconceived notions. The facilities here are nice and they have quite the cocktail menu, as well as a substantial gluten free menu.
However…
Despite the restaurant having maybe 10 tables that were full and 2+ servers, we were essentially ignored by our server. He of course, though, promptly came back and tried to schmooze after neglecting us for quite some time and then completely forgot what we’d asked for. It took quite a while for them to actually take our cards to pay for our bill. Even my friend’s kid knew the service was pretty not good… at least one woman tried to come by and help out in a friendly manner when our server was blatantly dropping the ball, and she’d obviously been having a rough morning…
And the food, unsurprisingly, was not that superduper. Who takes the skin off of eggplant?! Slimy and mushy, no interesting textural elements. Veggie spring rolls were decent and the lettuce wraps were a-​ok. Vegetarian options overall were kind of boring. I’d rather go to Garden Fresh or a vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant any day.
Honestly…I’d rather go to Panda Express for their eggplant tofu that has better flavors and texture, and my friends and I, while having to wait in line, are not essentially forgotten about…

Assuming you already know that P.F. Chang’s is a chain, most things about this location should seem familiar. The décor and the menu follow the standard.
That leaves the other important details: people and upkeep.
After many visits to this location, I think all of the people who work here form a great team. They all seem upbeat, friendly and efficient. I’ve sat at the bar, in booths, peered into the kitchen and used the bathroom. Every has always appeared to be very clean.
For food, the lettuce wraps are always a hit with people I know. I love to use a lot of the mustard sauce for some extra zing!
Another favorite of mine is to order the Schezwan Lamb and the Coconut Curry Veggies. Alone, each is very tasty. Combined, it’s awesome.
And if you try it and don’t like it… well you’re wrong… so there.

Food good, but our rude waiter looked like Gangus Khan, & was about as friendly. I’m fast, kinda. But ferreals, the guy just sorta helped everyone but us & kept us waiting while people who came in after is got their numnums.
Leave me alone, I’m Unilocaling while high. Also, this is great chemo food. Suits nicely.

Bland food with a service attitude. I never go to PF Changs anymore by choice due to so many mediocre or bad experiences at various locations but if my business customers visiting request to go their on business dinner or lunch I oblige.

This time it was par for the course in terms of extremely bland food taste, probably the most bland Cashew Chicken I have ever had. My guest, a native Chinese person thought the same of their Wonton soup. Also again on this visit, and too often at other locations as well, the waiters/​waitresses have an attitude (I’m being forced to help you, but I don’t really want to). Maybe management treats them like crap and they don’t care but still it doesn’t make for a good experience having bland food and attitude. It also seems that most workers there probably view the job as very temporary where a traditional non-​chain Chinese restaurant more likely has long termers who take their job more seriously. It’s pretty clear that no one at PF Changs has ever told their workers «Please try hard to make patrons actually enjoy their visit»
I usually save 1 star for throwing up or not being able to eat the dish. At least I finished it.

This was my first time here and I must say I’m not impressed. I don’t know if it’s because what we ordered, but nothing really stood out as «amazing». On a positive note, our server took extra precautions to make sure there was no peanut in our food since I’m allergic. We ordered the chicken lettuce wrap since everyone «raved» about it, sichuan scallops, Chang’s spicy chicken, and dan dan noodles. As some other people mentioned, the food did take a while to come out even though the place was quite empty.
Our chicken lettuce wrap was on the salty side. I could barely taste any chicken in there; all I tasted was the crispy rice sticks and water chestnuts. Their dipping sauce was quite underwhelming and salty too. Even though our server mixed it with some spicy sauce and mustard, you tasted nothing but saltiness.
Next came the entrees…
The Sichuan Scallops were supposed to be sauteed in chili pepper garlic sauce. In reality, it was majority tomato paste and nothing else. It had a slight sweetness, but definitely not spicy at all. The sauce was also very thick so it became quite unpleasant once the dish cooled down.
The Chang’s spicy chicken was probably the best dish of the bunch. It was more on the sweet side than spicy but it did have some nice flavors. The chicken was also cooked well so it wasn’t dried out.
Lastly, is our dan dan noodles. We were looking for the crispy noodles, but decided to try this one out instead. The presentation was definitely different from all the other noodle dishes. It was served with cucumbers and bean sprouts on the side and our server would mix it for us. The taste wasn’t pleasant at all. The noodles were overcooked and the sauce on top was again, salty. Normally, I love noodles, but this dish was not edible to be at all. I’d rather eat rice than order that again.
Overall, this place is like an Americanized Chinese restaurant. I probably wouldn’t come back again. For the amount and quality of the food versus the prices, It’s totally not worth it.

Extremely slow service. Our waitress, although pleasant, didn’t care much about us. There was a good 10 minutes between check ups and she ignored our empty drinks.
It was pretty annoying, but the hilarious part is this: the hostess, while showing us to our table, asked one of the people in our group «I love your shoes! where did you get them?» Sweet, right?
Well she said the same thing verbatim, to the next group she seated right next to us!
You might get away with inattentive service, but I’ll be damned if I let you offer scripted compliments and get away with it!
Food was meh.

Sit at the bar. The bartenders, all of them, are so fantastic. I can’t say enough nice things about them. It feels like you’re eating with a friend.
I know that eating at chain restaurants is passé these days, but this Changs doesn’t feel like a chain place. It’s got the best décor in all of downtown San Jose and the food of course is good.
(Is it Chinese food for Asians? Probably not. But I’m white bread so I like the safety of orange chicken and pot stickers.)

I succumbed to the chain restaurants this weekend. I was downtown in San Jose before a concert and needed a place to nibble before painting the town red. It was a Sunday afternoon and not much was open. I looked to Unilocal for inspiration, but everywhere I tried was either closed or I was not going to make it happen once I saw the restaurant. Come on San Jose, what’s the deal?!
Being gluten free always poses more problems to find quality food in new areas, but I tried. We ended up here as a final resort because I know they boast a large GF menu.
I have to be honest when I say that I have been missing Chinese food, so it was a slightly welcome surrender.
The restaurant was accommodating not only to the items in the existing GF menu, but also made adjustments to a dish we wanted but were not part of that menu. I was impressed. I’m not going to lie. I’ll give credit where credit is due.
We ordered the shrimp with modified garlic white wine sauce with green veggies and the street noodles sans meat. The noodles 100% satisfied my Chinese craving for a while.
I’m not saying I am going back any time soon, but good to know a Chinese option exists for us GF foodies.

Saturday lunch for two. Pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.
I recommend the Brancott Sauvignon Blanc over the Haras Estate… more grassy-​ness on the former.
High five appetizers definitely include Chang’s Spare Ribs. Everything was good… honorable mention to the Oolong Chilean Sea Bass and the Dan Dan Noodles.
And, they have espresso!
Bön Appetit!

Service here is good, not so so, bad or great, just plain old «ok». Food on the other hand is what we can all expect of the spot, I will add that there are a few new menu options for those of you who eat «funny” — and by that I mean «weird.» So yeah there are gluten free dishes now and they have their own menu. What the hell is gluten, anyway? Oh well… moving on, food is ok but I ordered the combination pad thai only to find no chicken and only a few shrimp, instead my plate was destroyed with what seamed to be two types– yes, two types of tofu!
So I don’t feel so bright, but I have since come to realize that the dry tofu looking stuff was both a mix of tofu and chicken! Now… that’s soo not a good sign! Chicken should never taste like tofu!!!
On a plus side, I stopped by PF Changs during a really really tough personal time, and when the bartender asked how I was, I spilt the beans, Bryan was my bartender, and he was so wonderful, and understanding. I will be back in time, not for the pad thai, since it’s different each time I order it, but the bartender is worth coming back for!

I would give this P.F. Chang’s a two star at most, but after much rationalization, a one star review is much justified. The service was terrible, to say the least. They had a special set meal for two. I believe it was $ 40. It comes with 2 soups, 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert. We decided we would get two egg drop soups, crab wontons, sesame chicken, crispy honey shrimp, and the banana spring rolls.
It took awhile for our server to make it to our tables after we received the menus. After we ordered, the egg drop soup took more time than I anticipated to make it to our table. I did not know it takes several tries to scoop soup out of a pot. Oh wait, I guess they should have taken their time because the soup that we got was lukewarm at best. I was going to say something but our server did not show up at our table until halfway through our entrees. What the hell kind of service is that?
The crab wontons were probably the best part of the meal. They were piping hot, and full of flavor. The wonton skin was crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. The sesame chicken was a bit dry and the meat was not tender. The fried rice was pretty good. It had lots of flavor, and thank goodness we ordered it without bean spouts because I hate the crunch with my rice!
Halfway into our entrees, our server asked us how we were doing. We said we were doing fine. Little did we know, we would not see him for another half an hour. He seemed to have vanished. When we were done and wanted our dessert order put in, he was no where to be found. So we waited, and waited. Finally he came, and I told him we waited our dessert. He said, he already put the order in. Yeah okay. Then why did it take so long for it to come out.
Anyways, when it came out, I was not expecting much. But, I think I was blown away a little bit. The presentation looked great. It tasted even better. The ice cream was my favorite part. I loved the coconut and small pineapple chunks mixed in.
All in all, I would not recommend this place, simply because the service was terrible. The food was good, but I hate bad service at a restaurant more than anything. Honestly, if the food was bad, and the service is excellent, I wouldn’t mind.

So the owner (or manager) of this location sent us a «be our guest» card so that we would come back and give them a try again. So we did, and we were glad to be treated much better than the last time we were here.
We were seated after only a momentary wait, and though our waiter wasn’t speedy, he did attend to us (unlike our last visit). My water was refilled, our orders were taken and served. Things didn’t come out as fast as we would have liked, especially the desserts and check. But it was okay.
We ordered the $ 40 four-​course meal for two.
We started off with the hot and sour soup, which my boyfriend devoured and I thought was just alright.
Then we tried the Salt & Pepper Calamari appetizer. It was different than most other calamari I’ve tried as it’s more lightly breaded and fried. I liked it a lot though.
My boyfriend ordered the Chang’s Spicy Chicken. He liked it but it wasn’t as spicy as he thought it would be, or would have preferred.
I ordered the Asian Grilled Norwegian Salmon. I liked how it was grilled until it was a bit crispy, but the overall flavor didn’t impress me. I liked the choice of brown rice, and the asparagus paired with the salmon nicely. For dessert we had the mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Cake and the Tiramisu. Both were delicious, but took quite a while to come out.
Overall, since we received much better service than the last time, and we were reached out to by the owner, I do like this location. But I only like it, am not amazed by it.