Last night, I checked out P.F. Chang's China Bistro in Glen Mills, Pa. Never been to this chain before, though others have raved about it, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
We got a bunch of "little plates"- Sichuan asparagus; chicken lettuce wraps, salt and pepper calamari and Ahi tuna. All pretty good, especially the spicy asparagus. But the service..... oh, the service. (More on that later.)
The place was packed - on a Tuesday!- so we had to wait at the crowded bar for about 15 mins. We looked over the menus and decided to get a cold sake. The bartender came over, asked our names, shook our hands and then took the drink orders. Unexpected - the hand shake and the get-acquainted session - but nice just the same.
Drinks came quickly and were just settling in when our table was ready.
We should have stayed at the bar with that friendly drink slinger who knew our names.
We sat for 20 mins. ( I timed it) without water or anyone noticing us or pretending they didn't notice us. I finally got up and asked the hostess what the deal was. She was flustered and then flagged a server, who said she was waiting on a large party and "didn't see us."
I don't buy that - Chang's is a pretty open dining room - and she was also waiting on the table next to us.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, this kind of treatment is why people get turned off of restaurants.
For the most part, I'm a patient person. I used to be a waitress. I understand getting slammed and being "in the weeds" but this is where a manager needs to step in and smooth things over.
Our server tried to make amends but we just didn't want to hear the excuses, especially after a table seated after us were well into entrees when we were still getting water.
We weren't mean or nasty, but at the end of the night, I didn't tip my usual 20 plus (or more) percent.
It was more like 15 percent.
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