PF Changs-disappointing (2025)

Went to dinner at PF Chang's last night after hearing a couple friends rave about it. While the atmosphere was nice, the food was such a disappointment! We got ginger salmon-tiny portion of salon and it was waaaay overcooked. The veggies that came with it were tiny and flavorless. We also got a curry noodle dish that had a bit of kick but used regular angel hair pasta and was just nothing special.

I will be not going back-it was such an ordinary meal.

Anybody else go there-how was your food?

Tinijocaro said:

Went to dinner at PF Chang's last night after hearing a couple friends rave about it. While the atmosphere was nice, the food was such a disappointment! We got ginger salmon-tiny portion of salon and it was waaaay overcooked. The veggies that came with it were tiny and flavorless. We also got a curry noodle dish that had a bit of kick but used regular angel hair pasta and was just nothing special.

I will be going back-it was such an ordinary meal.

Anybody else go there-how was your food?

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My experience has been that all PF Chang's are not created equal. Orlando had good food and snooty servers. Madison has bad servers and I swear they don't even use spices. Bland, bland, bland Spicy Chicken. Milwaukee's Chang's is great. We've had great service and great food every time.

debg

I've only been to Milwaukee's PF Changs and always had a good experience. Love their lettuce wraps.

Sorry you had a bad experience...

Tinijocaro said:

While the atmosphere was nice, the food was such a disappointment!

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Yes, disappointing, but I didn't really expect much better given the price.

I love Chang's appies, but have not found an entree we like.

We tend to get a bunch of appies and share, especially like the happy hour special we have, all appies either 3,4,5 or 6 dollara

Favorites includes:
lettuce wraps
Chang's chicken noodle soup (this is a misnomer, the only resemblance this has to chicken noodle soup is it has chicken. Amazing soup with some nice heat!)
dynamite shrimp
chang's ribs
fried green beans

I think the only thing we dislike is hte flatbread. was more like a nasty quesadilla

If yu give it a second chance, do try the appies

Sounds like Le Cellier.

I have been 3 times, I just can't get into it. I mean it is ok, but I would rather have food from my local take out place.

I think a lot of it is hype. I know that before it opened here, it was said that it was the "it" place for celebs and such so I think that is why it is so popular.

PS, I have heard wonderful things about the lettuce wraps for many people, so I will go back and try those at some point. Maybe the first day of school.

Pastamom said:

I've only been to Milwaukee's PF Changs and always had a good experience. Love their lettuce wraps.

Sorry you had a bad experience...

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Agreed!!!!!

I really don't care for most "fusion" restaurants and PF Chang's is a prime example. They're very trendy, but I really don't care for their food. I do like the variety and the fact that they accommodate special dietary needs (gluten-free, vegan, etc.), but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there otherwise. They use too much cilantro (to my taste) and not enough other herbs. I never add salt to food, yet I find myself reaching for the shaker or soy at PF Chang's.

I'd choose a good chinese, japanese, or italian restaurant over PF Chang's anyday.

there are people who would rather go to Olive Garden than a local Italian place - this is just the Chinese food version.

I do like the lettuce wraps - I have had decent food there, but it's not a wow/destination restaurant. I think it's overpriced for what you get.

debg said:

My experience has been that all PF Chang's are not created equal. Orlando had good food and snooty servers. Madison has bad servers and I swear they don't even use spices. Bland, bland, bland Spicy Chicken. Milwaukee's Chang's is great. We've had great service and great food every time.

debg

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Ditto on the Orlando experience. I think I left less than a 5 percent tip there due to a snooty waiter.

I ate at one in Myrtle Beach, SC last year, and it ended up being great though. Good service and good food... no complaints. I think I tipped 20-25 percent.

My2Cinderellas said:

there are people who would rather go to Olive Garden than a local Italian place - this is just the Chinese food version.
.

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Well put. We went to the neighborhood Chinese restaurant last night for take out. I have no idea if their food was authentic Chinese, but it sure tasted good and the price wasn't bad.

A lot of my co-workers like PF Changs. I've never been because it's in a lousy location in midtown/downtown with no parking. If I can't park right out front, I don't go....can you tell I am a native Californian?

We didn't like PF Changs either. Went once, no plans to return.

We had an odd display from our waitress. She came over and started mixing up all sorts of concoctions for an appetizer. We never said we wanted one. We were watching her, looked at each other, and continued to watch her. When she was done she started selling the appetizer. We didn't know what she was doing before that! It was a little backwards, I guess to push the issue. But we didn't want it. And didn't get it. She left deflated. We were just puzzled.

The meal was bland. Not enough sauce on the dish. It was dry and flavorless. I asked for more sauce, but it was not the same as the dish I had. I guess it was somewhat close in that it was brown, but that was about it. That left me puzzled again. We didn't say anything.

Total waste of a date night. We were going to go to a Cheesecake restaurant and switched at the last minute. After leaving, but DH and I said we wouldn't make that mistake again!