PF Chang's
 

Ate dinner there today.

Salty and gross. But at least there was a lot of it. :rolleyes:

Why do people like this place??? :confused:

Never been, but read in Mens Health or some other mag that it was rated the unhealthiest place you can dine at.

Hmm... I liked it...

I've gone once. No desire to go back.

I'm thinking American's won't eat "real" Chinese food.


KT

i think it's funny when people make a big deal about how "horrible" chains are. PF Changs, Olive Garden, Chili's, etc. what do you expect? is it really that horrible?

olive garden has $7 all you can eat soup and salad. i've eaten a lot worse for 7 bucks.

if it was fecal matter, served on a bed of maggots...then we might have a terrible dining experience on our hands.

From my one experience at PF Chang's, yes.

Olive Garden & Chili's I can tolerate and even like somewhat.

Obviously, these big franchises are enjoyed by the masses.

They would not survive if they were bad.


KT

My very last visit to both PFChang & PeiWei in AZ were both a disaster...the sodium and sugar content on what we ordered made it inedible...I politely asked the server to inform the kitchen staff that there must have been a mixup on the prep...was given another batch and was still the same results...I found out that the "prepped" ingredients they have are to blame...can't blame the kitchen staff for the corporate snafu...

Yes it is horrible now and it was decent some time ago...Have you visited PF Changs, Olive Garden, Chili's lately? After you have visited them, let us know if it has improved (or if you suffered some GI issues/hospitalized). Fast food does NOT have to equate to unhealthy and inedible food...I have been to several hole in the wall joints in AZ that will put them to shame...Tasty, healthy and inexpensive food on the go is a reality.

Unfortunately, that might be why a vast majority of the US population is unhealthy and obese...the masses eat the unhealthiest food to address their satiety...The amusing part is everything is super-sized and top with "I'll wash it down with a diet pop..."

I am not a food snob or elitist...I just enjoy my food with same passion for porsche...I like it lean and mean ;)

Remember you are what you eat...besides why bother lightening your track car when the best thing to make your car a lot faster is to lighten the excess fat on the driver/operator!:D

Funny on a recent trip, I was in a PF Changs and a Chilis on the same day. The PF Changs was about 10x better than the Chilis.....

i cook or prepare 99% of the food that goes into my body. the last time i ate at a chilis was probably 6 years ago. olive garden....probably 4 years ago. i took my parents to Famous Daves last summer...that was actually pretty good. if i go out to eat, it's usually a $50-100 a person kind of place. other than that, it's a small cafe-type place that serves middle eastern or mediterranean food. light and refreshing.

those chains are what they are. lots of people eat at them and don't suffer "hospitalization." for a cheap, convenient meal they aren't that bad. if they contain too much sodium (which most chinese restaurants do...even mom and pop places. i'm convinced there's a central distributer for chinese restaurant starter kits. they all have the same lighted menu with pictures of the food that looks nothing like what you get.) then don't eat there. it's only $10 to $15.

spend 3 weeks hiking and backpacking around sub-saharan africa, and let me know if those places are so horrible.

I have to chime in because Mrs. Lee works at PF Chang's corp. HQ in Scottsdale and gets a $1500 per year debit card for the chain and Pei Wei. We use it to take friends out or when we're too lazy to cook, which isn't often. I've been to all the stores in the Phoenix area. Some are better than others and we only get recognized as insiders at the one in Scottsdale. I don't think we get any special treatment or service. I've had excellent and poor meals there. Mrs. Lee grew up in China and we know where to get the real stuff (going to LA next week for the real stuff). So we're under no illusions that PF Chang's is real Chinese food. They have a few dishes that resemble it and once or twice I've been pretty impressed. But it's usually mediocre at best. Still, the restaurants are usually packed with a wait list on weekends, so they have to be doing something right. I want so badly to pull the managers aside sometimes and tell them how to fix some things, but can't do it because it could make things awkward for my wife at work. A few times they've screwed something up and then comped the dish or dessert or drinks. But we can't make a fuss.

This wasn't a rant against chains in general...just PFC's. Hell, I could eat at In 'n' Out every day without complaint. I didn't go expecting "fine Asian fusion cuisine" either. But by the same token I expected better than what we ended up with.

I will say the service was very good. No complaints there!

Man, I have so much gas right now I would fail an emissions test. :eek: Must've been the pepper steak (which, sadly, was about as spicy as vanilla ice cream--despite the red mark next to it on the menu).

Last year for Christmas we received a $50 PF Changs card. We re-gifted it to other friends. Ate there 2x - never again...but then I hate eating out unless it's Sushi. Everything else we can make better and much cheaper at home. That's what working 10+ years in the service industry does to you. LOL.

Damn you city boys are picky. Move to a small town, PF changs is fancy by our standards.

You are the only person I have run across to date that have cooked and prepped 99% of the food and consumed...Good for you!!! We need to emulate your healthy eating hygiene :)

Mike, since you claim that you do not dine often and do not have a more recent "dining out" experience...then is it safe to assume that you have not been to PF Chang/PeiWei to date? We cannot lump "those chains are what they are..." With all due respect, most chinese restaurants are a lot better than PF Chang in my own experience...(btw PF Chang is NOT a chinese restaurant...just like Olive Garden is NOT an Italian restaurant)

You ask, what do you expect? A patron can and should reasonably expect to be served edible food...plain and simple...Of all folks, you and I know that again...Tasty, healthy and inexpensive food on the go is a reality not a fantasy...

"spend 3 weeks hiking and backpacking around sub-saharan africa, and let me know if those places are so horrible." Well at least the they have edible food... ugali or posho (gnocchi or dumpling like texture)...tried it and will not kill you...

Back to the OP's thread... discussing PF Chang/PeiWei unfortunate unsavory experience...

Maalox or Pepto might help brother...Hope you feel better soon...smell you later :D

Dude, we live in very small rural town...Ya'll come visit in August during motorweek...I'll buy you coffee and we can share tall tales and lies ;)

Define small time. My hometown, 700 at the last count...

Wow! Definitely my town is not as small and as cozy as your hometown ...

Here...hmmm...ballpark 3,500...more than half property are second/third homes...so many part time/seasonal residents...We have more dogs than people in the streets...specially Ocean avenue...

Ate there once, never again! The rice was like mashed potatoes. Food was just crap. My wife and I don't go out an eat very often, as we see it as unhealthy and too expensive for what you get. We grow many of our own veggies, and freeze them. As well as eating a lot of venison that we freeze. There is no fat on our asses! Live active lives and put most Americans who are 10-20 years younger to shame!

Have eaten there on and off for years. Its not the best but we like it and what is nice is that its pretty consistant from town to town.

You guys who do not like it, head on over to KFC and enjoy!

My office goes to PF Changs for lunch all the time. I like it. Great lunch for $8-10.

Gross food, full of sugar, fat and salt. Just because there are vegetables and noodles in a dish doesn't make it healthy. We ate there once because we had a gift card... Never again!

We did have an excellent light lunch at a PeiWei a few weeks. That was a very positive experience!

i've been to PFC about half a dozen times in bellevue and its hit and miss, sometimes its really good and not too salty and sometimes its bad but not unedible but comparable to say panda express but at double or triple the price. We usually hit there when the cheesecake factory wait is too long.

I'm trying to get my head around the idea that something can be too salty...

Double Pan Fried noodles at PFC...... mmmmmmm. I have no idea how healthy/unhealthy it is and I don't care.

Living an hour away from most restaurants, my wife makes dinner at home most nights. On the rare occasion we head into town for a meal, I could care less how healthy/unhealthy it might be.

My favorite meal out is a steak w/ onions, baked potato, bloomin onion and Foster's beer at Outback..... same goes for my wife. On occasion I go to fancier/$$$$ restaurants for work and typically do not like them as much as Outback steak or PFC double pan fried noodles.

owned by the same company, no?

Tough crowd. I've had the lettuce wraps a few times and will get them again.

That's it in a nutshell. +1 Art.

I wonder how much chain restaurant food in general is factory made and then shipped to the restaurants. How much is chemicals/fillers and what are they?

They should put dog on the menu and see how it goes.



. . .maybe if it's salted just right.

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks PFC is nasty. But then again, when I "find" a good restaurant I usually last about 4 visits before I'm tired of the place.

I don't know about chains across the country except for the big ones like Denny's. We have one around hare called the Cheesecake Factory. Pretty bad in my book. But the cheesecake isn't bad.

In fact, I don't there's bad cheesecake. :):D

PF Chang
 

We have eaten at two in the Atlanta area and enjoyed both meals. Problems are likely limited to certain individual restaurants.

PF Chang is a Fad.....
and you can give them "fecal matter, served on a bed of maggots".....I bet they will still eat it.



Benny

Guys it's like any other chain,, you CAN eat healthy there, you don't have to to get the double fried MSG special .. You can eat healthy at McD's if you really try .
Great place to pick up cougars BTW ;-)

Noise level at PF Changs is unbearable.

Maybe they do? :rolleyes:


KT

PFC nutritional info
 

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day — or 1,500 mg if you're age 51 or older, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

Keep in mind that these are upper limits, and less is usually best, especially if you're sensitive to the effects of sodium. If you aren't sure how much sodium your diet should include, go talk to your doctor.

I hope the info below helps you make better choices so that you can live heathier and we can enjoy you company here much more longer than it it should be :D. We cannot escape death and taxes...but we can at least attempt to maintain and prolong our porsche driving days...;)

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http://www.pfchangs.com/menu/nutritionalinfo.aspx

Wow, I'd never seen the nutritional info before but those sodium numbers confirm my handful of experiences there. I thought some of the dishes where tasty - hit or miss - but extraordinarily salty across the board.

Why limit the complaints to PF Changs and apply it to "mostly" all Chinese food in general? PF Changs is just twice the price with half the amount of most other take out joints. I personally despise Chinese food, at least the Americanized versions that most have available. Along these lines, this article came out in my local paper a few weeks ago and it echo's many of the sentiments mentioned here:

To review or not to review: A restaurant critic tells why chain restaurants miss the cut - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If I had a choice, I would always eat at local restaurants, but there just isn't that many in my locations and ofter I have little other choices but to hit Chili's or Bravo. My kids don't seem to care and I order a salad of something they can't screw up. I never expect a gourmet experience.

I got a hair in my salad the last time I tried that. (Not at PF Chang's, but at some other national chain.)