Ivy's Family Kitchen — Restaurant in Prince George

Good Qualities + Constructive Criticism:

Isn't it customary for a customer to wait to be seated, or at least to be greeted when entering a restaurant? I believe that's one of the basic etiquettes that many restaurants around the world follow. In my opinion, the reason is because each restaurant has its own organization, and by not following so, may disrupt the flow of the service. And I'm saying this based on my past personal experiences working in Japanese restaurants, communicating directly with the native people in their own language. And Japanese work culture is by far one of the most stringent, with a lot of rules to follow, especially in the field of customer service.

But that wasn't the case today when I visited Ivy's Family Kitchen for the very first time. When I entered the restaurant, no one came out to greet. After standing for a few minutes, I just took a seat by the entrance. Because it was my first time, and I didn't really know how things were run in this restaurant, I decided to wait for some instruction from any of the servers. But this was when it began to get much more interesting. After about 5 minutes, another group of customers came in, and the group was well greeted by a Caucasian server wearing a bright red shirt. To my surprise, the server just casually invited the group in without even looking down at me as if I was an invisible person. Yes, he never made eye contact, even though we were right in front of each other. From then, I got a little bit intrigued and finally decided to do a little social experiment to see how long it would take for any of the staff to start come greeting at me. It took 15-20 minutes. Throughout the span of that time, there were roughly 3 groups of customers coming in, well greeted and seated by the staff, while no one seemed to care about me. The server wearing the bright red shirt never even bothered to look at me either, and two other servers, an old lady in grey gym pajamas and a younger lady in a green shirt wearing a black apron walked around and stared at me coldly as if I was some dangerous person. In summary, I was treated very differently, if using a more powerful term, very discriminating. That was how it felt.

The only one who actually finally came to greet me, upon seeing me as a real customer, was the owner of the restaurant. It was very nice of her. Even more, she even kept apologizing to me as we made our way through the restaurant. I could sense that she was very genuine, and really cared about her customers. Other than her, nobody actually seemed to think that I would be a customer. Yes, it sounds quite absurd, right? If I wasn't a customer, then why would I even bother to enter the restaurant in the first place? Yet, this happened to me just this evening.

I was really excited to visit the restaurant today, but I got disappointed in its customer service. Aside from that, I can guarantee that the food the restaurant serves is authentic. This is because I am half-Vietnamese, born and raised in Southern Vietnam for 18 years. The taste here at this restaurant reminds me of my mom's home cooking and everything else back in my homeland. And also because I speak 4 languages, so I usually pay a lot of attention to cultural aspects. Therefore, with these 2 reasonings, I'm confident that this restaurant is certainly worth to pay a visit to. In the 7 years living, studying and working in Canada, I have never come across any Vietnamese restaurant in any Canadian city, of which the authenticity of Southern Vietnamese cuisine comes close to that provided here at this restaurant. And I've been to a lot of Canadian cities already: Vancouver, Prince George, Canmore, Banff, Calgary, Sylvan Lake/Birchcliff, Saskatoon, Regina, Toronto, Niagara, Montreal.

So to whoever is reading this comment, please give this restaurant a try, and even if the customer service may not be as good, please be patient with them as well, as they have just started the business. But not to worry too much, because the owner of this restaurant really does care about...

As visitors from Vancouver, we were genuinely excited to try this restaurant after hearing so many glowing recommendations from locals. Unfortunately, our experience fell far short of expectations and left us deeply disappointed.

From the moment we walked in, the service was disorganized and inattentive. Two separate servers approached us and took our order independently, which seemed odd but manageable—until they both somehow got it wrong. When we politely pointed this out, the manager (who, ironically, was the one who initially took our order) came over, not to apologize or resolve the issue, but to sassily question whether we had actually ordered the smaller size. Feeling awkward, we reluctantly offered to take and pay for a large instead, just to avoid further conflict.

The food, unfortunately, was no better. Of all the Canadian cities we’ve had pho in, this experience was by far the worst. First, they were completely out of beef broth, which is the cornerstone of a good bowl of pho. Instead, the ‘special’ came with chunks of what appeared to be chicken bologna—an unappetizing and frankly baffling substitution. We had high hopes for this meal, but it left us feeling let down and regretting our decision to dine here.

For a restaurant so highly regarded by locals, this visit was an absolute disappointment. We had been looking forward to this meal as part of our trip, but the poor service, missing ingredients, and subpar food made it an experience we wouldn’t recommend to others.

Response to Owner: Thank you for taking the time to respond to my review. I understand that things can get busy, and I appreciate the effort you’ve made to address my feedback.

That said, I want to emphasize that my review reflects my personal experience and opinion, which I am fully entitled to share. My intention was not to harm your business but to provide honest and constructive feedback about my visit. Unfortunately, your response came across as unnecessarily hostile. This not only makes it difficult to engage in a productive dialogue but also raises concerns about how you handle constructive criticism in general.

My dining companion's behaviour does not diminish my dissatisfaction with the experience. Furthermore, the remarks about my personal life—such as comments on my intelligence or sweater—are wholly inappropriate and are irrelevant to the issue at hand. A response of this nature detracts from the professionalism of your business and is disappointing to see.

I respect that you stand by your staff, but I also stand firmly by my review. I would encourage you to reflect on why your responses to constructive feedback—both mine and others’—are often defensive and hostile. Feedback offers an opportunity for growth and improvement, and is not an attack on...

I was in PG visiting (this is my old home town) and went out for some Pho. Living in the lower mainland I have had the opportunity of eating at a number of Pho places. I have to say - I was very impressed with Ivy’s and would say it was one of the best Pho I have had and it was in PG! First of all the large bowl was generous and it was well balanced ratio between the amount of broth and everything else so it was filling with substance. The broth was very flavourful and you can taste the spices and not subdued by fish sauce. The beef balls were incredible - firm enough with some bounce but melt in your mouth texture. Nice amount of tripe and tendon (I ordered #12). My only disappointment was when I ordered the iced coffee - I thought that it would be brought in with the slow drip over a glass of ice but it wasn’t. It was already mixed for you - not like the picture. It is unfortunate as that is part of the experience - waiting for the coffee to finish dripping to give time to just sit back and chill. But other than that small thing, I would still highly recommend Ivy’s if you are up in PG. This is excellent Pho. I did not have room to try anything else (the large Pho is truly large) but definitely going to try other dishes next time I am back. And the staff are very friendly- kudos to...