Red Kitchen — Restaurant in Blaine

• WOULD NOT RECOMMEND *

My family stopped by Reds Kitchen on a Friday evening after running errands. The plan was simple—have dinner, head home, and call it a night. Walking in, our first impression was that the restaurant was very small, but since we were already there, we decided to give it a try.

The ordering process was unusual: you place your order at the register first, then get seated (you don’t pay until the end). After waiting about 30 minutes, only one of our five meals came out—my wife’s dish. Our kids were so hungry that we had to split her plate just to hold them over. About 15 minutes later, the rest of the meals finally arrived, but the portions were shockingly small. My “large” beef pho came with only five thin slices of beef—no beef strips, no tendon—nothing like what you’d expect for the price.

Not wanting to wait another half hour for more food, I went back and ordered egg rolls, thinking they’d be quick. By then, the kids had already finished eating and were getting restless. Another 10–15 minutes passed with no egg rolls, so we decided to pay and leave. At checkout, my wife asked to cancel them, but the staff said we couldn’t because they were “already in the fryer.” We didn’t want to argue, so we just paid and left.

In the car, we gave the egg rolls to the kids—only to find they weren’t fresh at all, just lukewarm, as if they had been sitting around. In the end, we spent $60–70 at Reds Kitchen and still left hungry. On the way home, we had to stop at McDonald’s and spend another $20 just to feed everyone. My wife and I didn’t even get a proper meal.

This could have been dismissed as a one-time bad experience, but it was disappointing from start to finish. I truly hope the owners take this feedback seriously and make changes:

Appetizers should come out within 5–10 minutes and before entrées.

All entrées should be served together, not staggered.

Portion sizes must be improved—especially for the price.

Until then, I won’t...

Heard a lot of good reviews and stopped by to find out for myself- unfortunately, my experience was not as positive as every one else’s. As you walk-in for the first time,..it can be quite confusing. You walk up to the register to make your order and are advised to pay after you have dined,.. then you’re seated. We were excited, hungry, and couldn’t wait to try out the food! Unfortunately,…our beverages, appetizers, and meal all arrived at the same time and over an hour late. It would have been nice to give your customers a heads up about how long the wait for food would be. We thought this would be a quick dine-in and out kind of deal especially because we were heading off to a meeting after. Sadly, the lack of communication and long wait for food caused us to be late to our meeting. It’s a good idea to check on your customers or warn them about how long the food is taking especially if it’s over an hour wait.

Please provide water/beverages upon seating your customers instead of providing it after they are served their meals. Water/beverages can at least help suppress some of that hunger/thirst. Restaurant is tiny, seating is crowded, bench height doesn’t match the height of the tables, therefore, causing it to feel unbalanced. Bathroom is dirty and they shout out your name upon serving you-What was the point of seating us if you cannot remember where you assigned our table?? After we finished our meal,..we had to wait 15min in line to pay for our food. Very inconvenient and just an awful experience overall. We will not be returning and definitely won’t recommend to family...

Showed up tonight tonight for dinner based off reviews read raving about their pho'...intrigued...decided why not. Atmosphere is different than you'd expect out of a sit down restaurant, only because of how the system of ordering works. No different than a fast food chain or places where you order then sit down. Here you do order and then sit down but don't have to pay until you're done and ready to leave. So don't just sit down expecting a server to provide you with a menu, which is normal. Took a minute for the female owner to come out from the back kitchen to take our order but when she did come up, she was more than welcoming and friendly. She explained the menu and expectations if we never heard of certain menu items on their chalk board. Once we ordered, she took care of us and went beyond. I understand some people may have walked in to order but have to respect...she's a one woman machine and was bussing tables yet still acknowledged customers. One person doing everything and still polite, friendly and hospitable...can't get that from a Leeann Chin. Our food came out quickly and she made us feel at home. My daughter at the end of our dinner even gave her a hug. We enjoyed our dinner and value the appreciation she shown us. Their Pho is on my top 5 pho places now...the pork belly is a world of it's own...no one has this style. I'd definitely come back when I'm in the area....please have an open mind, a bit of patience, and a hungry stomach when visiting!!! We...