Chez Thuy Restaurant — Restaurant in Boulder

I know this will sound hyperbolic, but I had the worst dining experience in recent memory this evening at Chez Thuy. It took about 5 minutes to find a host to get seated after arriving. The restaurant was about half full with many tables blocked off. The three of us were seated shortly before 6pm, and waters arrived almost immediately. A server took our drink order 5 minutes later. We ordered a pot of green tea ($1.95) for the table. At 6:15 our waitress came to take our order. She was unfriendly and seemed irritated we were there, impatiently taking our orders. At 6:36 our tea arrived. Nearly every table that surrounded us had already been served appetizers, entrees, and/or mixed drinks. Even those tables who arrived more than 20 minutes after us were already served. They seemed short on staff, however there were no apologies nor updates on our order. We tried to flag down servers, and they acknowledged us, but never returned. At 7:05 we still hadn't received our food (two bun bowls, and a vegetarian tofu basket). Since we didn't have food or any service, we decided to leave. We couldn't find anyone to pay for the tea with so we decided not to pay for it. I understand this wasn't the right thing to do, but we were very frustrated and it was only $2 and it took over 30 minutes to arrive. We let a food runner know we were leaving and he just said 'Okay' without an apology. This is where the experience turned into a disaster! We were almost to our cars before the waitress ran out to the parking lot to angrily confront us. She said our food was 'almost ready' and insulted us saying this wasn't 'China Bowl' and that were were 'crazy'. It felt like she was trying to blame us for her bad service. I responded we waited over 50 minutes after we ordered ordered with no updates about our order and that she had been rude to us. Another customer outside inserted himself and started harassing me about our decision to leave. I've been to Chez Thuy several times before and I know this isn't characteristic for this restaurant. They were busy and they seemed short staffed (they couldn't even seat a full restaurant), but I have never been treated so poorly by restaurant staff. This waitress spent more time insulting me than she did providing any service. I know this will sound like rambling venting session for an isolated incident from a disgruntled patron, but I'm a patient person who treats service staff with respect. Sadly, I don't think I'll be returning to Chez Thuy anytime soon. Management can contact me if they have...

A lot of people reach straight for the phó their first time in a Vietnamese resturant, but I always opt for the bun (cold noodle salad). You can learn a lot about a kitchen based on the quality of a cold noodle salad. The bun here was outstanding. I wish I could rate it 6 stars. The noodles were perfectly cooked. The lettuce, bean sprouts, green onions, and other greens that come with the dish were fresh and refreshing. The sauce provided was complex in flavor and not overly sweet which was very nice. I could almost eat a bowl of the sauce on it's own! The lamb was cooked to perfection, tender and flavorful. The kitchen staff here is obviously skilled and seem well supported by management.

I had a cup of won ton soup as a starter and was very impressed with the portion and the flavors. The addition of broccoli was unexpected but very welcome! My girlfriend and I opted for fresh spring rolls as a starter and absolutely loved them. While we missed the mix of veggies we're accustomed to at other resturants, the quality of the pork and the lettuce in these wraps was more than enough to make up for a lack of cucumber or carrot.

My girlfriend tried the noodle curry as her main dish and we were both thoroughly impressed. The sauce was so floral and lightly sweet. Both of our portions were too large to eat in one sitting after our starters, good if you want to stretch dinner into two meals. Very fair price wise as well (I expected to pay a little more than I did which was a pleasant surprise).

Chez Thuy is a must-visit if you've got a craving for Vietnamese...

Folks, you can see this in so many reviews of this place, of late, that things have gone downhill really badly. This used to be a Boulder landmark, and a consistent leader in pan Asian cuisine over multiple decades, regardless of how many other great Asian restaurants came and went. The portions were huge, the menu was a great tour of East Asia with the most extensive vegetarian and vegan options of any Asian restaurant. The taste was great and you could see veteran Asian moms and chefs cooking in the kitchen. Service was fast and focused. All that is gone. You have the same menu, none of the service, flavor, or expertise. They are a shell of their former self. We got four veggie dishes tonight and one chicken entree. The veggie items tasted bland, almost the same sugary sauce across all of them. The server came once to take the order and never again. I had to jump up to the bar and grab utensils, hot sauces, carryout containers etc. It is really sad. I spoke with the owner and encouraged him to compare his work against that of the previous owners, and against his competition. If this restaurant survives it will be because either they institute a huge turnaround or because certain people just don't care or know what real Asian food is. I truly wish them luck and want to go back, a long time from now in hopes that they have improved significantly. I left them a decent tip regardless of the atrocious service and food. They have my...