Pei Wei Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Broken Arrow

UPDATED REVIEW: I'm not sure what happened to the Broken Arrow Pei Wei, but we can't even go there anymore. Even though it's closest to our Coweta ranch, we literally have to drive in to Tulsa to get adequate service. Last night, after months of driving 30 extra miles to avoid disappointment, we decided to give Broken Arrow another try. It was the final straw in a wad of straws that slashed my initial review of 5 stars, to 2 stars (which is generous, thanks to the 61st and Yale restaurant. They almost always gets everything right. On the rare occasions they don't, their excellent customer service makes up for it.)

First of all, Pei Wei's app doesn't work AT ALL. Second, the Broken Arrow restaurant rarely answered the phone, so it was impossible to order unless we were willing to wait in a to-go line, then wait for our food to be prepared. (They've since added a phone service, but their problems go so far beyond basic phone etiquette.)

Know what's worse than wasting 15 minutes on a failed app, 20 minutes on the phone and 30 minutes ordering and waiting for food in the express zone on a Friday night? Wasting more than an hour of your life, driving back through two towns to get home, and - after looking forward to Pei Wei all week - finding that you didn't get what you ordered. No matter how much specifying, repeating, verifying and confirming we try to do, the Broken Arrow restaurant invariably either leaves something off the order, or sends us home with some mystery dish in place of our favorite dishes.

The Dan Dan noodles I absolutely LOVE are never consistently prepared (an issue across restaurants). We specifically ask for the ground chicken (that comes with the meal) and instead get whatever other chicken they happen to have. Last night I got some smorgasbord of meats - most of which was burned to a crisp. I could swear I tasted charred liver. To compensate for the fact that the sauce was always too sparse, we started ordering extra sauce on the side. To avoid arriving home with the Close Enough Special, we started opening the bag and verifying its contents before leaving the restaurant.

Last night the Close Enough Special really did look close enough to make the trek home. Unfortunately, the taste was nowhere near close enough. Check out the dry noodles, two different styles of chicken and, presumably, beef. Dan Dan noodles comes with ground chicken. There was almost no ground chicken in our two Dan Dan orders, but there was plenty of beef! (To their credit, the did give us extra sauce on the side - for the spring rolls we ordered but did not get.)

We understand that things happen and no one is perfect; but it's gotten to the point where the Broken Arrow Pei Wei gets more orders wrong than it gets orders right. Customers shouldn't have to jump through so many hoops to avoid being disappointed.

ORIGINAL POST: Love love love love love the Dan-Dan noodles at Pei Wei! I get them literally every week, and they never get old. My husband loves the Spicy Korean chicken or beef, and my dad enjoys the Chow Mein chicken noodles. Their teriyaki chicken and steak are not authentic Japanese, but they're still tasty. Dining in at Pei Wei is not my favorite, so we take out at least once a week. They have a rewards program where you can get a free meal after four or five (can't remember which). Pei Wei's portions are pretty generous, and we find that the food is always fresh. Wait staff is well trained and respectful. Great...

The management needs to work with their staff on several areas.

My wife placed an order at 738pm on a Sunday night. It took 4 calls to get through, one of which she was hung up on. After placing order & being told food would be ready in 10 minutes I went to pick it up. I arrived at 745pm. I wasn't greeted by either of the two girls in the to go area but rather just asked the name on the order. I was then told it wasn't ready yet & i could get a drink while i wait (but not offered a cup).I had to ask a different girl if I could have a cup. As i waited i noticed there was only one family in the dining area but 3 or 4 tables with dirty plates/cups on them & no one cleaning them. The drink area was woefully under supplied with several items being completely empty including lids for cups & forks. As I returned to the to go area I encountered the next issue. A customer received his to go meal and as he inspected it, he found that it wasn't as he ordered. The girl behind to go area try to clarify what it was he wanted exactly but wasn't understanding what the customer was asking for. The customer, I'm assuming has had problems here before, because he decided to leave his already paid for food behind mumbling about the issues he always has here. The staff member's only response was "Sorry, I don't work in the kitchen." The girl then precedes to go back to the pass-through area and talk bad about the customer to a cook where I can clearly hear everything that's being said. She then lies about the customer's reaction to not having the correct food & claims he threw the unwanted food at her, which did not happen. I also hear the cook tell the girl that he doesn't pay attention to the ticket & customer requests on how the food is prepared. As all this has happened I then hear her ask the cook for my wife's order. It is 755pm at this point. My wife's order doesn't come out until 801pm, well beyond the promised 10 minutes. Then as i am given the food & told i can get plasticware on the to go table I have to ask for forks (bc this too was completely empty, along with fortune cookies & just a few spoons).

I have two stars bc my wife said the food was good. Service here leaves much to be desired!

*Actually I am changing to a one star since posting just a few minutes ago & reading all the recent 1 & 2 star reviews that have mentioned all the ongoing issues that I encountered last night that management doesn't seem to be fixing.

UPDATE Same day... My wife called to speak to manager. Spoke to Teresa (who is GM of Bixby location) and was told 71st location GM walked out & quit today without notice. Teresa was VERY nice and had GREAT customer service, offered full refund. Hopefully whoever takes over the store can change things around quickly. But we know we can get great...

UPDATE: I have tried the same meal again from my original review of this location and can say that their main chef Olga did a FANTASTIC job! My concerns have been lifted. I posted my concern on Peiwei.com and got a call back from the owner after a few short minutes. Stephanie (the owner) was very understanding of my concern. She apologized, offered a refund. She was courteous, and receptive to correct the matter. The issue seems to have been a fluke with a newer trainee who is improving. I will be sure to order again from here now that I understand the dilemma and will be sure to continue to provide feedback as needed for their staff. Way to go Pei Wei employees!

Old review: I have no idea what has happened to this particular Pei Wei restaurant. 80% of the time my wife and I would go here about 1-2 years ago we would get the Pei Wei spicy (now Pei Wei original) with beef and fried rice, the sauce would be something strange and unidentifiable in its taste. The meat would be under cooked (this last time nearly raw) and the fried rice would be nearly white rice. After they would attempt to remake it, it would still be off front the usual taste.

For my wife, the honey seared chicken would be mushy.

We finally realized that the problem was just the location as the taste was far better and more consistent at the next closest location to us which is by 101st and memorial. We swore off going to this location for this very reason.

However after more than a year and a half now of boycotting this location my wife decided to give it another try and I can now say that nothing has changed after all this time. The taste is still off and just not being prepared properly at all. And looking at the reviews on here confirms and validates so much of what I have suspected all this time. Can someone from Pei Wei’s franchise group come check out this location and help them get things back in shape? I’d love to return to this location someday since I have to drive an additional 5 miles past this location to the next one in order to receive properly prepared...