Mandarin Gourmet — Restaurant in Brookline

TLDR: 0 STARS. WORST restaurant experience I've ever experienced, given a plate of onions as "chow mein" and manager was incredibly rude and disrespectful. Waiter Ricky was very kind, we are so thankful for at least 1 person being kind to us so we gave him a big tip. I RARELY give poor reviews, unless I think they truly deserve it.

O STARS. If I could give this 0 stars, I would. I have NEVER been treated like this before by any of the many restaurants I've visited and/or reviewed.

We ordered vegetable chow mein. After waiting 45 minutes (2 tables that came in after us had their foot served 10 minutes before us... but fine, wasn't planning to mention that if the rest of this experience hadn't happened), we received a plate of onions (see picture). We kindly let our waiter know this wasn't what we ordered. The waiter Ricky was so kind and apologetic, but when the manager (short woman, short hair, hot temper) was called over she rudely asserted this was chow mein, we would have to pay for it, and she would let us "get away" with this again. My boyfriend has eaten chow mein a LOT since he was little, in America and India, and has never ever seen it like this. We showed on Google what ALL pictures of chow mein look like. She then argued this was "traditional" style and we should've known that (it is not written anywhere on the menu at all, all it says is "something familiar"... good lord, you think anyone can assume what that means?! Of course it's familiar, it's an American favorite! To think we'd "assume" it "something familiar" meant "traditional" is frankly idiotic and self-centered).

The ignorant, ill-mannered behavior of the manager was shocking and disgusting. I have rarely, if ever, sent food back in my entire life. A plate of onions is NOT CHOW MEIN. I have asked my friends who live in various parts of China and Taiwan, they agree that the manager was trying to pass off some sham plate that wasn't chow mein. Even if you look up "traditional chow mein" online, NOTHING looks like this. We had to argue for 7 minutes until she finally agreed not to charge us for the chow mein (we had ordered other items, too, those were fine), but she told us off again and warned us she wouldn't let us do this again next time we came in. NEXT TIME?! HA!

Also, the Thai iced tea is extremely watered down, and the pan fried noodles barely had sauce. I was going to actually give a good 4 star review if she had behaved nicely, but her crass attitude towards us was disrespectful and revolting. I have friends who own restaurants I spoke to about this: every single one said even if the manager had been right (she wasn't), you still don't charge for something a customer didn't expect to order (or even order AT ALL), ESPECIALLY when they've ordered other items they are paying for.

We had been debating whether to try a new place, Mandarin Gourmet, or go with an old strong classic. This is DEFINITELY not worth it. Next time we'll go to...

Had a very interesting experience with the waiter. First we were seated at a table and was there for a long while before anyone came to take our order...I had to go get someone to take our order. I waived to the woman at the front desk to get her attention. She came and I told her we have been waiting for awhile and no one approached us. She went an speak to an Asian man and brought to his attention that we needed service. The waiter came to take our order and I told him what I wanted. He spoke very fast and I had to ask him to please slow his speech down so that we can understand him. My guest, a 90 something year old woman was trying to tell him what she wanted she was saying what she wanted and he wanted her to give him a number of the item. He became very impatient and was rushing her along. I had to interject and tell him as a waiter his job is to explain to her what came with her order. He started arguing with us and was about to walk away saying when you decide he will come back. I told him that we were ready to order. The people at the next table stopped and looked over and told us that his behavior was not at all acceptable. My guest was confused by his behavior and I ended up ordering for her..while the food was ok his behavior to us as customers was not at all acceptable. The restaurant was not full at all and we waited awhile to get our food while other people who came after us got their food first. My guest was wondering why it was taking so long...when its something simple that we ordered. No one come back to see if everything was ok with our order. We had to wait awhile to get the bill. I was looking around to get the attention of someone to ask for the bill and a woman in the booth next to us asked if she can help and is everything ok? I told her that it's not and told her about the experience we had with the waiter. She apologize and said she will talk to him about his behavior. To apologize she comp the food. My 90 something year old guest was very embarrassed about what happened and how she was treated. I am writing this review to let others know that you don't have to accept disrespectful behavior...

Great American Chinese food and great friendly service. This place is a little expensive, so the family doesn't get food here that frequently. Maybe like one over other month. The place is very clean and the atmosphere is very nice. This isn't a dingy restaurant, and the family enjoys the people service and ambiance. We've been there when it's busy and slow, and the acoustics is great so we never have to raise our voices in order to talk like some other places. We've only had one or two bad experiences in the past 15 years that we've gone there. The most recent time the peaking ravioli's tasted a little off, and some time ago we were missing a couple items. I'd be willing to simple mistakes because it's very rare when that happens. My only minor gripe - is when we do takeout and ask for more sweat and sour (we tend to feed 5 people) they never ever every give enough Sweet and Sour. We literally have ordered for 8 people and asked for extra, and they still give the same amount! They add a tiny little container of sauce for as the extra. Lol, it's a small thing to ask, but it would make the experience and food during the meal so much better :) Like I said, the food is definitely not cheap at this place. Anyways - overall it's a great place and we will certainly go again... and we will ask for more sweet and sour...