Wokcano — Restaurant in Burbank

Today me and my family went to Wokcano in Burbank. The front host was helping someone pay their bill. I asked if we could sit by the booth at the bar, she said sure we all sat down and less than a few minutes we all said it smells over here like sewage. So we got up and asked the gentleman who now was in the hosts spot who happened to be the Manager by the name of Kevin if we could move somewhere else because it smells over by the bar area like sewage he said we had a leak and were letting it dry out .I didn't see any fans or blowers either way he asked the female host to sit us all somewhere else, so she takes us to a small table at first where we all didn't fit since it was a table for 4 people, so she said let's move over here which was a corner booth and we all fit comfortably. We sat down and noticed how dirty the booth was just taking a look at the pictures. The picture frame above us was covered with dust that looked over a 1yr old of dust and the walls were filthy with stains everywhere. I asked our waitress if she could get the Manager for me she said sure .The manager was Kevin he walked over and said did I have a question and kneeled down by my side of the table and I said to him as a restaurant owner myself this place is filthy just take a look and he said my mistake I must of overlooked this area .I said to Kevin how can you overlooked this filthy it looks like it's been here over a year, and I told him I was going to take pictures and send it to their Cooperate office he said that's fine. Kevin sent over 2 female waitresses 20 minutes later to wipe down the dust also by the window seals next to me. I also asked Kevin why the food isn't the same as their other location in Valencia he said were all different that I don't understand why it would be different since its all the same Franchise. We finally received our bill it was $208.00, and I told my wife to take a look at it to make sure it was correct, and she noticed a $26.00 meal we never ordered and when I told my wife to take a picture of the receipt the waitress grabs it and says I think I made a mistake? No she was trying to add a meal on our receipt for us to pay maybe for her meal till she got caught she revised the bill and brought it back at$184.01 we paid the bill and as a courtesy left her a $20.00 tip .I will not be going back here and before I forget my wife wanted to use the ladies restroom before we left so we all waited for her outside of the Restaurant and she came out and said the bathroom 🚻 was filthy with a bag of Burger King in the toilet .I hope the department of health and safety shows up here. Kevin should be fired for doing a sorry job by not keeping the place sanitary for...

My family was visiting for a conference and extended the stay to take our son to Universal. We went to Wokcano for dinner and we were disappointed with the service and the response from the owner. When I voiced my concern with the owner, he decided to tell us about his history in the restaurant business, with all his accolades, and he was excited with his new restaurant. I was amazed with his experience and hard work for all his accomplishments. We complimented the food, it was very well prepared and delicious. I continued the conversation with telling the owner that our order was taken and served. The server did not come by to check to see if we needed anything or check if our order was received correctly. Any time we needed to add to our order, a plate setting, additional silverware, a refill on water, or to follow up on our order, we had to flag him down. The server was more attentive with the other table that clearly had what he assumed would be a better chance of a bigger tip. Then, it gets better, there was a shift change with bartenders and we flagged down the new person, and apologized for asking her to get us another appetizer. The bartender's response was " what did you need". Nice response, great training on how to keep the customer's concerns to a minimal. Circling back to the owner's response, he said that he would use our comments for better training for his staff. For someone who gloats on how much experience they have had in the restaurant business, the fundamental rule is to take care of your customers. This is the cardinal rule in any service business. We were polite and understanding as I knew he didn't care about our experience. Our bill came to $90 for drinks and appetizers, well deserved for great food. We didn't get to the next stage of ordering our entrees. It was clear that this was not an establishment deserving our time and money.

The next day we took an Uber to our next destination, we mentioned the different places that we have eaten during our stay. The driver knew of Wokcano, and the bad reputation it has recently had for bad service.

If you expect good food with bad service, this is the...

My mission in life is to bring this quality of food to Utah. You see Utahns think they know good food but they don't. They are deceived and lack exposure to real life. They will admantly defend mediocrity. I rail on such. Wokcano's (as I call it) definitely does NOT need my review for publicity: it is a well known, popular, and successful Zagat rated eatery. It survived Covid and everything else the economy has thrown at it...because awesomeness kind of does that. Just about everything is perfect here: atmosphere, cleanliness, high quality ingredients, recipes, diversity in the menu, service, and overall management. The service and friendliness of the staff has always been superb. Tonight I had 3 separate people check up on me and deliver service. And I was one dude: not a large table of people. So they weren't after a tip. It's just how they operate here...and I've been here a lot. I ordered the shrimp/white breast chicken meat Double Kung Pao and a double portion of their spicy seafood soup (minus the mussels). That's right: a double portion to make Daddy happy. Both of these dishes were again perfection as was the steamed white rice. You might ask "How would steamed white rice NOT be perfect?" The answer: go to Utah and you'll see a number of ways to screw it up. From the photos check out the quality of the ingredients: note the huge portions of white fish and whole cleaned shrimp in the soup. Have fun finding that in Utah: it doesn't exist. There you'll get a gelatin infused, slimy "egg drop" soup that seems it was made by a 7th grader in Home Ec that didn't get it right. Wokcan soups are amazing. Also the Double Kung Pao was destination worthy. This is the kind of food you will remember forever and seek it out...it doesn't matter if it's expensive...it's that good. Add in friendliness and prompt service and you have the perfect and memorable night out with family and friends. I have been here many times and I just wish I could open the eyes of restaurant morons of where in Utah so I didn't have to travel so far to achieve such Chinese...