Pete's Thai Kitchen — Restaurant in Dubuque

I visited Pete's Sunday 9/8/24 around 7PM with a companion. Our server was gracious and kindly tended to our preference to dine outside.

I will note that including my party of two, there were only about ten patrons in the building.

It was our server's second day on the job and I had some specific requests for our food that evening and I tried to make things as clear as possible for her. She compiled a list of about 6 items to check with the chef on whether or not they could be made/served without any animal products (vegan). I specifically used both qualifiers "No animal products" & "Vegan".

She returned after a time and explained that all but two of the items could be served without animal products, and that the two which would be problematic only had sauces paired with them which could be omitted. We placed our orders along with an appetizer of Fried Sweet Potato (no sauce included). My companion ordered the Basil Fried Rice and I ordered the Tom Kha.

The food looked excellent and it tasted quite good. However, nearly halfway through eating my Tom Kha soup I noticed a strange texture and then discovered there was meat (dead chicken flesh) in my soup.

I went inside to notify the staff, and the poor waitress (who I truly believe did her due diligence) dealt with me, delivering an apology and asked if I wanted something else. My appetite was already gone but I was now even more disappointed in the chef. The chef made no effort to speak with me and in stead remained in the kitchen.

Here's the crux of the matter- If someone is in the service industry and they are clearly communicated to from their patrons about stipulations such as "vegan" and, specifically, "no animal products", and they cannot either A: communicate to their patrons that they are unable to meet those requests or B: Meet those requests with accuracy and good faith

then they are failing as a chef and as a kitchen. Pete's is failing in that regard.

I give the Food, Service, Atmosphere ratings such as I do, because - my companion's dish was tasty and apparently (so far as I could tell) contained no animal products. Our server was kind and did all she could from what I could tell, but the chef/kitchen are completely unprofessional. The atmosphere was nice.. not much else to say there.

It would perhaps have been more understandable if there was a sauce or something which contained milk or fish sauce, as these are mistakes I have seen more frequently in the industry. But when someone says "No animal products" and they receive a dish containing the flesh of a dead bird, the chef/kitchen is either woefully incompetent or malicious.

Our meals were comped and we skipped the dessert of sticky mango rice which we were really looking forward to. I went back in to say that I was more than happy to pay for the dish my companion received if I could be assured there were no animal products within it.

While the meal was comped the ethical problem of animal products moving through a supply chain still occurred. This business is now one dish closer to placing an order for more animal products for their ingredients which consequently fuels the demand for more sentient beings to be bred, confined, mutilated and slaughtered.

My motivation to order "vegan" was to avoid that exact thing. While my dining experience was poor, what the animals (who's bodies and secretions end up on peoples' plates) go through is infinitely worse than a poor dining experience.

It should be apparent to anyone reading about this experience that, if someone is against animal cruelty or has any dietary restrictions whatsoever, they should not even consider Pete's Thai as an option for dining.

If you have a severe allergy for example, it's clear that concise communication to this kitchen can't be relied upon to be served...

Clean and well decorated if you care about that. Went for lunch. They were fairly busy which was nice to see. Staff seemed a little frazzled and confused, which was fine since they are new and perhaps weren't prepared. I love Thai food so hoped to see green papaya salad but not on menu. Ordered pumpkin curry which was very good. There was a nice sweet spicy/ fishsauce/ vinegar sauce on the table which I appreciated. Waitress (in her 20s) called me "hun" five times (I'm in my fifties). Something you expect from a dive bar or diner but not authentic Thai restaurant. There was another customer, a woman in her eighties whom the waitress also patronizingly also called Hun. Here's a note for staff: you don't have to call your customer any name at all! You can just greet them. If you really want to be nice you can ask how they are. Save the pet names for your real loved ones. Customers: if you like a more professional staff but still enjoy authentic flavors, consider Oolong on 145 W 11th St. They have Vietnamese pho also. And Oolong"s staff are very polite, well-trained and professional. Oolong has a smaller but well-honed menu. Of course I still tipped my waitress adequately at Pete's, but going forward, when I want Thai, I will just make it at home or go to Oolong instead of Pete's as it is closer to me and I am not OK with being called " hun " 5 times in 45 minutes as I was at Pete's. If you don't mind this condescension though, or it doesn't happen to you, then you should be very happy at Pete's as the food is honestly...

We decided to give Pete's Thai kitchen a try when we found a coupon in the local paper. We had driven past it a number of times and thought it looked really interesting. We were not disappointed! the outside of the building has been beautifully restoredand made very appealing with beautiful window boxes and there's even a handicap cement ramp. Upon entering we were even more surprised! The decor was beautiful the music was authentic the lighting set the mood beautifully. We were greeted very promptly by a wonderful young woman who gave us the option to sit at a high table, low table, or out on the patio. A short time later our server came over and offered to get us a beverage. We chose the Thai iced tea which is made with turmeric and the Thai iced coffee. Both were delicious and we decided to save them to have as our dessert. We ordered the chicken satay as an appetizer. It came with a peanut dipping sauce and cucumber and carrot in a light sauce. My husband chose to have the pod Thai and I had the Thai basil. The great thing about the menu is you can choose your protein. They have chicken, pork, or tofu. Also for a slight up charge you can get beef, shrimp, or seafood combo. I chose the shrimp and my husband chose the beef. Both were prepared wonderfully! Our server was prompt, kind, courteous, and had little bits of information about Dubuque and the area for us. As we left we were thanked again by the hostess and encouraged to come back. It was a wonderful evening and we definitely...