P.F. Chang's — Restaurant in Eugene

1st attempt to eat here we were told over the phone they were open an hour later than they were. But somehow I was able to use their online system to make reservations during their closed hours. Staff was not apologetic or simpathetic to the situation. They also did not want to see the error in their reservation check in system or know who we spoke with. Basically treated us like we were lying. We both heard the time as it was on car speakerphone via Bluetooth. The only useful part of our interaction was being told the kitchen closes half an hour before the restaurants hours.

2nd time we scheduled 90 minutes before close. When we arrived there were only 2 tables in use. When I attempted to give the name on the reservation, I was waved off and we were seated immediately. After we were seated another couple arrived and was seated. (so litterally 4 tables in use at 8:40) We placed a appetizer and drink order and received them promptly. After looking over the menu we then ordered our food about 8:50pm. Still plenty of time as they are open until 10pm right? The appetizers arrived with the meal at 9:36pm. The food taste, quality, and temperature ranged from ok/adequate to fair to dissapointing. One exception was the Calamari it was cooked perfect not tough, and not underdone. The sauce served with it was a perfect pairing. The tempura shrimp sushi roll was tiny, dry, overcooked and tasted like it had been sitting out. The presentation was $#it. The rice was normal cooked rice, and had no stickiness, flavor, or vinegar tanginess like real sushi rice should have. The shrimp used were small/medium style shrimp like you would buy in a 12oz bag at Safeway. The Udon noodle soup was a good value, riddiculously huge like 32-40oz. The noodles had not been broken down at all before cooking and must have been 20"-28" long. Way to big to get in a scoop, the meat portions as well were huge, it was served without a basil garnish, or any...

Take-out - We decided on PF Changs for our once-a-week take-out meal during COVID-19. We went with the family meal special for 4, plus an extra appetizer.

It was just not good. The ribs, broccoli beef, and honey chicken were OK, but not great. The tasteless fried rice had the driest chicken chunks in it that none of use could eat them. The also tasteless Lo Mein had more carrots in it than noodles. The wonton soup had more broken wontons than whole ones by 2:1 - it did have nice flavor though.

Telling: There was plenty left over, but none of us wanted to save any of it for leftovers. Into the trash and compost bin for the remainder. I am certain that we will not be having takeout from PF Changs again. No thanks.

Here was our order and impressions of each:

Miso Butter Lobster Dumplings - average at best, all parts of the lobster are in there, which was a bit of a turn off. Only 1 of us four liked them.

1 x Holiday Limited Time Family Meal for 4

Northern-Style Spare Ribs - Just OK, 3 of us thought they were OK. Pork Dumplings Pan Fried (4 Count) : Pan Fried - sub par, 2 of us thought they were OK Wonton Soup Bowl - favor was good, wontons were overcooked and broken apart Crispy Honey Chicken - OK, 3 of us thought they were good Beef with Broccoli - OK, 2 of us thought they were good, but the broccoli was undercooked Fried Rice - Chicken - terrible, dry, tasteless, none of us liked it nor could we eat the extremely dry chicken Lo Mein - Chicken - not good, tasteless, too many carrots, none of us like it White Rice: Great! How can you screw up white...

My husband and I had reservations for Valentine's night. Crazy crowded. Manager Brittany remembered us from being there in JULY. We were whisked away from the crowds and noise to a perfect table in the bar, where believe it or not it was quieter than the restaurant! Bartender/server Shawn took excellent care of us despite having to tend bar. Ron enjoyed a pomegranate lemonade and I had a perfect dirty martini. The "new" lettuce wraps arrived in a timely fashion despite the restaurant being packed. We were assured that if we didn't like the new sauce, the former was available. We both agreed that the new style of lettuce was much better than iceberg. It held the filling and didn't take being a master at levitation to get to our mouths. Entree's were to our specs and we thoroughly enjoyed them. Shawn even remembered my asking for extra sauce. We decided to box up about half of our meals so we could try the individual desserts. I was in chocolate/peanut butter heaven with mine and Ron loved his red velvet cake with cream cheese and whipped cream. Manager Brittany managed to check in with us more than once, as well as several other staff breezing through. Somehow, someway, the staff at this location made probably the most crazy night of the year be one of the most pleasant and enjoyable meal we've had in a loooong time. Hazsah! to P.F. Chang's Eugene. We look forward to doing...