Pho Dakao — Restaurant in Framingham

We didn't love the food. I would generally return to give the food (or our choices of ordering) another chance. But the attitude and manners of the waitress made the experience very unpleasant. It wasn't just that she didn't seem to care one bit about whether we were there or if our food was good... She was acting like I was someone she was having a feud with, but I've never seen her before. We had been in here once years ago, and had a pleasant agreeable time. I seriously wonder if she mistook me for someone else who she has an issue with. If she treats all the customers that way, I don't understand all these good reviews.

The food... The spring rolls were overdone, black on the ends. And the fishy flavor of oil that is overdue for changing was overwhelming. That is the first time I've let spring rolls go to waste. The best thing about the dish was the garnishes. The Pho I can't really say if it was good or not. I've only had pho a few times so my expectations may not be fair. But we didn't enjoy it.

Back to the service... We were studying the menu and the waitress walked up and asked if we were ready to order (in a tone as if she had been waiting on us, even though she hadn't been to the table before and hadn't even asked for a drink order (and never did.)) I said we would like an order of spring rolls, and asked my husband if he had any questions about the menu, but she was already walking away, and from behind me said "so just spring rolls." We waited a very long time for her to return or for the spring rolls to arrive, and finally a young man who was cleaning the table next to us asked if we were ready and went to get her. We ordered pho. When the spring rolls arrived, she placed plates in front of each of us and then put the dish with the spring rolls on the corner of the table next to my husband instead of in the middle. She obviously knew we were sharing, and I had ordered them, so she puts them far out of my reach. ? When we didn't eat them all, we put the plates on the edge of the table so they would pick them up. On a pass by, she took the dish with remaining garnishes from the center of the table and left the two plates that we put on the side. (The friendly young man took them later.) When the pho arrived, she put my husband's bowl sort of in front of him, but put mine on the very edge of the table. See photo, that's where she set it. ...

I'd give this place one star, but to be fair, I never had the opportunity to actually eat their food. So the following is the reason for my two star rating and why I did not eat their food. Per my usual travel routine, I Google restaurants near my hotel to peruse cuisine and ratings. I love Vietnamese food, Pho in particular, and this place had good ratings overall. I was willing to travel the extra few miles in traffic to this place and I arrived at 4:30. Two people at the bar and very few in the restaurant. I thought "great, I shouldn't have to wait long" - I could not have been more wrong. I politely greeted the bartender as I sat down and he reciprocated. Surprisingly however, I was not asked "can I start you with a drink? a menu? " No. He fussed around he bar a bit before calling over his shoulder behind the bar for someone a number of times. Then he left - no explanation, no inquiry as to what I wanted, and no reference to being right back. After a few minutes he returned and I figured, ok, finally I can get that drink. NO - he approached one of the only two other patrons at the bar and asked "would you like another?" Are you kidding me?!?! After he prepared an additional drink for the patron who had already been there and I have yet to be served, he tossed a menu in front of me without asking me if I'd like a drink and then walked out of the bar again!! This time to greet and seat people who had just walked in the door and didn't have to wait more than 15 seconds! Needless to say, not knowing when or if I'd ever be served, I got up and exited the restaurant. I travel over 150 days per year on business, patronizing many bars / restaurants, and I have to say that I have never had a more pathetic customer service experience from a bartender in all my travels. Totally disappointed and angry at the fact that I braved the traffic and extra miles, anticipating one of my favorite cuisines, only to leave hungry. I'll...

Worse service at this restaurant from the server (Sabrina) and manager. Will never come back.

They weren't busy; the server had an attitude; then when we tried to let the manager know of our dissatisfaction with the service, all he did was cut us off and refuse to listen. We had a party of 7 and they automatically charged tip. I usually don't mind as I always tip 18-20% for good service because it's a hard job. This time, we received bad service. My family and I usually like coming to this restaurant so we only intended to let them of our disappointment then pay the bill (including tip), but the response we received from the manager made the situation worse.

BAD service is when: we have to ASK the server to take our order after she takes the order from the party that got seated AFTER us; grab our own hot soup from the end of the table because she doesn't place it in front of the person that ordered it; walk to the register to ask for condiments for our order: grab what we need off other tables because she doesn't come back; get more water after we are already done eating; sit and stare at her so she knows we're waiting for our bill. Then she doesn't ask how the party is splitting it, but rolls her eyes when I ask her to split it appropriately.

That's NOT service. That's entitlement that you're getting your 18% tip automatically and feel like you don't have to care about service.

According the manager, the waitress just taking our order and bringing the food to the table is "good" service. No, that's the person doing their job! Good service is when the server checks in and doesn't have...