Pei Wei Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Gilbert

I haven't been to Pei Wei for a long time, especially to this location in Gilbert Road. We were in the neighborhood, so me and my daughter decided to give it a try. First, I noticed, there was this awful fishy smell that welcome us upon walking into the resto. I wanted to back off (that could have been a sign already) but I still thought, it would just be quick, since I am just be ordering 1 meal for take out. Well, it was a wrong decision, Got there around 11:19, I was the only person waiting in line, then 2 more men came. I Didn't get my order til 11:30 AM. There was a guy at the pick up counter sorting all kinds or oders. It seems to me that they were only focussing on online orders. There was only one server, and few men at the kitchen. 25 mins. later, I went to the counter, asked the gentleman or I think he's the supervisor? (that wasn't actually gentle)for the status of my order. I was surprised, he was quite irritated and his response was showing me the dozens of orders for delivery and said to me "We have so many orders, you see, we can only cook so much. Just wait, your order will be ready". First of all, I patiently waited, until the 2 men before me were already enjoying their meals while me who came in first, is still waiting for my Pad Thai, why is that? And his respose, was something about the "pantry". After that remarks from this guy, I was just speechless, he was so unprofessional, unapologetic and rude. It is ok to be behind sometimes, but we as customers expect a kind response and at least an apology. You see, they shouldn't be taking bunch of orders for delivery if they can't manage it, and would affect their service to the walk- in customers, who literally drove their to get their food. And I also noticed that those food for delivery that he was sorting out were sitting at the table and counter for a long time. I would think, it wouldn't be that fresh and hot when they get delivered. Got my Pad Thai after 30 or so minutes and it wasn't worth the long wait plus the insult. It's "mehhhh" (not as good as it used to be) One thing I've learned.... never again.. especially to this location. Service was bad, and food...

I've always kind of like this place ( pei Wei in general, this was my first time at this location). But ever since my daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease this is her favorite place to get Chinese food. ( She's 2) as soon as I pick her up from daycare and she told me she wanted Chinese food for dinner. I called in our order and as always make sure to let them know that my daughter can't have any gluten and that if possible it would mean a lot that if when making it if they can remove anything that could possibly be cross-contaminated. I always just throw that out there I don't expect people to really go out of their way a whole lot for us. When we got there we were meted by Kylie. Very young girl but still very professional and obviously very attentive and get her job. when she was handed my daughter's food it took her a whole two seconds before she realized that they didn't make it gluten-free. Immediately my worry was that they would take the chicken off of the top of the rice and just put the correct chicken on. And that's exactly what the person cooking tried to do. No sooner was I about to say something, Kylie looks at the guy with a disghusted stare that young females seem to have down so well, and her words.." what are you doing..(semi-death stare)...you can't do that." I was so surprised... most people treat situations where you have to be this picky as a pain and taking up their time. She proceeded to very kindly inform the newer cook as she let me know, the dangers of what he just did and what it could do to someone let alone a two-year-old. I'm not sure why I'm so surprised at something like that from someone her age, probably because most people even my age that I encounter aren't even that nice anymore. But as many words as I can think to say or how many people I tell,. I honestly can't explain how much I appreciatednot only her catching that and saving my daughter from thatbut to take the time to educate that person to prevent it from happening to...

So, I've been eating at Peiwei for a while. The price and portion of the food is very good. It all changed from my last 2 orders (2 dishes each). About 2 weeks ago, my Vegetarian wife ordered Shrimp Pad Thai...the moment we opened it up, it saturated the entire house with vinegar! I understand that you put some but not this much. She threw away the rest.

Then we tried again with different dishes. We both like spicy food so we ordered the Drunken Noodle. We really hoped that it would be good because it smelled good. We were wrong...it was saturated with salty sauce, not spicy. Food should be enjoyed, not a chore to consume! Inedible! Even with incredible and fresh ingredients, they cannot balance the sauces for great taste; I just can't understand.

Btw, I did order my food via pick-up. If it was at the restaurant, I would have spoken up. At this juncture, joy of eating is not possible at Peiwei.

Bottom line...I still have to use the "balance" on my gift card so I just can't ignore. My advice: ask for either less sauce or sauce on the side. Or dine at the restaurant so you can immediately ask them to rectify the situation.

I hope the owner or the management reads this because I want...