Thai Lotus Restaurant — Restaurant in Gulfport

Threatened to Tip! Not Veteran Friendly!

I recently retired from the USAF after 20 long years! I am a FOODIE and have NEVER had issues with tipping for quality service provided by ANY restaurant! Today, I decided to take a solo trip and eat at THAI LOTUS located at 2327 25th Ave, Gulfport, MS 39501. Upon entering the establishment, I was greeted and the food was mediocre. There were approximately six other guests already sitting when I entered. Upon finishing my meal, I asked for the check and a To-Go container. The female stated that I’d need to come to the register to pay. I was given the To-Go container and transferred my food. As I proceeded to the cash register, I saw two employees sitting near the register who were both watching videos on their phones. The male employee had also been my waiter. There was a third employee taking an order on the business phone. I stood at the counter for approximately FOUR minutes…unassisted. While standing there waiting to be helped, both of the employees that were sitting and playing on their phones, looked over at me multiple times but never acknowledged that I was ready to pay or even offered to assist!!

At around the THREE-minute mark, the male employee looked at me and said, “She’ll be with you in a minute” and he began to watch more videos on his phone. At this time, there were NO OTHER customers in the restaurant. The woman hung up the business phone and rang me up for $23.43. I handed her my credit card and she asked if I wanted to leave a tip on the card. I said, “No”. She said, “Do you want to leave cash on the table”. I said, “No”. She said, “Why not, why don’t you tip”. I said, “because I’m not”. She then said, “You should tip, you need to tip, he worked your table and you should tip”. I said, “Can you process my card for $23.43 and give me my card back?”She said, “No, you should tip”. Then she pointed at a sign that said, “15% automatically for tips”. At this point, she still had not given me my credit card back.

I said, “Tipping is not a state law and I do not have to tip you. Should I dispatch Gulfport PD to your establishment because you are refusing to give me my card back?”. She said, “Should I call the police because you are refusing to pay”. I said, “No, I am choosing not to tip you but will pay the $23.43”. She began to speak to the man who was playing on his phone in their native language and then when he responded, she gave me my card back with the printed receipt. As I signed the receipt, I said, “I will not be tipping you but will leave a bad review for this restaurant.”. She said “Thank You”.

Please DO NOT patronize this unprofessional restaurant. The food is NOT worth it and the customer service is...

Hmmm, I asked my server if they had sweat and sour chicken. She looked at me with a surprise look and pointed to the outside sign that they are Thai and Vietnamese restaurant and not a Chinese one, and they don't serve it. I asked if they had similar meals, and she nodded and offered me a similar meal. She asked me what I wanted for a drink. I answered back, "Hot water with lime," and she responded back. "we don't have hot water, and we don't have lime. She completed the sentence, we have lemon if this is ok by you and I will heat up your water, I felt she is like wanting to argue or fight with me, jeee, I was just responding to her questions of what I want. So funny that a server is argumentive with a customer, I noticed they speak Vietnamese, so I requested a Pho, and honestly, it was just Ok compared to other Vietnamese soup ( Pho) i had. The prices were on the high side, 17 dollars for a sweat and sour chicken, and 9 dollars for a small pho soup. The chicken in the sweat and sour were fried, not either grilled or baked, very similar to the chinese sweat and sour, Please see the pictures. The restaurant was super clean, and the server was quite helpful but argumentative with me. Would I visit this place again, no, but again, this is my personal experience. Thank you, restaurant management, for a wonderful sweat and sour chicken meal although not a Chinese sweat...

If you're used to excellent, authentic Thai food, you aren't going to be happy with Thai Lotus. They have a high rating, but the place was literally empty at 6:15 pm. on a Tuesday. (???) Still thought I'd try it. I like spicy food but due to a miscommunication, the green veggie curry ($13.95! and a weird green color, like food-coloring green -- see photo!) was WAAAAY too spicy. Between the waitress' resentment/frustration when I asked for extra coconut milk to try to tone it down, and the depressing atmosphere, I lost my appetite. I paid full price and left with the food... tried to "doctor it up" at home and ended up throwing it out. (By then the rice had turned St. Patrick's Day green --- so weird! ) Worst experience I've had at a restaurant in years. One other table was seated before I left. We got to talking. The guy said it was his third try at Thai Lotus. "I like to give places a chance." He said the first time he ate there it was awful. The second time, "meh." He was giving it one more chance. Very patient of him. Not me. I'm writing to warn you to SAVE YOUR MONEY. Since writing this, locals have told me Thai is not their specialty; they do better with...