Huế Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Milwaukee

This will be long & I GENUINELY hope the manager sees this.

First & foremost this restaurant has great food, all around great Pho when it’s a good broth day BUT the service W O W…

I will never come back because of the service I saw today, not to me but to another table around me. It’s shocking to me how a server who is working in a Vietnamese restaurant is actually racist to VIETNAMESE people??? Are we kidding? I actually had to apologize as a person who runs a Japanese restaurant on how the server was towards them.

Here’s where we are at,

My partner and I walk in, they were ALREADY sitting, ordered etc After we received our appetizers the table asked the server how much longer for their food, the server then said “I wasn’t paying attention to your table but I’ll go check” in a very passive aggressive tone.

THEN HERE COMES THE GOOD PART, their actual server comes out of the kitchen and proceeds to say “you ordered ribs, they take a while” but not to the actual table… no no she said this all the way on the other side of the restaurant.

The kitchen is on the other side of the main dining room & the table was located by the window.. you’re joking? You actually have that much disrespect as a human being to make a scene instead of walking over and speaking to them… Interesting

What throws me off is they gave them the food with no fork, no napkin, no chopsticks. When the family’s son goes to ask where he may grab them, the server says oh they are right under that cart? Are you the server or are they? Why are you there? Why are you having US guests tip you? Seeing this table get that type of treatment when being the ONLY non white group in the building while others there were being properly serviced with utensils, smiles, & respect is heart wrenching.

As a restaurant owner & someone who’s worked in the industry literally my entire life I say this to the manager alone! DO BETTER! Get better staff or retrain them. I did your job today as a manager and apologized for YOUR servers and offered them to come dine with me for a better and respected service they should’ve gotten off the bat!...

You can’t go wrong with a classic soup and sandwich combo, but if you want something a little more elevated, I suggest you dive into the wonders of Vietnamese cuisine. Your soup: the rich and unmatched flavor of a spiced pho. Your sandwich: the pickley punch of a crisp and airy Banh Mi. While I could write pages on the masterful pho at Huế Asian Kitchen in the Bayview community of Milwaukee, WI, my adoration was reserved for their Lemongrass Veggie Banh Mi today. For 1:00 on a Thursday, Huế was hopping. The sole waitress was noticeably winded, and the restaurant’s owner was bussing tables. Regardless, the metal tray (like those you’d find at a barbecue joint) loaded with potato chips and the object of my breaded affection came quickly enough that I couldn’t finish my sketch of the distinctly vietnamese moped displayed on the wall. I took a moment to dissect the sandwich– first by hand and then with a bite– to find lemongrass veggie meat (or lemongrass beef if you prefer), pickled carrot and onion, cilantro, cucumbers, jalapeno, and a custom yogurt aioli all on the perfectly textured baguette split like a sub. The lightly pickled vegetables hit the nose before anything else, but I can’t call it the star of the show. This piece is an ensemble. The sour acid of pickles harmonizes with the sweet tang of lemongrass and the kick of jalapeno, all blended together by the crisp baguette slowly soaking in the flavors, helping each bite to taste better than the previous. It’s a bit of a mess to handle, but what top-notch sandwich doesn’t require a complementary sink bath afterward? But the best part… they’re still experimenting! I stole a second from the owner as he was racing to bus tables to ask about the aioli. “I don’t know everything that’s in it. My wife made it, and she’s still working on it. But I’m glad to hear it’s working!” I genuinely have a hard time believing it could be further improved, but I’m excited to return and see...

Came in Sunday night at around 7:45pm. It said they closed at 9pm but when the waitress sat us she told us that we had to have our order in at 8. We asked her if she’d prefer if we just went somewhere else, we didn’t know it was so close to closing and we both have worked at restaurant and didn’t want to make them stay. She said it was fine and just the kitchen closes at 8 but the restaurant doesn’t. We sat and ordered right away and got our food quickly. Our waitress was really nice, but a little after 8 they started turning the lights off and then at 8:15 they brought the check. I had no problem paying right away, but this other employee kept circling our table waiting for the check. She circled us like 4 times immediately after the check was put down. I don’t think they even gave us a minute to pay it. Then after we paid and the receipt for the tip was set down and that same employee was just standing at our table staring at us. Like at our table staring at us. It was so awkward and unbelievable. I’ve worked in many restaurants, and worked with many bad waiters who try to rush people, but never seen something this apparent and rude. She even took my soup before I was finished and she tried to take my moms soup too but she was able to stop her. My mom mentioned to her that we told the waitress at the beginning that we’d just go somewhere else if it was too late and the girl said nothing and just turned around but was still standing right at our table. It was so weird and awkward and rude. The pho was also served barely warm and it wasn’t bad, I mean I ate it all, but it definitely wasn’t that flavorful or that great. We really wished they would have just told us that they close at 8 and to go somewhere else. We were so rushed and so weirded out it ruined the night. We would have much rather gone somewhere else that’s open later. So just post that you close at 8pm and not 9pm if you pushed us...