Mekong Cafe — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Our first time at Mekong Cafe, and I can say, we won't be coming back. When we got there. There was no one at the front to assist us. We stood there waiting, while an employee was cleaning the buffet area. She saw us, we made eye contact as well. 5-6 mins gone by, that same employee FINALLY walked over to us and greeted us, told us to sit anywhere. Asked if we needed a high chair, my wife said yes please. This employee went to grab us water first. Still no menu though. Still no high chair either. She was gone for a while before we returned to our table with a menu. At this point we had already gotten tired of waiting for a high chair so I went to grab one. MENU HAS NO PRICE by dishes. For my first visit, I like to see what I'm dealing with, you know. Another employee came out of no where and stood by our table. He didn't say a word to us, but we had already assume he's there to take our order so my wife stated what we wanted. This employee took no notes, it was all memorized. So GREAT job to him for remembering our order. Asked him for straws as well, he said sure. 20 mins has gone by, no straws, no food....... another 25 mins has gone by, no food, no straws. Finally a whooping 45 mins wait, I get my first appetizer, spring rolls and then FINALLY some straws. While waiting, a customer who had order pick up, her food ended up not being what she wanted. Nearly took about 20 mins for a refund for her. Still waiting...... Another 15-25 min wait for the REST of the food to come out. When we received the rest of the dish, only thing missing was our sticky rice. That took about another 15 mins before we got it. Also, I don't understand why chop sticks were given only and not spoons or forks for the dish we order. I had to go ask because everyone was busy chit chatting only. At this point we're tired of waiting, food didn't turn out as great as we thought. My wife went to go pay. No one was up there. The employee who served us, finally came to the cashier. My wife paid. Employee boxed our food that we barely touched. He forgot our sticky rice. Had to tell him to box it as well. BUT let me tell you, there were 5 servers walking around and standing in the back talking. We were the 3rd group there ONLY, all groups had no more than 3-4 people in them. With the 30 min frame of us arriving, those guest received their order, boxed up and left. The cafe was, you can say, pretty much empty. So I don't see why food was talking so long. Employees were so slow as they just chit chat. An employee was moping the floor with NO CAUTION SIGNS out. Imagine my pregnant wife didn't see that and walked through it. Our first time experience was not what we had expected with all the 5 star reviews. We will...

Update: I'm revising my review after speaking with the manager. She was very helpful and understanding to help resolve our issue.

We have subsequently ordered from there again, and the order was hot, fallacious, and the egg rolls we're delicious!

Thank you again.

This may have been a singular event, but called ahead with my order an hour before going to pick it up, and it wasn't ready. No one in the waiting area would even acknowledge any of the customers to answer questions until they randomly called out a name. The person next to me said he was waiting for almost 2 hours. At that point I tried to cancel my order, but no one would acknowledge my existence for me to do that.

The food portion size was good, but food was nothing remarkable. In addition to the wait, I was irked that they charged us for vegetables that we didn't want and said there was no way to remove it from the bill. Normally I wouldn't care but it was a substantial up-charge at about an additional 33% ($3 additional per $12 entree). We llet it slide then when we get home the "extra vegetables" included one mushroom one piece of zucchini and one piece of of broccoli, and NOTHING ELSE which clearly it was not worth. Total scam!

It's unfortunate since I have heard good reviews about this place, but this is my first and only experience with them and likely will...

I ordered carry out for my wife and myself and while the experience was exceptional, the food was just so.We ordered Mekong Wings, Veggie Tempura and Banh Xeo as appetizers followed by Lad Na and Pud Prik Khing as entrees. The Veggie Tempura was excellent, as also was the Banh Xeo, but the Mekong Wings were at best, OK. It may have been the sauce that we chose that didn't do justice. For the entrees, the Pud Prik Khing was a poor introduction to Thai cuisine as the dish was far too hot to be considered Mild and the green beens were probably harvested last year. They were old and tough. I have had this dish at specialty Thai restaurants in the past and there was no comparison. As far as the Lad Na was concerned, it was ordered with pork, but came with chicken. Obviously a kitchen error as the receipt clearly showed pork as the accompanying meat. This dish was described in the menu as "one of the most juicy, delicious recipes we feature" yet it was absolutely bland and one had to search for the meat amongst the gelatinous mass of agglomerated noodles. The noodles had spent far too much time in their accompanying gravy. Definitely something that would not be a future priority. Overall, the servings were generous, but only the appetizers could be recommended. I don't think that we will be back to Mekong Cafe in a...