Pho Ketkeo — Restaurant in New Haven

I have to say, I am disappointed to give this place one star. Considering this is a Laotian restaurant and I am Lao, the food was pretty good. However, the staff was extremely rude. Upon seating my group of four, our waitress took two out of four silverware sets away. Not a big deal. It was unclear who our server was because no one introduced themselves and a different person approached the table every time. We ordered appetizers and had to ask for new plates because our plates were filthy with grease and black spots that I was able to smudge with a paper towel. We requested new plates very nicely and the waitress took the plates without even apologizing for the fact that they were dirty. We waited for new plates and had to ask one of the waitresses for our plates again because she never returned. Mind you, at this time, we were the only people in the restaurant so it wasn’t busy at all. Then, our entrees came out and of course, we had to ask for the silverware the original waitress took away. Now, when entrees are delivered, it is to my understanding that the waiter/waitress clears the table from the appetizers. However, this was not the case here. Instead, the waitress was shoving the entree dishes on the table which were hitting the appetizer dishes and causing them to “make room on the table,” even though we had so nicely stacked them for her. So rather than making room by taking back the unused dishes, she pushed them around and left them there. When the final entree came out, I had to ask the waitress to take back the appetizer dishes in which she just grabbed them and didn’t say one word. Not one person asked us how the food was or if we needed refills on our drinks. Then, while we still had our entrees, one of the waitresses brought out the check and never asked us if we wanted dessert. When she placed the check on the table, we let her know that we were not yet finished and wanted to order dessert. The waitresses response was, “Oh. What did you want?” So, we ordered four desserts to share amongst the four of us and had to ask for dessert plates. While we waited for the plates, I walked to the restroom and overheard the two girls complaining at the fact that we asked for plates for the desserts and then said “oh well. They need to wait.” This is the first time in my life that I have ever not left a tip. Had I not heard that comment, I still would have left a tip because I understand the stressors of a restaurant business. However, considering the restaurant wasn’t busy, how rude both waitresses were, the comments they made when they thought no one could hear, the lack of apology when letting them know the dishes were filthy, and the overall lack of professionalism, I absolutely did not leave a tip. I enjoyed the food but unfortunately, I will not be returning and the poorly trained staff can be thanked for that. I’m pretty low maintenance when I go to a restaurant. I expect clean dishes and I don’t even care if I have to ask for anything additional. I expect refills on drinks, asked one time how my food is, and offered dessert. I literally do not care if other than that, the waitress never comes over to me again. However, this service is just horrendous here and this restaurant should be...

Well let me start by saying I LOVED this until TODAY! A very good friend of mine took me here maybe 2 years ago and I was hooked on the fried rice and beef jerky ! Even started eating the Lao Papaya salad, well today thAt same friend who introduced me to this establishment, her her son & I came in her lunch. After waiting to be seated which we were given attitude because we asked to sit at a certain table (which was the only one that was clean at that moment) it took our server (older Asian female) about 20mins just to bring us water & even then we had to call her over which then she began to take out order before getting water for the table . After ordering we received food at our table (which was great) but after eating we asked for boxes to go and the bill ($98) which also took her another 15mins we proceeded to the register where we asked if we could split our bill which we did and once we signed for our bills she noticed there was not tip left on our bill. She then began to get loud and shout out “where is my tip” Over and over. Myself and the 2 others was began to walk out of the establishment before the server ran outside after us now SCREAMING “no tip, WHERES MY TIP” I then said “ma’am we paid for Our food” and was going to explain to her that there was no tip left because the service wasn’t good at all she then told me to “watch the next time I come in to eat” I then asked her what’s that suppose to mean ? And then told how UNPROFESSIONAL she was for 1 running outside after customers & 2 for screaming about a tip as if we didn’t pay for our meal. She told me “if you have money to eat you have money to tip” and this here is the reason why I will not be coming back, that’s very rude and unprofessional. Making a threat to a customer “watch when you come back” as if she’s going to have something done to my food next time I there to eat ! And let me clear the record I always tip when I come there but I will not tip anybody for...

If you expect to have a nice dinner experience, then this is not the place. Here is the breakdown.

Interiors

The place claimed to be an authentic Laotian and Vietnamese restaurant, yet it was only a claim. Too many afterthoughts; a picture of noodle ball on window with Christmas lights around, some fake Asian bamboo by entrance; none of these were ever present in Laos or Vietnam countries.

Ambiance

There was rap music as a background sound. No Asian restaurant plays rap as background sound; it is just wrong type of music. When I said to the waiter that the music was too loud, the waiter turned it off and then turned on TV with loud sound.

Here is a tip. When customers expect to watch TV with loud sound, they would go to sport bar and not restaurant. If for some reason you have to turn on TV, please set it on mute.

Waitress and worker professional ethics

The waitresses were talking to each other thinking that they were in some sorority house; loud, obnoxious, and of someone's life experience going through a phase. Then there was a worker just dump a bucket of ice cubes into some container, making loud noises.

Food Quality

I ordered crispy duck with some sweet sauce, and it was horrible. The sauce was too sweet and oily. It seemed that the cook tried to put in too many different type of flavors to increase the chance to taste good, yet all of those flavors killed each other. I had to dry off the duck in order to be edible at least.

Overall

This place was only suitable for a quick lunch meal, ordering their pho. Don't order other food type and don't expect to have a nice dinner experience. Take it with...