Sand Pebbles at Pinecrest — Restaurant in Orange

Really wanted to like this place. Menu looked great. Prices seemed high, but rent certainly is high at Pinecrest and this is the only location of the two Sand Pebbles restaurants that serves alcohol. Lettuce wrap appetizer was delicious. Egg roll appetizer OK like, OK, could’ve been from Costco. Servers and kitchen obviously very shorthanded or inexperienced but very nice and food was very very hot when brought out albeit two of us had to wait for our food for more than five minutes after the first two got theirs. HOWEVER, two of the four dinner entrees we ordered included basil as a key ingredient, most notably, the BASIL FRIED RICE. Oops! No basil evident in either one! At least when asked they were honest and said they had run out of basil. Why are they offering dishes named for that ingredient without telling the persons ordering? They asked, oh can we takeoff 10%. off the one dish named for the ingredient. Incredible! So we begin to look closely at our food. No cilantro in a cilantro dish! No garlic in another. Guess the cooks didn’t know Whole Foods is four minutes away WALKING. Giant eagle maybe five minutes away driving. Is there a herb shortage in America? Chicken dish. My friend said very dry. Curry dish I have had many times at other restaurants was a SOUP. So I ask, “is this dish a soup in this restaurant?” But not listed among the soups? The waitress said yes. While it was very tasty, I realized all the vegetables were literally slivered, perhaps for lack of sufficient vegetables in the kitchen. We get our bill. Yes they took the 10% off the one dish they should have comped. But they inexplicably added a dollar to the price of one drink. They also add 3% for use for the credit card, which they happened to not mention when they brought out the bill and I handed over my credit card. Oh they put it on the...

This is the cautionary tale of excessive greed undermining a decent place to dine. Owners , do not expect me to tip your servers, who you do not even pay minimum wage, any more than 17% if you are charging my credit card 3%. I do not mind paying for food. But just like not using ATMs that charge my money to use my money, i will not pay you money to use my money. You were foolish if you think I'm gonna carry $300 my pocket to go to a restaurant so I can pay you in cash. Nobody does that. And I am one of the people who will never ever pay a nickel and serve charge on my credit card ever. And I would suggest anybody who is thinking of having an Asian experience find the restaurant that does not charge the credit card a surcharge. You're good, but you're not that good. And I have said the same thing to fine dining restaurants, that I love, that I will never be back. Where would your business be if you were allowed to take credit cards. Do you think you'd have a cash only business no, you wouldn't. that's OK you're killing that goose known as the credit card that's laying your golden eggs by bringing more customers in. You charge a fee and people realize that they don't come back. At least this...

I generally do not share a less than amazing experiences; however, today I went to sand pebbles in Pinecrest, and I must say that I will never go back. When I got there, I asked if I could be seated outside. The waitress sat me outside per my request and then five minutes later the manager came outside and told me that I had to sit inside because the sun was out, I repeated it back to him, “I can’t sit outside because the sun is out?” He said yes… ummm ok. I was given the menu. I asked for the sushi menu. I was informed that this location did not have sushi, which was the only reason I had gone there. I already told friends from out of town to meet me there, so NO SUSHI sushi restaurant it is. I ordered Crab Rangoon. The first piece was delicious, the second one I felt something very strange in my mouth and I pulled out the biggest wad of plastic. The plastic was literally the size of the palm of my hand. The manager took off my Crab Rangoon, but refused to comp my whole meal. After my friends and I have finished our lunch, they told us that we had to get out because they closed at two. The most unpleasant dining experience I’ve had in a...