Firehouse Subs Jackson Ave — Restaurant in Oxford

This use to be one of the best restaurants in Oxford. But there are other Asian restaurants in Oxford, even if they are all the same I will be going to them instead. Vietnamese food is so incredibly diverse and different from other Southeast Asian cuisines. Yet you wouldn't know that by looking at the updated menu, which resembles Noodle Bowl or Kabuki's menus sans the hibachi and sushi. This use to be one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants, but there are better ones out there who know what they are and aren't trying to be like the other Asian restaurants.

I get it, the outrageously high priced real estate in Oxford makes it difficult for businesses to operate (a separate issue all together. ) That said, they did away with all of their rice dishes. The jasmine rice dishes were among my favorites. Tonight I settled on one of the rice noodle dishes and it was disappointing to say the least. Rice is better than noodles, but more importantly, the dish I had was more adequately labeled a salad than a noodle dish. Of the food in the bowl (which I don't get, I wasn't having Pho) it was more than half made up by lettuce.

As for the staff, I normally don't pay that close attention to the staff because they take your order and bring it to your table. But I do expect that wait staff knows the menu well enough to know what a customer is talking about. And if you are going to put numbers on the menu, then wait staff should most definitely know what the numbers represent. The poor girl working tonight didn't know what I said when I said the number, nor did she understand when I gave the description that is printed on the menu. It is almost as if she was more interested in getting back to her Pho than...

UPDATE: Used to be 5 stars. Unfortunately, it has significantly and continuously gone downhill since the “re-opening” earlier this year.

They have made sad and degrading changes to their ingredients. Particularly, the tea and coffee used as a base for their boba drinks is now much weaker. The food does seem to be improved, but the prices are outrageous for the taste and the quality.

The atmosphere is completely changed (and not for the better). They made the utterly baffling decision to change out the lovely natural and custom lighting for standard white fluorescent office lights. The new lighting makes it miserable to sit in there now.

The staff is completely new and seems poorly trained. They often are confused about how to ring up menu options or need to remake drinks a second time after bringing them out.

And the final straw that lost my love for Mi & Tea was today: they NO LONGER accept punch cards. For years I have come in and gotten a little stamp on my card. Every ten or so stamps was a free drink. I was informed by the cashier that they stopped doing that this week (it’s Monday). There was no notice. No sign. No post. Nothing. Not that I’m owed anything, but the disregard (or disrespect) for loyal customers is distasteful and off-putting. If you’re going to end the program, maybe at least honor my existing / last card?

Anyway, I probably sound old and crabby for disliking change… BUT I LOVED Mi & Tea before it re-opened this year. Now I think I’ll mostly drive by it sadly, longingly wishing it had never changed from the perfection...

First time visiting since the reopening, and I am thoroughly… disappointed. The MOJITO was great, per usual, which is why this review gets 3 STARS. The SHRIMP EGG ROLLS were a total MISS. I was so excited when I saw them still on the menu, because I thought they had been taken off following the reopening. They used to be so DELICIOUS. HOWEVER, they taste nothing like before. You get one less shrimp egg roll, but the new ones are “bigger.” Unfortunately, half of the egg roll was just a fried mess of less-than-appetizing batter that went to mush in your mouth. I’m almost certain the roll itself was not fully cooked. The other half contained a small piece of shrimp, but the new recipe overall is not at all like it used to be. Even the side sauce was not the same. It was much more watery and loose, so the flavor didn’t come through like before. My heart is broken, because this used to be one of my favorite menu items, and I feel a little deceived...