Fuzion Five — Restaurant in Palm Springs

We were a party of three, having lunch there during Coachella weekend. We also had a takeout order and mentioned to the waitress that it needed to be billed separately. We initially enjoyed the food and service, but the experience became soured at the end.

We noticed that the bill for our restaurant meal and take out order both had a suggested tip starting at 18%, and then a 20% tip was already included in the bill. We believed the charge on our take out order was unfairly because we didn’t know about the tipping policy and didn’t get the service for the food we ordered to go. We asked the waiter (who didn't serve our table) why was a 20% tip included and if we were informed beforehand anywhere. He had a very dismissive attitude , saying, "How does that make a difference? It’s not like you came here knowing we charge a mandatory 20% tip and wouldn’t eat here.” Idk if he just assumed on our Asian appearance, he said we are definitely not come from Californian because a California law that legally requires them to charge a 20% tip and that everyone walking outside breathing would agree.

I tried to be reasonable with him saying that we were okay with paying the tip for the bill we ate at the restaurant, but for the takeout, we’d like to get a refund for that tip because we didn’t receive service. I asked if that made sense to him. He laughed and said that it didn’t make sense and that a refund was not possible. I said that would be robbery. He then closed our bill book, planning to take it away, and said, “Well, you guys have a good day.”

I admit I got angry at the moment. As he took our bill away, I poured a glass of water at him. When we walked out of the restaurant, he came out for us and asked us to wait for the police. I just crossed the street, planning to wait for the police. He put his hand on his crotch and called us derogatory words. When I tried to take a video, he tried to grab my phone and pushed me.

Luckily, the manager interved. She sincerely apologized for what happened and said no customers or anyone should be treated like this. She then went ahead and refunded us. We ended left $20 for the waitress who served our table, which is over 20% tip. Again, we're not not willing to pay for the service, a notice of mandatory 20% tip on a Saturday lunch meal would be appreciated.

As a customer, I'm lucky I didn't get hurt at this time, but i would suggest the owner...

These people will NOT honor your reservation. I made a reservation to have dinner with them @6:30pm on a Saturday night several weeks ago and was bringing my relatives visiting from Canada. It is after all a lovely restaurant with good food that I’ve visited many times before. To my disappointment, we arrived there @6:30pm and they had just given the last couple of open tables to the guests that walked in before us. I mentioned to our waitress that we have a reservation made for 6:30pm and she soon realized that she messed up (didn’t know that a reservation was made). She apologized and asked us to wait at the bar which we did. She brought the drinks menu and invited us to get a drink if we wanted. I asked her if the drink would be complimentary and she immediately told us that they were not going to be complimentary. We waiting around for approximately 10 minutes and realized that most people really had recently begun their meals so we decided to get up and leave. I asked my waitress to have the manager to come out and talk to me and she told me she was the manager. I was shocked because this person handled the whole mishap in a very poor way to begin with. I expressed my frustration and told her that we were going to just leave. She apologized again for the inconvenience and ask for my name and address and offered to send me a gift card for our inconvenience. After several weeks of not getting anything in the mail I realized that I will never get a gift card from them. It is a shame because I used to frequent that restaurant and they now lost a customer. I felt compelled to finally share my story so others people become aware of their lack of professionalism. A reservation there may likely mean very little to...

My wife & I stopped by for a very late lunch, after visiting a friend who ended up in hospital due to a broken ankle while hiking with us, and before our long drive home. Naturally, the restaurant was mostly empty. So we had the full attention of the waitress (= owner??) the entire time. Her service was good.

The Vietnamese iced coffee had a different taste than what I am used to; not as sweet (a good thing), but not as rich either. Still refreshing though.

We ordered the bánh xèo (= savory Vietnamese crepe) as appetizer. The crepe itself was small and tasted pretty good; but the dipping sauce was very good. The lettuce and herbs for wrapping were very fresh. Overall, this dish was good and just the right size for an appetizer.

The beef salad with herbs and served with a side of sticky rice was pretty good. The meat was well flavored and tender. But I was not used to eating this dish with sticky, aka sweet, rice. After a couple of bites, I just left out the sticky rice all together. Just my preference.

The basil chicken was the other dish we ordered. This one was flavorful; the sauce was tasty. The balance of meat & vegetables were good.

For dessert, we ordered the banana wraps with purple sticky rice, drizzled with coconut milk & honey. Since I like coconut milk, I found its amount in this dish insufficient, like so many other similar dishes at other restaurants. The banana wraps were crispy.

Overall, I will likely to return to this restaurant again whenever I am in Palm Springs, to try...