Chef Zhao Kitchen — Restaurant in Palo Alto

We ordered takeouts once a month and the food is usually ok. The taste is 3.5 out of 5 I would rate, but with the limited options around Palo Alto, I'd say we are quite loyal to the restaurant.

However, last week, we again ordered the same dishes we usually order - Shanghai Spring soup, panfried bun and Vegetable Salted Pork Fried Rice. The other two dishes are same as usual, but the Shanghai Spring Soup was bland and without the umami that it usually embodies. The soup was obviously underseasoned that even my 3-yr-old who usually loves the soup could easily tell. We called the restaurant to share our honest feedback. Unfortunately, the lady who picked up the phone dismissed our feedback with a direct response that they didn't notice any difference. I mean... come on, you got our complaints, and you didn't ever ask your chef or just even take a minute to taste it, but just directly telling us that there was nothing wrong about it. We are not complaining to get a refund, but with just a simple hope that the food can be back to its quality so we can come back for the food we enjoy; however, the restaurant's reaction seems they really don't care about a loyal customer's...

Came here today with a group of 6. I found the food to be pretty good and the same as other restaurants in the area.

The service on the other hand was pretty awful. The waitress stood there taking our orders without acknowledging anything anyone said, so wasn't clear if she got our orders right or not. I had to order my drink twice because she wasn't saying anything so I couldn't tell if she heard me or not.

After our food came, we had a hard time getting forks because the waitresses kept rushing past us and did their utmost to not see us even though we were in the middle of the place. They then put 6 forks down in front of one person, I guess because handing out silverware is too hard.

No plates were cleared and no drinks were refilled. No waitress ever came back to check on us and we only got the check after twice flagging someone down.

Then the best part was they gave themselves an 18% tip! I tried to pay but they wouldn't take my corporate AMEX! OMG people! Learn to run...

I had a terrible experience with the service here on multiple occasions. We signed in to wait for a table. Luckily I checked on the list frequently to know when I was next. When the server was about to call the next group which should have been us, they called another group down the list. Immediately called him out on that mistake. Sat down, gave them my order waited patiently until I noticed another table get their whole order served before we did. Asked about our order 30+ minutes later to find out they never put the order in. Also had to bug the staff twice for our tea pot refill. So frustrating. The food separately was pretty decent but above average in pricing. I'd order to go by phone then pick up if I were you. They take reservations supposedly but I saw on numerous occasion from other guests the restaurant doesn't really honor them by holding a table but rather just getting some pseudo priority over the sign in list. The logistics are...