Simmer Vietnamese Kitchen — Restaurant in Petaluma

We are - now were - decade plus customers. One of our favorites - prior to an awful experience tonight. We ordered a takeout order of cabbage salad, two entries, side of sauce. Paid for it and on long drive home, thought the total of $60 was a bit high and when I got home saw receipt. They'd charged us not for a cabbage salad (prominent on menu) for but an "avocado salad, no avocado" = $14. My wife said, omg, that happened last time to us and the guy in charge said it was a computer error, no key for cabbage salad. So I called and a man answered who was manager. I explained the situation and he said, "yes, i know what happened, there is no computer key for cabbage salad so they entered avocado salad, no avocado so that is why $14." I said, well that is not what we ordered and you guys evidently have a problem in your system and I keep paying for it. The manager insists on again explaining in great depth on how the problem is in the system ... that's how we do it and no one has complained before." I said, I don't need to know the shortcomings of your billing system errors, I don't want to be paying for something you prominently place on the menu, but sell for more." He said, "ok, I can take $2 off and charge you for a cabbage salad with chicken, that's $12." I said we didnt buy or get any chicken, it was/is a plain cabbage salad, and you want to charge me now for a cabbage chicken salad? He says, "well, do you not want or not want the refund?" I explained I'm a regular customer, I love the food and always enjoyed good service, tip very well, and I thought you'd have a bit more of customer service orientation and realize you could easily make this right, and instead you argue with me for 20 minutes, though you agree your computer is making a mistake and so you offer me $2 Jezz I left a $9 tip on pickup!!... keep the $2 as I've now wasted 20 minutes hassling with a manager of a business who charges the wrong fee, blames it on a computer, is totally unapologetic."

I love the food, I've always found the staff lovely, but this is restaurant that knowingly is unethical and reflects a really crap attitude towards customers. When I asked to speak to the owner, the manager was unwilling to tell me who that was other than he was not there. I finally did call the manager and he really didn't seem to understand at all why this is a problem! He said he'd call me back. I never heard...

Overall, very good. A little on the pricey side, but we're still getting used to California. We had the summer rolls with shrimp - I like that they wrapped some herbs in with the lettuce and noodles. The presentation was gorgeous. We also shared a bowl of BBQ pork bun. I really liked it, especially the assortment of fresh herbs included. My daughter said she liked it but thought our old place in Colorado was better. I guess the meat was flavored a little bit better there, but I really liked the extra fresh herbs here. Fantastic service - overall, four stars for being in a strip mall yet pricey, and not having quite as good of BBQ pork as we've had before (but still good).

Update....PLEASE!!! Buy new chairs! I'm going to start walking out when a booth isn't available. Also, adding a killer Banh Mi selection would...

Nice friendly staff. My family I went there after a long day in Bodega Bay. The reviews were great, hence the reason we stopped by to grab dinner.

I ordered the P9, combination Beef noodle soup. Daughter ordered K9, kids beef soup. My wife ordered P2 and Salted Peppered calamari.

The noodle soup was bland. It had no flavor. The serving size was below par for being $12. I almost want to say that my "adult" sized serving had the same amount of noodles as the kids bowl serving. My wife and child also complained about the bland flavor, stating, "It looks like phó, but it tastes like a bowl of water and noodles.

The calamari on the other hand was superb. This dish itself deserved a 5 star.

All in all, a 2 star for an expensive bowl of water with noodles. Staff was great,...