U-Town — Restaurant in Philadelphia

THE WORST OF THE WORST SERVICE I’VE EVER HAD IN THE US

I’ve only rated places where I got positive experience. I’ve of course been to places with mediocre to terrible services but there is no place like Utown. The food is great: it’s authentic and I have no complaints about the taste and quality. However (a very big however), their service was extremely bad imo. I have never been to any restaurants that have this terrible of a service. I came at 8 (and they close at 9), and the last time they accept dine in is at 8:15 and they will not take any orders (including takeouts after 8:15 pm). The restaurant was fully occupied so the waiter told me I can either wait to see if I have any luck, or leave. The way that he communicated felt condescending and he didn’t really care; he was extremely hard to listen in his mask, and after he communicated on what he thought he needed, he stepped away, leaving me confused and not knowing what to do. I did not want to do takeouts at all because I came there with the mentality that I’d dine in and have a good time, so I came to the counter and confirm with a different waiter. They repeated the same thing, so my friend and I decided to do takeouts because we were hungry for good Korean food. BEFORE WE EVEN PLACED OUR ORDER, a table stood up so I asked if we can dine in instead and the waiter rudely said no because I already said I would do takeouts. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYWHERE THAT WAS SO STIFF IN THEIR POLICY. What was the cons of switching to dine in when I haven’t even placed my order? I was very unsatisfied with the way he responded, his condescending voice, and how he handled my situation, but I still stuck with takeouts at last. Even past 8:15 pm when people came in, THEY STILL ACCEPTED TAKEOUT ORDERS even though they told me they would stop taking orders at 8:15. Not to mention we had to wait half an hour for our food.

I know it’s tiring when you have to serve in a busy restaurant, but at the end of the day, don’t customers also want to be fulfilled with good food and good service to make their money worth? And isn’t that how the restaurant is still in business?

Long story short: I WILL ONLY DO TAKEOUTS THERE BECAUSE THE SERVICE WAS TERRIBLY...

Kind reminder and most important thing at the first: If you enjoy the feeling of being discriminated or wish to be threatened and ordered around during your meal, then U-town is a must-visit!

My dining experience at U-town was the most regrettable decision I've made in Philadelphia and the worst dining experience I've ever had. My husband and I were treated very unfairly by one of the waitstaff, possibly due to racial discrimination, or at least a strong dislike for small dining groups of two or fewer.

First, Threatening Behavior: Before we started our meal, we were threatened and spoken to very rudely with something like, "You must listen to me" and "Otherwise, I'll cancel your order right now." When we inquired if this was their standard way of treating customers, the waiter affirmed that threatening customers and kicking them out was a regular practice for him. We tried to communicate with other staff or the manager, but all were stopped by him, claiming he was the manager. All of these occurred because we, as the longest-waiting customers, took the only available table, a four-seater. Later, when a group of five arrived, he wanted to rearrange the seating. We expected polite negotiation, not commands and threats, especially after waiting over 20 minutes in the restaurant.

Second, Unwelcoming to Small Parties: It seemed that they were unwelcoming to parties of less than two. When two tables were about to be available, two waiting groups of two were told to wait at least additional 20 minutes. Then, when a four-person table was available, we were informed that the preparation would take at least 40 minutes. We can feel the unwelcoming! In reality, the wait time was only about 10 minutes, and several tables left within 10-20 minutes, with our order being served in about 15 minutes.

Although we eventually got a different waiter and received our meal, the first 40-minute waiting was extremely unpleasant. It was hard to believe that we were treated like this as customers. if you're simply looking for a meal (not even a fine dining experience) and expect the basic service, I advise you to think twice before...

i’m extremely disappointed to write a one star review, especially because i was so looking forward to going here. i ordered the ganpoog ki and shrimp dumplings and my friend ordered one of the seafood ramens. when the food came out, it looked delicious. the dumplings were very oily, but pretty good. my friend and i are both muslim, so once food came out we had to confirm the ramen was halal. we were told it was, but then the waiter took back his statement and said actually it was cooked in beef broth. the menu specifies which items are cooked in beef broth and this item had no mention of it anywhere. after i explained that to him, he gave us an extremely hard time and said we should have just known. but why would some menu items specify that it’s cooked in beef broth and some not have any mention of it? my friend didn’t want to create a problem, so she said it’s fine and she’ll just order a different ramen. we waited for her new ramen and ate my shrimp in the meantime. the shrimp was fine, but half the plate was salad and rice cost extra. for the amount paid, rice definitely shouldn’t have been extra, or there should have been more shrimp. once we finished my dish, we got the bill and realized they never put an order in for my friend’s other dish and we’d waited for nothing. the other ramen was comped after a lot of back and forth with the waiter, but he seemed unapologetic. we were shocked as to why they didn’t put in the order for her other dish if she obviously couldn’t eat this one. at the end, we asked for a box for the beef ramen, so we could at least give it to someone so the food wouldn’t be wasted, but the waiter said he didn’t charge us for if so we can’t have it, and he told me they were just going to throw it out in the kitchen😭 i’ve never experienced service like this and i’m genuinely so sad it ruined our experience because this was a place i was really...