Urban Wok — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Went to the urban wok on April 13, 2024 about 9:30pm on a Saturday. The hours of operation are until 11:00pm. This is after coming to the restaurant earlier in the day to find they had operational service issues and were closed due to the emergency which is totally understandable. Spoke with a gentleman who said he was the manager. He was pleasant and encouraged us to come back to the St Paul location later in the day. So we did. Upon arrival at the store the employees still had the closed sign up. We went in and asked if they were still open. The employee said they were and would be happy to serve us. We placed an order for two with a nice tip. The employee then immediately began sharing way too much personal intimate information that we as consumers had zero interest in getting involved with. So, we decided to take our food to go. It was getting uncomfortable for us to be there. Trying to end this conversation with the employee and get our food so we could leave we waited outside. The two employees in the restaurant then became argumentative between each other. The employee that was sharing too much personal information then proceeded to follow us outside to continue the conversation. Telling us extensively about their family problems. At that time this employee’s mother was driving by. The employee began to argue with their mother who was in her car video recording us on her phone. The employee proceeded to pace in and out of the restaurant with a different extreme story that we didn’t care to hear every time they come outside. Finally after a good 20-25 minutes of waiting for the food we already paid for the employee came outside to tell us she was closing the restaurant and wouldn’t be able to serve us. We’ve been at the restaurant now for over 45 minutes. We respectfully accepted the decision of the employee which is completely unacceptable considering we asked clearly in advance if we could order more the 90 minutes before closing. We left for the evening and found a great restaurant on 7th Street across from the Holiday in that I would highly recommend! Then very next morning. Sunday we came back to find the pleasant manager we had met the previous day. I explained the very unpleasant experience that we had literally hours before. He was nice and said he’d make us food. Take care of the situation and gladly give us a refund for the horrible situation and experience we had the night before Food was made and given to us. Not sure if it was our order or not. Was never asked what we wanted. Just given food. The manager said he would be taking care of our refund and continued to apologize for any inconvenience. I confirmed at that time and asked if there was anything else I needed to do to receive a full refund. The manager ensured me that he had everything taken care of and I had nothing to worry about, my refund would be returned in a matter of days. 11 days later I called the St Paul location and let the manager know that I had not yet received my refund. It was the same pleasant manager we had been talking to at the restaurant. He said he was extremely busy at the moment and would call me back immediately. That was about 2:30pm April24. I heard nothing back from this gentleman. This is the corporate headquarters for this restaurant? This employee and her mother were both clearly strung out on something! This is a horrible experience! This is a horrible restaurant that I will never visit again! I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone at any location based on this one experience! I tried my very best to give the restaurant and the manager every opportunity to correct the situation and be better through this experience. There is clearly not a care to provide good service, good food, or a good experience! DO NOT EVER EAT AT THIS ESTABLISHMENT!!!!!!! HORRIBLE on every level!!!!!! Then…. Instead of contacting the customer the company decided to delete all reviews? This place is a mess! On multiple levels of...

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I am writing to express my disappointment regarding an experience I had at your location this evening. As a long-time customer and a resident living directly above your establishment, I have always enjoyed the food and appreciated the friendly atmosphere, especially interactions with the owner and the night manager, with whom I’ve had several conversations over the past year.

Tonight, however, was an exception. I placed an online order around 20 minutes before arriving and entered the store approximately 10 minutes before closing to pick it up. Unfortunately, my order was set for the following day, though I was unaware of this error when placing it. This was my second order of the evening—the first went smoothly—and I did not make any changes during the ordering process that would explain why it was scheduled for tomorrow.

When I arrived, the night manager seemed confused about my order, asking if I was there for other orders before eventually locating mine for the following day. I explained the situation and asked if my order could still be prepared tonight. Instead of accommodating my request, he became visibly frustrated, explaining that he needed to return at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. His tone was abrupt, and he seemed more focused on closing the store than on resolving my issue. Wanting to avoid further conflict, I decided to leave and return for my order tomorrow, though I left feeling uneasy and mistreated.

After some thought, I realized that I didn’t want the order for tomorrow and returned to request a refund. The manager informed me, quite curtly, that a refund could not be processed until the next morning because the system had already been closed. When I shared my frustration with how I was treated, he replied dismissively, stating, “You don’t like how you’ve been treated for your mistake.”

While I understand that the error may have been mine, I believe that the situation could have been handled with more understanding and professionalism. If I were in his position, I would have responded by simply preparing the order and reassuring the customer—it’s a small gesture that leaves a lasting impression. Instead, I felt blamed and unwelcome, which is disheartening given how much I have enjoyed dining at Urban Wok in the past.

I genuinely appreciate the quality of your food and the kindness of the owner, but this experience has left me questioning my loyalty to the establishment. I hope this feedback is taken constructively and that steps can be taken to ensure future interactions are more positive, even when things don’t...

I visited the Columbia, SC Urban Wok location on 7/13/22, and it was not a pleasant meal. I originally sent an email to the email address provided in other reviews, but no feedback received, so adding as awareness on Google for others. Check was #73. The layout and atmosphere of the place is beautiful, nice, clean, and laid back. The Manager was nice as well, came to assist me without my asking, and explained some things on the menu, and how the ordering works as this was my 1st visit. Helpful, but a little too invasive of my personal space as I ordered, came over twice, & I'm glad I was wearing a mask at the time as I'm very afraid of catching Covid and he wasn't wearing one. Not saying he has or was spreading Covid, but cautiousness is an overstatement for me in this day & age. The screen to order was kinda dirty and had spots on it also, and I immediately went to wash my hands once I was done ordering. Wiping down the screens between the public ordering would be a big help to cleanliness! The order didn't take long at all, great plus. But NONE of the $40 worth of food we ordered was good. Very unfortunate because I have been looking forward to trying this place since I saw the "coming soon" sign last year. The wings ordered were soggy, limp, and not good at all. The jalapeño rice, which was what I was most looking forward to try, was gross, mushy rice, and not good at all. The Noodle bowl was mushy, dry, and not tasty either. I added sauce thinking that'd help but nope, it didn't. The noodles were way over cooked, the chicken & steak in the noodles were edible and I was able to pick the few out to enjoy, but ended up finding food at home to eat because the meal wasn't pleasing at all. $44.13 down the drain because I honestly couldn't eat anything besides the meat in the Noodle bowl. There may need to be some additional training needed for the chefs cooking in the back regarding cooking times and flavors. Highly disappointed. I doubt I'd try it again due to this experience & a few others I've seen regarding the Columbia, SC location.

Edit: To the owner that responded to my review, what are you talking about? This was, and is, the only review I've done for Urban Wok, I have not left any other reviews today or any other day. Please don't try to make it seem like I've posted multiple reviews, this is the only one I have...