King's Thai Cuisine #2 — Restaurant in San Francisco

First, sorry I don't have any photos, and I know most viewers read only the reviews if there are photos, but I wasn't thinking of doing a review when we got there to eat, we were just hungry and wanted to take it easy and have a pleasant exchange with someone pleasant. I'll also admit, it was around 1:45pm Sunday April 9 when hosts and waitress have already used up their energy for the lunch hour, I know, I used to work in a restaurant when I was young......but still. Food was decent, at least not unbearable, and I probably am not a Vietnamese food connoisseur, so all restaurants start with a 4 star from me and where that goes, whether up or down depends on whether the food knocked my socks off, but equally and maybe even more importantly is the service. Again, we arrived at around 1:45pm on a Sunday, there were 3 of us. We stood at the front waiting for someone to sit us, there was a guy at the back (and I say back generously since the back was only about 25 feet from the front, a typical Clement St restaurant lot). He looked like the host and also looked like the owner of the restaurant, but he looked preoccupied with socializing with a girl waiting for a takeout order....NOT good. We waited a few minutes, there were only one 7 people group and another single person table eating at the restaurant, but still we waited, that dude at the back didn't bat an eye when we came in. I can see the cooking/washing area through a opening in the back where there were others working, maybe even a waitress, but still we waited. Finally we decided to sit at an open table, maybe the place was a sit "wherever you want" restaurant, no waiting for a host to sit you? don't know. But we sat for another few long minutes while the dude at the back continue to talk to that person who again seems to only be waiting for her take out. I looked anxiously for someone to wait on us a few minutes longer until finally a girl emerged from the back, but she didn't look around to find us sitting and waiting, I had to catch her eye and wave her down while that dude in the back (again looking like the actual host and owner, continued chatting with what seemed to again be some girl waiting for her take out).....again NOT good! Anyhow, the girl I waved down finally came over and gave us our menu with an unpleasant look on her face, and no spoken word. I made some pleasant small talk, but she didn't seem interested. I don't really blame her, I blame mostly the dude in the back who looked like the obvious host and the obvious owner who continued to just talk to the girl waiting for her take out. Add to that the fact I noticed on the way in, there was a sign saying "waitress wanted", LOL, but sad and true! I spoke pleasantly with the waitress every time she came around and eventually she too gave out a smile with her words. ...but herein lays the problem, it doesn't take an Einstein of restaurants to see where this review is going, service is non existent except for the obligatory serving, no more, and a lot less! Again, I blame the owner whom may likely be the dude in the back doing nothing to make his customer(s) want to eat in the restaurant, but finding it more important to do nothing but socialize with someone who was just waiting for her take out.....at least that was what the obvious vibe gave out. The waitress looked more like, as they say, a victim of circumstance! ......and for that, regardless of where the food star rating starts as my default (4) and where it may end depending on my thought on the food, the service (or lack thereof) easily knocked that default star...

Overall: Great Thai restaurant in San Francisco. Tough parking and gets crowded during dinner time. You get a lot of food for the price you pay.

Food: The Pad-z-ew was delicious. It is basically pad-see-ew. They don't over/under cook it here.

Just to give you a heads up, the soup bowl is humongous. It's big as a head. Tom Kha soup mostly taste like coconut. It taste refreshing and slightly sweet. I wouldn't see myself eating it often. The Tom Yum soup is the better flavor of the soup and has a slight kick.

The green curry is sweet, but I prefer the yellow curry. You can't go wrong with either or. Always use the chicken as the source of meat. The beef, pork, and seafood will alter the taste.

The sticky rice with mango dessert is delicious. Worth getting after your main course.

Drink: The lychee tea is delicious and comes with actual lychee! It's like getting the drink at a milk tea spot. Worth a try.

Service: Our waitress was nice. She was quick to help us on everything. Majority of our food came out quick except the soup. It felt like they forgot our soup. They didn't apologized or asked if we still wanted it. That was the only gripe I had with this place.

Ambience: Very warm and loud inside. They use warm light and xmas lights with wooden furnitures. The seating area is opened with plenty of seats. When you are inside, you don't even feel like you are on Clement street.

Parking: Horrible. You are fighting for parking with the neighborhood and shops around it. This place is in dire need of some parking structure. Good luck on finding a parking spot. I would recommend ubering or Lyft...

I had a disappointing experience that highlights how poor service recovery can overshadow good food. I ordered a vegetarian dish that arrived promptly and tasted delicious. However, halfway through my meal, I realized it wasn’t what I had ordered.

When I brought this to my server’s attention, she quickly confirmed that she had entered the wrong order. She was apologetic and offered to prepare the correct dish to go, which I appreciated.

Unfortunately, the manager’s response completely undermined the server’s effort to make things right. When the check arrived, I was charged for both dishes. After explaining the situation, the manager’s initial solution was to charge me for “half” of the incorrect meal because I had eaten some of it. His reasoning? I “should have noticed earlier because eggplant is purple.”

While he eventually removed the charge for the wrong dish, his parting comment was telling: “I’ll do it for you this time…” as if he were doing me a personal favor rather than correcting his restaurant’s mistake.

This response shows a fundamental misunderstanding of customer service. Mistakes happen, but how a restaurant handles them reveals their true character. Making a customer feel like they should be grateful for not being charged for the restaurant’s error, while suggesting it’s somehow the customer’s fault for not immediately identifying an ingredient, is unacceptable.

The food was good, but I won’t be returning due to management’s poor handling of a simple mistake that could have been easily...