Special Noodle — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

Only went to this establishment due to seeing it online. I was excited for the food and the new experience this would bring, little did I know this would become my worst experience of my life in a restaurant. When we got there we were pointed to a table and vaguely assisted to how to order food. We were waiting before we were assisted in ordering. As we were viewing the menu a few of the workers were staring and murmuring in our direction. As we kept viewing the menu the more intense their stares became and made us uncomfortable. Then the manger came to our table and verified we were ordering, this made me confused because it had not been long since we were informed how to order. How he approached us was intimating and very intrusive in our personal space. Before he asked anything about ordering he decided to take it upon himself to look at our phone to insure we were even or sing. I know this because he commented “ooo you are ordering”. This was was very uncomfortable due to being judged just because I hesitate to decide what to get since everything looked delicious. After ordering I asked a worker a question about mistakenly combining my order with my friend. At that time I didn’t understand how the ordering system worked. The worker was quick to dismiss my concern and was rude about it. He made it seem like it was common knowledge and asked a dumb question. Keep in mind this was my first time there so I was really in aware of the whole process. As we dined the workers kept staring in our direction and murmuring like they did when we arrived. This was making me very self conscious, but I didn’t want to let that ruin my new experience here. Towards the end of our meal I decided to go pay in cash since that is what we had. When I was paying I gave an extra 20 to have change for tipping. As I was waiting for my change to be broken into two tens, the worker was acting sketchy. He was not responsive when I asked for the amount of the 20 I asked to be broken and my change from the total amount.(he tried to keep the whole amount of what was given and tried to play me in my face) it took me a while before he gave me back the change that corresponded to me. (but he was still not compliant with giving me my cents) I decided to give up on claiming the cents and just let it go in order to leave from this place as soon as possible. Me and my friend cleaned the table and arranged the dishes in order for them to have a swift clean up. As we were doing this 3 of the workers were staring at us in a weird way. They look as they were waiting to act. When we moved all the dishes to the edge of the table for easier access, one of the workers threw some napkins infront of me. His actions seemed like he intended for my friend and I to wipe the table. At this point I was very irritated with their actions towards us and got up to leave. As I was trying to leave a worker approached us and said in a high tone that we forgot to tip. Taking his prior actions to mind I decided he should not receive a tip for trying to short me of my change. My intentions prior were fully to tip the workers but when they to pull a fast one on me and made this whole situation unbearable till the end, I decided not to. At this point people were saying and I told him I had already paid the bill, but he quickly cut me off and brought up the 20 dollar bill I asked him to change.(hinting that I had change to tip.) He also kinda mentioned he had changed the money thinking I would tip. As I told him that that was not the situation due to his actions towards us. He then stepped closer to us, this also lead to 2 other workers cornering us. At this point I didn’t know what to do, I was in a panic due to the confrontation of not tipping. I felt my heart heavy and the sensation I would not be able to leave the restaurant without tipping. I left a tip and he quickly said thank you and made space for me to exit. This was my worst experience in a restaurant and I have never felt so harassed and humiliated in my life. I never thought I would feel so...

Let me be clear, the food here is delicious. It's the other things that got to me tonight. My husband and I have been coming here since it opened in its most recent incarnation. While the prices are higher than average for local Chinese food, its worth it, usually. My experience tonight made me wonder if the food is worth it. Soon after we seated ourselves, a back door slammed and the entire dining room filled with the smell of cigarette smoke. This has happened before but I thought it was a fluke. They need to tell their employees to smoke elsewhere. Not appetizing. There was a pesky fly buzzing around our table. Also, not the first time. Do they have problems with garbage and cleanliness? I could smell the bathrooms from our table that bordered Ocean St. Not appetizing. Parking is a nightmare. According to the electronic sign in the window, if the lot is full you can park across the street. In the hotel parking lot? Be safe crossing Ocean St. While the people we did interact with were pleasant, the only actual service we got was when we were brought water and table settings, and then when our food was brought out. Nobody cleared our plates, nobody offered to-go boxes. Difficult to justify a 15-20% tip when you're swimming in empty plates and you have to box your own leftovers.

Suggestions for the manager: *tell your employees to smoke elsewhere *clean the bathroom more often *get rid of the flies, do some deep cleaning *have employees monitor tables and ask patrons if they would like any plates cleared while they're dining to reduce clutter and make patrons more comfortable while finishing their food.

I like the QR code ordering style but substituting it for all service makes for an impersonal and empty...

I don't quite understand when a guy sitting next to us and told his family " this is the best restaurant at Santa Cruz". It is true that there's some lack of good dining options at Santa Cruz but this place is far away from the "best" at any perspective.

(P.S. Based on the reply from the restaurant owner in below, as expected, such a typical Chinese restaurant owner, a narrow-minded operator, cannot stand any objections and non-five-star reviews.) Be careful with other reviews, have to question whether they are authentic or they are paid to review nicely.

Reply to the owner: thank you for pointing out, I forgot to mention that, your food is never cheap, compared to the quality that you present. You are shaming yourself when comparing to a Michelin starred standard. Mopping your floor first before talking about food. Also, kind advice: please practice your grammar in case that you would like to defend yourself against other critical reviews.

Food: admittedly, the food is never "Panda Express" style. But you can easily find a dozens of places with better Chinese food in Santa Clara.

Service: the service is not poor but let's say it barely exists. The floor is pretty slippery with thick oil --- that is a must-have and fit the checkbox of an authentic Chinese restaurant.

Atmosphere: I find one reason that many non-Asians are attracted to this place is because they indeed paid attention to tableware. BUT, AGAIN, the cleanness is another story, which they should pay more attention to.

Value: definitely not cheap, you should expect...