Pei Wei Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Sarasota

Do not order for delivery (or takeout without checking your order)!

I love Pei Wei and while on bedrest have been craving it. Decided to order delivery for lunch today.

WHAT A MISTAKE AND DISAPPOINTMENT....

2/3 meals we ordered were a joke.

Kid's meal had a piece of broccoli, a few carrots, and 1 piece of chicken with a scrap piece of chicken. The rest was noodles. It wasn't even the correct chicken/ or sauce either. This meal did arrive busted with sauce and food on everything else .

Adult entree - disappointed, but my fault, for not realizing their lo mein is literally noodles and nothing more. I also chose to add veggies, but for whatever reason only "add veggies" went through without my actual selection, seems to be a system lapse. I chose broccoli but again, on the ticket only came up add veggies.. no charge just super disappointing the system didn't leave my order as intended.. I should have noticed. Just a heads up for anyone. The biggest problem with the entree however was the small handful of orange chicken. I have tiny hands and it literally wouldn't have filled one hand with the amount of chicken I got in the regular size entree. It was filled to the rim with overcooked noodles and that sad portion of chicken.

The other meal was okay, thankfully.

I was just really sad about the whole thing and guess I won't be having Pei Wei til I can go in person to make sure things are done right and not getting ripped off.

Didn't bother to contact them at the time as we were just really hungry and it was soon going to be my son's nap time. I can't speak to their conflict resolution...

We used to love this place. Used to. At the end of a trip out of town (January 2019) we realized we had nothing to eat at home but were going to be driving right past. My son found the phone number and about 30 minutes away called to place our order. 30 minutes later they still hadn't picked up. We pulled in, got in line, then I also dialed the number. We waited until we got to the front of the line (20 more minutes), placed our order and asked to see the manager, both of us still on the phone. When she arrived she stated they "don't answer the phone during busy times" like lunch & dinner. (Why offer that way to order if you're not going to answer?) The woman behind us, who was in the same situation, found this answer to be just as mind-numbingly flabbergasting as we did. When I turned to her and expressed our joint frustration with an expletive the manager took huge, albeit pretend, offense at having heard such terminology then promptly cancelled our order and impolitely informed us we were not welcome if we were going to use such language in her store. My son contacted Pei Wei corporate via Twitter and got a $5 coupon. Whoo hoo. Cannot imagine going back to this location ever but possibly others. Maybe. Eventually. In a few years. In the meantime, there are plenty of other Asian restaurants nearby.

Apparently the owner doesn't wish to respond to this review. (June 2019)

February 2021 and still no response from the ownership or corporate. That is some horrendous customer service. Well, I'm happy to support...

I have no idea what restaurant the rest of these people were eating in... but we were there this evening and oh. my. The food lacked any sort of unique flavor. We order: Crab Wontons Pork Egg rolls Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice Bowl Sesame Chicken Entree

The egg rolls came out first, and I was excited when I took a bite and they were fabulous. It was the perfect mix of a spring roll and a pork egg roll, I loved the flavor, but that was the last decent bite we had that meal. The crab wontons are served on a plate that the entire bottom is coated with a sweet and ultra spicy chili sauce.

My husband ate the Teriyaki Shrimp Rice Bowl and I had Sesame Chicken. We each tasted each others, and there was no difference in the taste. Every bite had an overwhelming flavor of butane, and before I even had time to finish my meal, I had to go to the bathroom because my stomach was so upset. Everything was too spicy for my daughter to even touch, we ended up driving across the street to Wendy's to get her something to eat.

The only positive thing I can say besides the egg rolls, is the service was fantastic. Everyone was really pleasant, quick and attentive. The manager came over to check on us and played with our daughter for a minute, before returning to work.

I truly hope this was a one time experience, since so many others have rated this restaurant so well, but I don't know if I can risk eating here again. It was a $40 meal that just made me sick for the rest...