Soup Shop — Restaurant in South Gate

the food here is good, and honestly the only reason i even come is for a few certain items on the menu. but even then, every time i come here i feel uncomfortable because the service never changes or improves. it was like this before, but this time it felt even worse.

from the moment we walked in, the staff gave off a negative vibe. they were more focused on gossiping with each other than helping customers, and they get easily distracted. it honestly felt like they didn’t want to be there. there were at least 5 servers working, and every single one of them acted the same way. not one person stood out or tried to be friendly, welcoming, or attentive.

when we were seated, the table was wiped down with a wet rag, but they didn’t bother to dry it, so it was left completely wet. we had to sit at a damp table, which felt careless and unsanitary. once our food came, no one came back to check on us at all. no refills, no napkins, no asking if we needed anything. it felt like the second we got our food, we were ignored.

overall, the service is the biggest issue here. the staff lack customer service skills, and it really makes the whole experience unpleasant. there are plenty of other vietnamese restaurants in the area with food just as good, but with staff who are actually friendly and attentive. sadly, this place continues to fall short, and it’s gotten worse over time...

The most important thing is the food, right? So, my friend had a Chicken curry plate which was quite good and the portions were great. The curry had peas and I think carrots? The cream sauce was quite good and very nice flavor and not too thin are thick was the curry. Indeed a very generous amount of chicken. I had the Rib Pho, which came with 3 ribs which was nice, places I have been too in the past was only 2. Two out of the three had a nice amount of meat on there and tender. The noodles at the bottom were nicely cooked but the broth though it was tasty was too salty. I love salt and use at home sea salt and even sprinkle some on hard boiled eggs and tomatoes and watermelon, so I am used to salt. So people who don't use as much salt as I do would be a bit shocked tasting the broth. Maybe it was a one day and off, whoever the cook was just put in a bit too much salt this last Saturday. We were there in the afternoon. The service was fine, it's not a very big place so you get a bit too much of hearing what your neighbor is saying and of course the crying little angels can carry even in a large restaurant :( There were two "precious little ones" who needed to express themselves :( But no fault to the restaurant, luck of the draw. I certainly recommend this place! Cheers,...

This was about to be a one-star review, until Noemi stepped in. I had placed my order at 3:30 PM for a 6:15 PM pick-up as I am a student and am on a strict schedule on Thursdays. I arrived at the soup shop around 6:30 PM after receiving the notification from Yelp stating my order was ready. When I arrived, I was told my order wasn't ready yet. I waited 10 minutes and was told by another employee it got "lost in the system" and had to be made, and that it would be another 25 minutes. I had asked to speak to a manager and was directed to the lead Noemi. After telling her what happened, she quickly turned everything around with her amazing customer service! She sympathized with me, apologized for the wait, and more importantly, made me feel like she actually cared about my issue. I came to understand her side as the restaurant was completely understaffed and working as hard as they could. One thing Noemi said to me in our conversation was that she "had to have her employees back". In having that kind of dedication to her team while maintaining top notch customer service by disarming the situation, Soup Shop has earned 5 stars from me. Of course the food is super good, but the level of customer service shown by Noemi will keep me coming...