Shanghai Flavor Shop — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

Short version -- I have visited here many many times for years but seems worse and worse recently.

+1 with some other reviewers, food might be good, but be ready to ruin your day (service)! I'm just another pissed-off ex-loyal customer and will NEVER come again. I know a few other good Shanghai style restaurants around the valley.

BTW, the price goes higher and higher but the stuff in the soup is less and less -- another way to save the cost in year 2018 ???

Long version -- The pan fried pork bun (生煎包) might be a highlight as other reviewers mentioned. But, but, probably as the operation cost goes up , now they will NOT ACCEPT your tip (cash only. They will remind you and double-check after you order the food) if the tip is less than 10% of the AFTER-tax total -- they will not provide any break-down of the price (no price for each dish you ordered, no price for pre-tax subtotal, only the handwritten after-tax total on the bill) -- even if the tip is great than 10% of PRE-tax subtotal (given 9% sales tax rate at this moment), which is the right base to calculate the tip -- they will now REJECT your tip and tell you "sorry it's less than 10%". What I cannot understand is -- if you do not use the right way to calculate the tip, how can you blame your customer? Just use the AFTER-tax total to fool the customer??? Ridiculous! The first time to have such experience in the U.S. Okay, my example: subtotal 12.5 + 9% tax = 13.65 total on bill, I gave $15 cash at first (no $1 in my wallet). You can do the math. I gave $5 tip eventually (40% of pre-tax subtotal) to please them this time (no $1 in my wallet) but I will NEVER come again.

BTW, the table next to me was also told the same thing -- so obviously I'm not alone here.

If not for the bun, how can a restaurant with such service survive here? But as they start to argue for the tip in this way, hard to image the quality of meat used in the bun -- another reason not...

Updated: bad service so we left 10% tips. The male server threw the tips money into the dirty bowl and shouted at my face that "the tips is too little, don't come dine in next time".

Food: plates and silverwares getting dirtier over the past couple years I dined here.

My go to place for Shanghainese pan fried bun (生煎包). $7/6 pieces. Super juicy. You need to eat the right way and try not to burn your tongue :D

The shredded pork & noodle with green onion sauce (葱油肉丝版面) is not bad either, good flavor, slim on the meat side though.

The restaurant itself is kinda hole in the wall place. Definitely doesn't look clean lol. The service can be off if you go right before they close.

Sorry, I never really got a chance to take pictures of the buns because we just cannot wait when those...

I’ve been coming here for over a decade. Since moving to New York, I still miss just this place, the Palo Alto tofu house, and Garden Fresh. I think some of the bad reviews are forgetting - they’re a hole in the wall, they operate on small margins in a city that exploded.

We’re not entitled to delicious, cheap, fast food with amazing service. Restaurants went through hell in covid, and service staff is clearly very difficult to hire in this area these days, I see help wanted signs everywhere. The people they have are almost certainly slammed at any given time. It’s unfortunate the food didn’t deliver for some people, perhaps they missed sometimes in training. But my food was as good as ever this time (🤤) and the front desk girl was plenty polite.

They are take...