Tao Tao — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

After reading so many wonderful reviews, I was really looking forward to trying this place out for the the first time. Supposedly this was a “hidden gem” that people raved about, and I wanted to make this my new go-to Chinese food restaurant. Sadly, that was not the case and I left feeling very disappointed, embarrassed, and upset.

After I finished my shopping at Target, I walked over to Tao Tao and wanted to try so many new things. However, when I came inside and asked to see a menu, I was shocked at the high prices that were not reflected in the Yelp menu. $16 for a small Chinese chicken salad? $24 just for walnut prawns alone? I asked the Asian man who stood next to the counter if I could see the lunch menu instead. “I might come back here for lunch sometime so do you have a lunch menu I could see?” Both the Asian lady behind the counter and the man looked annoyed, as if I was wasting their time and never going to order. The man first grunted reluctantly, “No,” and then took a few steps behind the counter to pull out a lunch menu. The prices were only a couple of dollars cheaper for lunch. Both their eyes glared at me and I could sense their impatience for me to quickly order something, even though no one was behind me and the place was practically empty. The atmosphere was definitely unpleasant. Just to escape the rising tension, I decided to order the $16 Chinese chicken salad to go. I handed the lady a $20 bill that I got as change from Target earlier. She carefully inspected it, first rubbing it with her fingers, then holding it up to the light for 20 seconds, and finally she called over the Asian man. They both spoke in mandarin back and forth in an agitated tone for quite awhile, and by this point I was feeling pretty embarrassed. I had no idea what was going on. Then she turned to me and said, “This is no good. It’s not real.” I was shocked and reached out to feel the $20 bill that felt and looked just like a normal bill. Then she brought out a marker and dashed a brown line through it 4 different times emphatically proving her point. I explained I just got this $20 bill as change from Target 10 minutes ago and that I planned to go immediately back to Target to report this to the manager and get my money back (which I successfully did!). But now I felt they were looking at me like I was a criminal and didn’t believe a word I said. I immediately paid them with new bills, wished them a good day, and left with the salad. Their attitude had already been unpleasant when I just asked to look at a menu, so you can imagine the uncomfortable atmosphere after I unintentionally gave them a counterfeit $20.

Overall, I felt the whole situation from start to finish could have been handled much better so that a brand new customer doesn’t leave feeling unwelcome and embarrassed. Yes, when I got home the chicken salad was tasty, but was it worth that kind of...

If I could give them NO stars, I would. I was horrified by our treatment. The waiter was rude and very condescending. We kept having to ask for things. We had a small child with us and the waiter continued to question our requests and giving us what he felt we needed and not what was asked for. YES we want Chop Sticks for the child, YES we want a normal sized plate for the child.. and OH yes, 3 times asking for water. Got it AFTER we were finished! for the CHILD! The CHILD is a small person who knows how to use CHOPSTICKS! This was my first time there and will be my last. The ONLY thing I thought was decent enough to eat was the Chicken Salad. Admittedly it was quite good HOWEVER, the pineapple chicken - WE WERE ABLE to pick through and FIND some chicken as it was MOSTLY red colored PINEAPPLE with RED COLORED sauce. The Beef tasted more like FRIED FAT and the TAO TAO SPECIAL CHOW MEIN - NOT SPECIAL AT ALL IN FACT.... It was so greasy and the noodles were so thick - PROBABLY from being so FAT SOAKED. MY 14 year old son said the Calamari starter was REALLY GOOD! Then at the end I was so psychologically traumatized by the tall man who brought my VISA GIFT CARD back to me and YELLED at me in front of my entire family and the ENTIRE RESTAURANT turned their heads and stopped talking in SHOCK as I was BERATED BEYOND COMPREHENSION for using the gift card and in front of the ENTIRE restaurant WE ALL learned that he could only charge $80 on the gift card as you had to leave 20% for the tip, despite the FACT I also provided MY VISA card to put the rest on. I was so horrified that I was unable to sleep without nightmares. I am a SERVICE CONNECTED disabled VETERAN who suffers from PTSD. THANKS to people like this, my disorder was brought to the forefront. I WILL NEVER BE BACK. I left an APPROPRIATE TIP! and here is my advise - if you treat people bad they will not support you no matter what! In this day we live in its better to treat people with respect and even if your food isn't the greatest they will come back for the fast and courteous and RESPECTFUL service - you will find NONE of this at TAO TAO!.....

This time was better than the last time. Look like The Chicken Salad still needed the hot mustard and the Tao Tao Beef was still missing the sesame seeds. We ordered the dinner for 6, eventhough there were just 4 of us, and it was almost perfect. We had just enough for left overs at home except for the Shrimp as (my daughter and I ate all 12 of them) and the Tao Tao Beef there were just a couple pieced that made a half way decent snack about for one person to eat at home. Considering that we ordered food for 2 extra people, we thought we would have more by way of left overs. So still small portion for the price, at least for their signature beef dish. Yet we keep coming back because the TaoTao Beef is so good! It's tender and tasty. One of my daughters really loves the potstickers; The perfect amount of pork filling to the doughy wrapper and they were fried on two sides instead of the usual one. Again, tasty! Service is always very professional, almost to the point of being non-friendly; but the are very prompt with food and refilling my water glass (very important!) and making sure we don't run out of tea. Parking is another sore spot for all the restaurants in that area. The lot behind the restaurant is always crowded and almost always full. The restaurant does not have a private lot. And no street parking due to Covid; all street parking cut off to a lot of the restaurants putting up tents to accommodate dinners with outside...