P,F. Chang's China Bistro

Hi,
The Freehold mall here in New mJersey is getting a P.F/ Chang's China Bistro. I heard it's a chain. Can any body tell me how good it is..what kind of chinese do they serve...and is it worth the trip?
Lee

Lee,
I have heard both great and ugly stories about PF Chang's. I like it, for a chain, except for the prices.

I always get the lettuce wraps. (Cheesecake Factory has a similar item but nowhere near as good).

Hope that helps... it's a start anyway.

They are a chain.

They are boisterous places with "valid" Chinese food ... everybody flips for their lettuce wraps ... but, if you really take a minit to look at the food you see quite a bit of grease.

I've noticed they usually wind up near Z Tejas (Mexican/Texan) locations ... Of the two, I favor Z's.

We never actually ate there because we waited about 2 hours (they told us the wait would be an hour or so) for a table and finally decided to go to the cheesecake factory which was empty. Well we waited there about 40 minutes, then finally ended up at a diner. We didn't mind the wait because it's in a mall(The Source on LI), with stuff to do while we waited, but they seemed to seat people who had bigger parties then us first. We were 6 people and they kept seating tables of 8 first. If I remember correctly the menu was kind of upscale chinese food and I think the prices were kind of high. We were going there for a birthday celebration. I like our Chinese Buffet and the local take out just fine.

Lee-
Try this recent thread:

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19791

I think Greymo summed it up pretty well:
'Going to PF Changs and calling it Chinese is like eating Wonder Bread and calling it "real bread"!'

That said, if I were in a region with not-so-good Chinese food and there were a PF Chang's around I'd probably be a regular. It's kind of the same reason I can understand my In-Laws in Arizona liking Red Lobster. But there's no excuse other than the laziness of diners for PF Chang's to be popular in downtown Boston, and I'd be surprised if Freehold were much different.

If you have a local place you like, stick with it.

i was there for lunch the other day and we ordered the Northern Ribs as an appetizer. I have to say they were pretty good! Served dry(no sauce) with some spice mixture served on the side to sprinkle.

I would get them again.

The food (at least here in AZ) is pretty good, but you pay for it.

My vote for best Chinese in Phoenix would be the Golden Buddha at the Chinese Cultural Center.

http://www.phxchinatown.com/gbphx/index.htm

DD

DD-
Wasn't the first P.F. Chang's in Scottsdale?

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

DD-
Wasn't the first P.F. Chang's in Scottsdale?

I think you are right. I know their corporate offices are here. They also own Pei Wei...order at a counter, sit down and they bring it to you kind of place.

DD-
I ate at a Pei Wei in Tucson on the campus of U of Arizona. Not too bad, but nothing special. I did't know PF Chang's owned them.

quote:

Originally posted by wheregreggeats.com

They are a chain.

They are boisterous places with "valid" Chinese food ... everybody flips for their lettuce wraps ... but, if you really take a minit to look at the food you see quite a bit of grease.

I agree with this. When I worked @ American Cancer Society, the manager of our area took us all there for lunch as a treat. The Mongolian Beef was great, but a little greasy. The lettuce wraps were meh. I guess I would ask them to use minimal oil to prepare your food.

I ate at the one in theAlamo Quarry Markplace.It wasn't bad,but very noisy inside.I haven't been back,mainly because I can get lunch at one of the local Chinese places cheaper.
They are opening up a Pei Wei in the Lincoln Heights Plaza,which I might try sometime.
Never heard of ZTejas.
The Alamo Quarry Marketplace used to be that,an old quarry and part of the little town of Cementville,which was a town built for the workers.There is a Borders,Joe's Crab Shack,Regal Cinema,etc there.Even a Whole Foods. You can see inside the move theatre this huge engine,which they built the theatre around.It would have cost a fortune to move,so they just painted it and left it there.
The old smoke stacks are there and they spell out the name of the marketplace.The MarketPlace has a website,and is a pretty unique place for San Antonio.

There is authentic Chinese food almost everywhere in the USA, or at least one variation of it. Any city that can support a P.F. Chang's has numerous places with authentic food. I am originally from the south, and there were always Chinese, Thai, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants in Memphis, Tennessee, a place not known for it's Asian population. And these places are in the strip malls in outer suburbia next to the Wal Mart and the Borders Book Store.and these places are ran by real people from the representitve culture, better and even cheaper than Brinker food. I remember living in Jackson, Mississippi where there was an "On the Border" restaurant, when there were TWO good authentic Mexican restauants within three blocks and another place ran by Nicaraguans who made everything from scratch. Jackson also had numerous Chinese restaurants ran by immigrant Chinese themselves. This is JACKSON MISSISSIPPI, not San Francisco or New York here. Real food is everywhere.

America has such a melting pot culture, I do not understand why people would eat in these homoginized Brinker type restauarant concepts that is not served or prepared by the culture represented, especially when better places are literally within walking distance.

Senor

I'd been hearing for years from friends in other places how good PF Changs was. To die for, from the way they carried on about it. Finally got to try it when I visited family in Illinois last year. It was okay, but nowhere near lived up to the hype. Give me any locally owned Chines restaurant any day! And compared to the places in the various Chinatowns in different cities I've eaten in, it's comparing dog food to filet mignon.

There will be one soon in Myrtle Beach....
Along with all the other chains.....
-----------------------------------
It will be in a new "concept living village", called Market Commons/
http://www.mccafferyinterests.com/content/current/tmc-mb.htm

We went to the PF Chang's at the Mall of Georgia and were soundly disappointed on just about all levels.

The server was aggressively pushing appetizers on us--it was clearly company policy that he do so, so we were put off at the get-go.

The food itself was nothing outstanding and the wine prices were pretty steep, especially considering this was a chain.

Chang's is basically an Asian fern bar-class restaurant with pretensions above its station. One visit was enough for me.

I have eaten at PF Chang's once, in Ohio. It was good from what I remember, although I recall the restaurant clatter unusually loud.

They are opening at the mall across the street from where I work, so I look forward to trying it again.

--Jessica

The last time I went to the neighborhood PFC's {I only get the stir-fried asparagus, when 'forced' to go}, they were PUSHING desserts. They had a huge dessert display that a woman brought to the table. She told us that it was her job alone to push desserts and she made a percentage on the desserts she sold. OK, she didn't say it exactly that way, and I'm sure she makes an hourly wage, but that was her job.

Personally, I think this is bad business practice, and I would never work on commission, pushing desserts for any restaurant, much less a corporate one.