PF Changs

What they advertise on the internet: The goal of a PF Changs meal is to attain harmony of taste, texture, color and aroma by balancing the Chinese principles of fan and t'sai. Fan foods include rice, noodles, grains and dumplings, while vegetables, meat, poulty and seafood are t'sai foods. At PF Changes we are committed to providing you with an exceptional dining experience every time you walk through our doors. Each dish on our extensive menu is prepared to order using only the freshest and highest of quality ingredients. 233 Summit BlvdBirmingham, AL 35243Fax: 205-967-3661

Well, first off, the parking lot was packed but when is it not. Every time we ever come to the Summit shopping center, it always appears that the restaurants are busy..... but little did we know that PF Changs would be wall-to-wall with customers.

After we made it through the door, we managed to nudge ourselves closer to the bar and tackled the first two seats we saw. We ordered our drinks and figured we would be "sitting" for quite a while but much to our surprise, we were seated within about 15 minutes.

Although, there's not much small talk going on at the bar between the bartender and customers, we did manage to strike up good conversation with others sitting at the bar.

Upon being seated at our table, we were already ready to order our food, we were quite hungry but once our waitress showed up, we did allow her to go thru the "Welcome to...." and "have you ever been here before" spill. Since we already knew the routine of the different sauces, we decided to say, "No, we have never been here." Which then she instructed us on how the sauces are to be mixed and what meats/veggies they are paired with. So far, so good. Then our server said, "I will let you look over the menu for a few moments" and she left us to venture through the menu as first comers to the restaurant.

When she returned to the table to take our order, we asked for suggestions since we had "never" dined there before. Her response was, "Well, all the chicken is good and the rice. If you like spring rolls, there really good here." "Also, the Mongolian beef is good."

We, then, ask for recommendations on an appetizer. Again, we got the answer, "The spring rolls are good here, I love those."

She then stated she would give us a few more moments to review the menu and she walked away. Within about 3 minutes, we had made our decision and were ready to order. We sat. And, sat. And, sat. Finally, we asked a server that happened to be walking by, "Can you please get our server for us?" His reply was, "Who is your server?" Hmmmmmmm, I said to myself, I have no idea, she didn't introduce herself and how should I know, you work with her !!!

Finally, our server shows back up. And, instead of asking anymore questions, we ordered the Lettuce Wrap as an appetizer. We also ordered Wonton Soup for the next course and then for our main meal, we ordered Kung Pai Chicken and Mongolian Beef with a side order of Chicken Fried rice and the Spring Rolls.

Our lettuce wrap arrives and if you have never tried this dish, you must. Although, I like to think it is not so fattening because of the lettuce - I can definitely overlook the extra calories and eat this dish all by myself.

The soup arrives and in both of our opinions, it actually was not the best that we had tasted before. Maybe it was a bad night for them or just the bottom of the pot. Regardless, we did eat some of the soup but left enough still sitting on the table, that you would have thought we didn't touch it !

Next, the spring rolls arrived. Well, when I eat spring rolls, I like to enjoy them along with my meal. I said to our server, still her name unknown to us, "Oh, the spring rolls are already out??" She stated, "Oh yes, I'm sorry, I can take them back and hold them until your meal comes out."
I instantly said, "No, that's ok I don't want them just sitting back there." She apologized again and off she was.

So, we sat there with our empty cocktail glass, our soup and soup bowls and now the egg rolls while we waited on our main dishes to arrive. Approximately, 10 minutes pass and our server comes back with our main dishes.

Our soup/soup bowls are removed from the table and the waters are refilled and dinner is served. Both dishes, the chicken and beef, were large orders, we could have actually shared just one plate, but the inner pigs came out in both of us and we splurged on two dishes and just a big meal, for only two people.

We both enjoyed the Chicken and Beef dish and have no complaints with either. The chicken fried rice we ordered ended up being shrimp fried rice, which was still good but we weren't really in the mood for that but we did not bring the servers attention to this mistake. And needless to say, the spring rolls just got pushed off to the side. By the time we received our dinner, the spring rolls were cold and didn't look to tasty and we just decided to include those in our "To go" box.

Our overall experience and thoughts of PF Changs: The restaurant was packed but don't always assume the wait will be a long time. Try just going in and putting your name on the list and waiting, you might be surprised how quick they turn the tables. We received large portions of food and were not able to clean our plates and were gladly given "To go" boxes. We have no real negative complaints to speak of about PF Changs - Service could have been a bit better and we could always blame a portion of this on how busy they were. All in all, we were pleased with the food except for those little red pepper things - which took my friend 20 minutes to cool his mouth off !!! So, the next time you see a PF Changs, give it a try - You will enjoy the experience, the atmosphere and the fact that you can feed an army by just ordering two entrees.