This restaurant has been reported as permanently closed. Click here if it has reopened.
Monday:Closed
Tuesday:Closed
Wednesday:Closed
Thursday:Closed
Friday:Closed
Saturday:Closed
Sunday:Closed
Delivery
No
Payment
Accepts Credit Cards
Parking
Good for Kids
Attire
Casual
Alcohol
Reservations
Cuisines:
Vietnamese
Price Point
$$
$ - Cheap Eats (Under $10)
$$ - Moderate ($11-$25)
$$$ - Expensive ($25-$50)
$$$$ - Very Pricey (Over $50)
WiFi
No
Outdoor Seats
*This restaurant has closed. If this restaurant is open or has reopened, just let us know.
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04/03/2011 - Aly
Let me start by saying a few things:
-I am going to sound very bitter with this review but it is wholly justified
-My friends and I used to eat at Phonatics approximately 2-4 times a week.
-I own a restaurant and many other businesses; employing at least 25 employees.
-I already expect terrible service at most Vietnamese restaurants, so I eat here with very low expectations.
-During the week (DAYTIME ONLY) - the shorter lady server - she is great; always smiling and trying to be helpful.
We have had the following experiences at phonatics:
-We arrived once at 7:45pm without looking at the closing time. We ordered our food and received it in a timely manner. At 7:55, the waitress came to our table and informed us they would be closing at at 8pm. Sure, we thought that meant they wouldn't be taking anymore orders. We were wrong. At 8pm the owner or manager comes to our table and says its 8pm, we're closed now. He just stands there at our table waiting for us to leave. Ok, that's fine - we'll give Phonatics another chance because we love the food and the server working during the weekDAYtime.
Final straw: We went in on a Sunday afternoon to have some food. We typically order spring rolls, veggie spring rolls, green onion cakes, Pho & a few vermicelli bowls. This time was no different - we ordered the same things as usual. The female server working on the weekends is absolutely terrible. Extremely rude. I never see her smile or even try to be friendly.
So we get our appetizers. I try the veggie spring rolls (I usually love them)and something tastes weird this time. I thought it was just in my mouth so I kept eating. Then my brother and my friend both take it out of their mouths and say "what the hell is that taste? this is disgusting" . At that point I realize it's not just me. So we call the server over and let her know about the spring rolls. She just looks at us like 'so?' so we tell her we're not paying for them they taste really bad. She gives us this look and grabs the spring roll plate and takes it in the back.
Then about 5 mins later, a guy server comes out and says "I spoke with the manager he said you eat some of it you have to pay for it cuz another table order them and they have no problem" (we ate 2.5 spring rolls out of 6). At this point I'm starting to get angry. I began explaining how ridiculous that is to him, then I realize he has no say and he's just following orders. So we tell him to bring his manager out.
The best part: His manager comes out and we realize we know him! He always takes our money during the weekdays (he's working the till). So we expected he would just say "ohh its you guys, don't worry about it" were we ever wrong. He actually argued with us about the spring rolls. He said "If you ate some of them you need to pay for them. We just made them a week ago. There's nothing wrong with them" Then I explained to him about how this is TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, we always eat here, he's going to lose at least $100/week over a $6.00 plate of spring rolls. He was like "fine I'll take them back this time, but you guys need to understand if you order a plate of food you have to pay for it next time no matter what"
I was like "I own a restaurant and I know how they should be run. I know what customer service is. Don't ever tell me to pay for food that tastes like garbage. We're never going to come back here. I'm going to make sure everyone hears about your customer service"
So please take my advice: the food usually tastes pretty good, but the service is horrendous, even for a Vietnamese restaurant. I will never give them any business and I hope you don't either...
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