If You Had to Go to PF Changs...

What would you order? I find myself in the unenviable position of having to go to a PF Chang's for a family event this Friday. I've never been to one before, preferring instead to eat actual Chinese food. Is there anything on the menu that is close to acceptable, or is it all sugar coated Americanized crap? Help me out here folks. I'm hoping that there is at least one hidden gem on the menu.

Steve,

My go to when posed with this same question is Szechuan Beef with brown rice and a side of spinach.

Not worth seeking out, but if your there it will do. Reminds me kind of the fried Thai beef jerkey that Aroy, TAC Quick, etc do. Also since they do technically have wok's the sauteed spinach sometimes even has a bit of wok hay.

Last note is that for a large chain they have one of the better bar set ups and I have, in the past had a good Knob Creek Manhattan or 3 to take the pain away from the dinner.

Regards,

Bourbon

Can't help you with the menu but you may want to bring a rain coat.

As large chain places go, you could actually do a lot worse than PF Chang's. The last couple of times I've gone (there's one on the way to a client where it's pretty much the only place to stop and grab a bite) I've had the Hunan style hot fish and the Chengdu spiced lamb.

None of it will make you feel like you're in Chinatown, but it's a lot better than you'd otherwise expect.

I see an Onion article waiting to be written: "Family Members Force Grumpy Foodie to Attend Dinner Party at P. F. Chang's."

I agree with jesteinf. It's been a while since I lived near a P. F. Chang's, but I don't remember ever being disappointed with the food there. My only complaint would be about the noise level.

In general, I'd say, if you have to eat Americanized Chinese food when you'd rather be eating traditional Chinese food, try out something that you wouldn't be able to get at any number of other places serving Americanized Chinese food (sweet and sour whatever, kung pao whatever, etc.).

And try to smile for the family pictures.

I remember eating a fish dish there that was quite good actually...
Miso glazed sea bass (or something along those lines....)
and there were crunchy things for appetizers.
and there were strong alcoholic drinks.
This may or may not have influenced my powers of recollection.

Agreed you could do a lot worse than PF Changs. At the sad state most run of the mill neighborhood Chinese places are, it may be better than most.
I've only eaten there a few times but I recall enjoying what I had.

stevez wrote:What would you order? I find myself in the unenviable position of having to go to a PF Chang's for a family event this Friday...

Eat a large meal two hours before. The defensive eating strategy.

If all else fails, call me--one of our guys put in time as a line cook there and may be able to offer 411 from the field.

I was told by a former manager that everything is made in house, from scratch - no pre-made sauces or marinades. So there's at least that. As others have mentioned, it could be much worse. It's serviceable Chinese. I've had much worse from "real" Chinese restaurants.

Their Shrimp Dumplings (har gow) are better than average, and their Hot and Sour Soup is actually some of the best around (you can make a meal out of the oversized “bowl” (pot?) that is served).

Chinese food cooked by Mexicans for white people. Lucky you. I hear the ginger ale is pretty decent.

The one and only time my MIL made us go to PF Changs, my biggest complaint was very loud music. Is that still the case? This was the Oak Brook location (Lombard?)

I was given a gift certificate, and went to the one in Oak Brook once. While I have no real recollection of anything being great, I do recall that nothing was bad at all. The stir fried string beans, I think, were the best thing we ordered. Lettuce wraps, from what I recall were the "it" thing according to our server, but I remember thinking "ho hum" when we tried them.
You could do worse, indeed.

The bartender was drop dead gorgeous. Not sure if that helps.

We like PF Changs.... We like the Chang's spicy chicken, crispy honey chicken, Double pan fried noodles, Mongolian beef and the Buddha's feast.
I also like the spicy green beans. I also like the chopped salad!

It's funny, I just posted on Beyond Chicagoland about a visit the Mrs. and I had at the P.F. Chang's in Guadalajara Mexico. Nothing was Tony Hu level but nothing was bad, and for a country that completely lacks in diversity of cuisine it was a godsend. And I'd agree the twice cooked noodles and Mongolian beef and hot and sour soup really hit the spot, and even the egg rolls were good. It's on the docket next time we go to Guadalajara, it's the closest American consulate to our home in Morelia. I love Mexican food, and it is quite good here from street vendors on up but when it's all you can get, P. F. Chang's is a welcome relief. It seemed to me it was better than the one in Northbrook where we went once with a gift certificate. But my judgment could be skewed.

jesteinf wrote: I've had the Hunan style hot fish and the Chengdu spiced lamb.

Years ago, my nephew LOVED the dumplings at PF Changs, so we'd be forced to go ,

the Chengdu lamb was my default dish.

Never been to PF Changs but they also operate the more down scale Pei Wei and that serves up some really bad, gloppy, omg sugary and otherwise inedible stuff (won't even call it food). I do know enough people who quite enjoy Chang's though but maybe they're on the 3 Manhattan plan too .

Their sea bass is actually quite good, in my opinion. It's consistently good at each location, with brown rice and sauteed spinach.

The only time I ever ate at a PF Chang's was at the Mayfair Mall in Milwaukee. It was the only reasonably priced restaurant in the entire city that served a vegetable.

I used to love that about Milwaukee...

Hot Fish - pretty good stuff!

If you don't go expecting actual Chinese food, the meal can be quite pleasant. The lettuce wrap appetizers are nice. As noted above, the sea bass is lovely -- nothing particularly Chinese about it, really, but an well-prepared fish dish. (I've only gone twice, with friends who love the place, and I was only disappointed the time I ordered a familiar Chinese dish. Enjoyed the steamed sea bass, however.)

Jazzfood wrote:Chinese food cooked by Mexicans for white people. Lucky you. I hear the ginger ale is pretty decent.

This should be a banner quote.

So, I survived my dinner at PF Changs. I went for a family function and we were only given a subset of the menu from which to order. Unfortunately, the lamb, singapore noodles and several other items weren't among the choices given to us. Here's what I can report:

Hot & Sour Soup - Very murky tasting, with not nearly enough vinegar to be called sour and barely a hint of white pepper punch. Very cornstarch heavy. I could only eat about three spoonfuls of this.

Lettuce "Cups" - Possibly the best thing I ate, though that's not saying much. Not nearly enough filling served to properly fill the number of lettuce cups that were served. Accompanying sauces were both meager and bland.

Salt & Pepper Shrimp - One out of three ain't bad. They were definitely shrimp, and were fresh tasting. Unfortunately, there was little to no taste of salt or pepper (or anything else) in the coating. Although ordered shell on, they were served without shells. Very disappointing on several levels, to say the least.

Sea Bass - As Cynthia pointed out, if you think of his dish as a Suburban Mall-centric creation and not something out of the Chinese food canon, this is not a bad dish. The fish was overcooked, but not too badly. The accompanying sauce was OK, if a bit on the sweet side and worked well with the spinach that was served with the fish.

In short, I was not disappointed with my visit to PF Changs because it was exactly what I expected it to be...awful. I'll not be back.