Asian Food

The other night, we ate at Pei Wei, which I tend to like (for a chain). It was their 10-year anniversary, and everyone there had the same thing we did — a coupon for 2 entrees for $10.

They were moving people through pretty fast, and then we did the restaurant equivalent of crashing their server. All of a sudden, things just stopped, and the people before us, us, and the 5 parties after us all had to wait over an hour for our food. Nothing was coming out of the kitchen; they stopped the line of people waiting to order; time just stopped. Then suddenly we all got served and things picked back up.

I don't fault them for being overwhelmed, but along the lines of my previous post, it would have been a much more enjoyable experience if they had done something about it. Come around to talk to us and update us. Offered coupons or free apps. Given Beatrix (who was a trooper, but starting to freak out) a tour of the kitchen. Anything.

So another opportunity missed. Pei Wei, if you're reading — well, it will be awhile before I'm back there too.

HOWEVER, if you want Asian food, head immediately for Tanpopo in downtown Saint Paul. Light rail construction has really hurt their business, and they've been forced to cease lunch service already. This wonderful noodle shop is a true Twin Cities gem, and we can't afford to lose it. Plus, parking is really not as bad as it looks; there's free parking on Kellogg, the lots is only $2 ($1 evenings), and I know one un-named person who has been parking for months in the Farmer's Market lot without having to pay. Go!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Do We Mean When We Talk About Race?

Image
 (sign from a NOLA bar) Probably the world does not need another middle-aged, white, cisgender woman writing about race. But the world DOES need my daughter's take on it, and she doesn't blog, so here I am. When we first knew we were having a girl, we knew she would have blue eyes, because mine are blue-grey and Patrick's are blue-green. The genetics don't vary much on that one. Other than that, we thought, with dominant genes and some luck, that she might look like her Aunt Patrice. Which she actually does. Except for the tiny little issue that somehow my Nordic genes totally went dominant rogue and she turned out to be blonde and very light skinned. (age 1.5 in the Scow family christening dress) So since she's been old enough to communicate, she's had people confused about her racial identity. She's been told she checked the wrong box on forms, she's had teachers deny her ancestry, she's had government officials question her Global Entry, she's
Read more

New Year's Eve 2023

Image
I did not want to be laying in bed, wearing a fleece onesie and still shivering, while my husband and daughter headed out to the several wonderful NYE parties we have planned. I have a beautiful new dress that I got in Duluth for tonight, and was looking forward to the collection of friends we would be seeing. Our friend Whitney in particular is throwing the last party at her B and B, and it's breaking my heart not to go. But I feel logey and coughy, and more to the point, I have a low fever, and I don't want to mess around with possibly getting anyone sick. I'm still holding out hope that I'll miraculously feel better and the fever was a mistaken reading, but I doubt that. And I feel lucky to have 3 sets of people who want me in their lives tonight and who I don't want to get sick. As our yoga teacher Viv says, it's not like a page turns and everything is magic. You get some things that are good, and some that are not, and life is living in the middle. -- In 20
Read more

Choosing Happy

Image
This post is brought to you by a few thoughts from yesterday: First and foremost, Patrick's new book that he wrote for Beatrix for her sixteenth birthday. Available for a hot second before we leave for spring break tomorrow. The response of someone he knows on the internet, who wrote yesterday that he had decided years ago that he would never be happy (and reading his posts, he seems to be right.). It was one of the saddest things I've encountered in a long time. A friend's social media post, in which she discusses another person's comment of " I really think a sizable proportion of the population has become addicted to being angry" with the sage response of " I think a lot of them are doing it because it's more enjoyable to be angry than to be depressed." A nd we finally finished watching this season's Fargo last night. I won't give any spoilers, but it's extremely on theme with this post. So this is the deal. There's a lot on
Read more