I just called to make a reservation for tonight - "I'm sorry sir but there's nothing available for the rest of this weekend." I mean OMG.

Where have you been? I called a few weeks ago and the only time they had on a Tue - Wed was at 2:30 PM. WTF? Who has time to eat at that hour?

My only other experience was at around 9pm on a Sunday night a couple of days before Christmas. Hour and a half wait.

I'm telling you - someone needs to bring a cheesecake factory down here and park it next to PF Wangs and they will make an absolute killing.

I have eaten there twice. The first time I just dropped by at lunch time with my wife. Normally, I refuse to wait at any restaurant for more than 15 minutes, but this time we waited for an hour. (Nice to be retired so that I don't hve to get back to work!) I thought that I would take my Mother-in-Law to eat there for her birthday and called for a reservation two days in advance. They only had one at 5:00 and one at 10:00.

I do believe that this PF Changs is smaller than the one in the Arboretium in Austin. However, I think that the issue is they will only take a few reservations an evening. That doesn't mean they are booked, it just means they don't like reservations.

Frankly, I don't think any place is worth waiting for an hour. I have decided to forego eating at PF Changs. You can walk into the one in Austin when you are there and not have to wait. We have plenty of good places in McAllen without putting up with the wait. If you want Chinese, the food at Dai Tung is pretty good, including no wait and reasonable prices.

If you want it, you can have my place in line at PF Changs.

I will eat at this mythical place some day in the future - when I remember to book reservations a week in advance.

That is a fact. It is one of their smaller concept stores. They have admitted to undervaluing the market. I have heard that they are already looking to expand into the booming north McAllen area.

To get a decent reservation time, you need to make one about a week in advance, or be willing to eat on a Tuesday at 3:30 PM.

I dont think it is worth waiting for.

Last night, we were going to go there, but didnt want to wait for 1-2 hrs.

So, we settled for a $50 french fry buffet!!!

Some places bring out the chips first, others bring out the bread/rolls. This place brings out the french fries. And its the fries you can eat.

Its called Red Robin or something like that.
We got a table quick and the food came out fast.
Burgers, sandwiches with endless fries for
$43.50 plus $6.50 tip. Not bad, huh?

If that was for two people no it's not very good.

We eat at RR's once a week for lunch. I've always enjoyed their salads. Good place.

Tried that habashyi or something place last night....good stuff.

Matsui

I was thinking about eating there (how ever you spell it). What were the prices like?

We called ahead 3 hours over the holidays and had no problem. The place is small, Im not sure what they were thinking. The meal was great and our waiter comp'ed us an entree probably due to the staff's mistake. Over all. Ubercool sophisticated mexican clientele = idiots.

plates are between 12-18. $40-$50 with food, drinks, and tips/etc.

Sounds like it is worth a try.

I have tried Shogun a couple of times but it is old and all the cooking in the dining room has discolored the walls and seems to leave a coating of grease all over everything. I wasn't real impressed.

Maybe this will be a good alternative. We'll try it next week. This week I will be in the "shadow of the evil empire" 300 miles to the north. I'll think of you guys while I am eating at the Cheesecake Factory at the Arboretium.

It goes along with the perception of the valley. These chains are afraid to come down here and when they do they "scale back" just to regret it later.

It's kinda like Lexus refusing to come down here so far. I think Frank Smith is gonna get a dealership in their new place and I bet it's immediately a top 5 national seller per square foot for them.

Seriously guys..I'm from Corpus and now live in Houston. Just be glad restaurants there still take reservations. Not heard of in a lot of places here. We have 3 PF's close to me and the wait is ALWAYS 1.5 to 2 hours...so I don't eat there...BUT their take out is awesome, fast and usually you're given enough food for leftovers.

After all the negative things I said about PF Changs, I guess I need to eat my words. I taught a class at the new Convention Center last week and some of the participants went to eat at PF Changs for lunch with no reservation. They not only got in but finished in the hour and 15 minutes I gave them.

Maybe all is not lost.

allsome...yay....

Is that Pei Wei as in Pei Wei Herman?

OK we have a table. Review to follow.

It was fine. Nothing amazing - just pretty good chinese food. Yay.

Mas putooo!

Using the word, "Yay".