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| - SCORES
Dim sum: 4
Pho: 2
Staff: 1
Eaten here multiple times. Dim sum is better than anything else in Madison. Service ruins it.
You order off of a dim sum menu or off of the carts. There are enough UW students that it can get pretty packed on weekends, so go early or go on the weekdays if you don't want to be kept waiting.
Staff is dysfunctional to put it politely, so when it gets busy, service essentially halts. Basically they need to ditch the gimmick of a cart and let people order off the dim sum menu. It would make service less hectic and allow people to get their food sooner.
1st time - came here alone for the dim sum, like the 2nd day they started serving. Was delicious, staff was attentive, but mostly because the place was 25% filled. 5/5
2nd time - came w/ a big group of 8. We kept asking for one particular dish (fried dumplings) and must have gotten 4-5 servers, the dim sum cart guy like 2-3 times, and still didn't get the dish. Pretty sure the cooking staff kept making it and it would get grabbed by other tables before it got to me. Pretty much pissed me off that we had to ask for water, tea, specific dishes, and our check MULTIPLE, MULTIPLE times - being packed doesn't excuse atrocious service. 3/5
3rd time - came for pho. Broth tasted flat like if it came from a dry powder mix. Pho didn't have a lot of meat for the XL bowl. Won't usurp Saigon Noodle, in my opinion. Also the fire alarm went off for like 25 minutes because a vent fan wasn't working, but I got like $2 off in exchange for the aural assault. 1/5
4th time - came for banh mi, they said their chef wasn't there so there wasn't Vietnamese food. Doesn't matter, had dim sum. 4/5
5th time - came for dim sum, Saturday brunch. Friends beat me there and said they were closed for dim sum. Cooking staff drama part 2? We left. 1/5
I really want to like you, Viet Bistro, but your service is so inconsistent. I'm not coming back.
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