Great chinese food is hard to find... so hard to find, in fact, that most people have never even tasted it. In the US you can find it in San Francisco, New York, and Boston... but that's it.
The rest of the country will never know GREAT chinese food, but they may be lucky enough to find good chinese food. The vast majority of Americans will only ever get OKAY chinese food.
P.F. Chang's is better than OKAY and just shy of being GOOD chinese food, which is why so many people who don't know what good chinese food is get so excited about this place.
P.F. Chang's is basically just a a couple steps up from the Panda Express at your local food court... except it's a lot more expensive.
The ONLY thing that stops me from giving P.F. Chang's a lower rating is that they actually make a really fantastic hot and sour soup- which is an incredibly hard thing to find.
The hot and sour soup is always salty- sometimes too salty... but when they do it just right, it's very delicious.
*In case you're wondering, there is good chinese food in charlotte... or at least something very close to it. Look for a little place called Wan-Fu at 10719 Kettering Drive.