Phoenix Garden

08/06/2008 Posted by peachfish71

Wife and I, Chinese Food lovers, lived in the neighborhood for years, heard the food was good but the service was terrible. Well, the food was good, the spare ribs in a honey sauce especially, but the service was just kinda bad… sorta mean… not the outright misanthropic torture chamber we were expecting. The owner wasn't exactly happy to be their, but neither was he a scowling martinet, nor was the wife an invective spewing troglodyte . In short, we were after the Soup Nutsy* of Schezuan province, but just ran into a slightly churlish guy who served a mean crispy beef. Bottom Line : While it was disappointing not to have a story for the ages, we ended up with an above average meal at a reasonable price. But the owner has to be a lot meaner or a lot nicer, because right now he’s a “tweener” with no real niche. *city search doesn't allow for the inclusion of the word "natsee" even in a "Seinfeldian" context

Pros: Not horribly mean owner

Cons: Not terribly nice owner

06/02/2008 Posted by DrHMO

My whole family has been eating here for many years. I don't write reviews but read them from time to time and thought I should let anyone who cares know that the food is great, the service is great and the owners (also a family) and wait staff are some of the nicest people around. They don't suffer arrogance and aren't phony but are good hearted and friendly. The food is superb and the price is right. The Pepper and Salty Shrimp or Oysters are favorites but pretty much everything is top notch. I could say more and it all would be positive but you get the picture. A true NY gem!

Pros: Food, service, price.

Cons: I wish they were open later during the week.

04/15/2008 Posted by frankel17

Despite the small portions and awful decor, I have been going to Phoenix Garden for the past 2 years because it is cheap and a BYOB. I will NEVER go again. I went last night with the same person who reviewed before, and he was being nice in his...I will not be. When we were done eating our food, which was shortly after we were seated as the waitress rushed us to order and the food came out too quick, we asked if we could open our bottle of wine as NO ONE was in the restaurant. The waitress said okay, right after we opened the bottle the incredibly rude manager stands at our table and tells us we have to leave. I explain that we wouldn't have opened the bottle if we knew we would be getting kicked out. He continued to tell us to finish quickly, he stood over us and as I told him that this was not very good customer service he proceeded to YELL at me and tell me that he knows who I am and will never be allowed back in. They followed us out. I have never been treated that way and do not understand how this man has stayed in business. Everytime I go he is rude but because it is cheap I have continued to go, my mistake. Do not make the trip to the restaurant as the portions are small, the service is bad and the manager makes you feel bad for even coming.

Pros: BYOB

Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE

04/14/2008 Posted by tbovafam

A group of friends and myself decided to get together after work to catch up and have some dinner. KEEP in mind that this place is a BYOB. There were 5 of us; we brought in 18 beers and a bottle of wine. Completely reasonable for people that aren’t light drinkers. We ordered 6 apps, and 6 entrees, so it wasn’t like we didn’t eat our moneys worth. They ‘politely’ asked us if we could hurry up our drinking, an hour after we had been there. 8 minutes later, they told us they needed the table, even though there were 7, we counted, 7 tables open in the cheaply decorated basement restaurant that we were nice enough to give our business to. After I kid you not, ONE more minute, they told us never to come back. It was the most ridiculous treatment I have ever seen in this city, in which I have been dining for over 15 years. The food was fine, but small. The service was fine, but somewhat rushed, but overall attitude of this place was beyond detestable. 0 out of 10. Not worth the trouble.

Pros: taste of the food, not quantity

Cons: everything else....EVERTHING

01/07/2008 Posted by skhiantani

So, we order delivery from them often, and their food is good. It's not the best I've ever had, but it's good. Every time we ordered from them on the phone they were rude but we let it go and didn't start a fight. Anyway, then once we went there, and they were so rude: the owner himself, his wife and one staff member. Made us sit all the way at the back by the kitchen, then asked us not to move much as it would disrupt service (isn't that their bad planning???) and who asked them not to give us a table at the front??? Then when we ordered we asked them if they thought it was enough as we had a large group and he yelled back at us asking how should he know! That's just one thing, the guy was so rude, said he'd rather not to business with us, so we got up and left and he came back yelling at us, abusing us, yelling down at a friends 4 year old son using profanity, called us illiterate and way more!!! His wife came behind him yelling at us even more and making comments about our respective countries. It's 2008 and NYC, who dares to make a comment like that today? If I were you, I would never step into Phoenix Gardens, it is one big joke that they are still in business!

Cons: Rude and extremely unfriendly people

11/01/2007 Posted by qtgurljny

Phoenix Garden's gaudy green awninged entrance belies a nice little cozy brick-exposed interior. Waiters and waitresses despite other reviews are good. I think they provide pretty decent if not overtly charming, falling all over themselves to please you service. Food is great and authentic. The salt and pepper shrimp, the peppersteak beef and the pan friend noodles with beef are awesome. I'm sure your standby Chinese favs would be just as good. Portions are on the smaller side with a guy needing about 1 and a half orders to be full. Prices are great and best of all, it's BYOB.

06/07/2007 Posted by val1949

I can't believe Zagats sent us there! And rated their food higher than Shun Lee Palace! Someone's taste buds have died and gone to heaven. Besides looking like a truck stop diner, it was dimly lit and a bit on the dirty side. Service was okay, but the food was awful.....I've had better food from a street vendor. Everything.......from appetizer to entrees and tea , were tasteless. Awful, soggy dumplings, withered, bland ribs that were coated with something.....inedible. Shrimp with Lobster Sauce had so much pepper in it that I couldn't taste the sauce itself. And the shrimp were way overcooked. Beef in oyster sauce was just as bad, the meat was fatty, stringy, tasteless. Even the tea was lousy. I would never go there again. Shun Lee, here we come!

Pros: nothing

Cons: food inedible

01/14/2007 Posted by steviequeens

From the minute we walked in, the place gave us an uneasy feeling.They 1st tried to give us a table in the front by the door which we politely declined, and then tried to stuff us in the back(basically in the kitchen), which we also declined.So we sit down with our bottle of wine that we brought for the occasion, which is 1 of the saving graces of this rstrnt...and instead of opening the bottle for us, the waiter brings us a corkscrew to do it ourself which is fine, but it just struck me as a little weird.We were seated for literally 3 min. before the waiter was all in our face asking us what we wanted.The menu is HUGE, so we were casually flipping thru the pages while sipping our wine.No joke, he came over every 3 min asking us if we were ready to order, and when we said we were still looking he would hover over our table giving us dirty looks. This got old real quick, so we ordered an appetizer just to get him out of our face for a few minutes so we could talk behind his back about how annoying he was being.We finally ordered our dinner, which came out really fast...actually before the appetizer which was annoying.At about 10:15...EARLY for a Saturday night, they started to (I swear) flick the lights on and off. We TOTALLY got the hint, but chose to ignore it while we finished the wine. After about five minutes of ignoring, the owner came up to us and said "you know we're closed right?" There were 2 other tables there with us at this time, and they were all weirded out by how rude the owner was being. We told the owner that no, we weren't aware that you were closing, but is it alright if we finish our glasses of wine? With a pained look on his face, he said ok.We left this restaurant with about 3 glasses of wine left in our bottle, along with the other tables who also had unfinished wine. As we were walking down the block, we could only laugh at how rude the entire staff at this restaurant was. I would definitely recommend the food, but only if it's takeout

Pros: Good food, BYOB

Cons: Horrible, horrible waitstaff

12/17/2006 Posted by mikedparen

Disastrous meal. I am sorry I did not read the CitySearch reviews in advance. I did read Zagat, and they gave no warning to how bad this place would be. In fact, they raved about the food. The food was good. But the outright hostility of the service made a Sunday night low-key dinner into a nightmare. We sat down at 9, having called ahead to make sure they were still serving. They said yes, until 9:45. Within 90 SECONDS of sitting down, they wanted out order and hovered over the table waiting for it. We ordered fast, and the food came out totally randomly. One appetizer came first, then dinner, then another appetizer, then rice, after everything was done. It was BIZARRE. Then, when the bill came and I presented my credit card, they announced CASH ONLY. When I asked where that was stated, they showed me a postcard, lying on the bar, totally obscured and ridiculous in any case. It's SHADY at best, and just weird when every burrito place and chinese restaurant in NYC takes credit cards. The owner is pathologically rude. As a newcomer to this neighborhood, I am sorry this place is such a nightmare. But I will avoid even walking on the block so as not to come near these crazy, hostile people.

Pros: NONE

Cons: The most upsetting meal I think I have ever had

10/17/2006 Posted by jm_mac

I work around the area near the restaurant, it's probably one of the better places for Cantonese food in mid-town east, but the food is a bit salty. I've been there many times. The woman owner is extremely rude and often makes us sit in the back when there are 2 empty tables in the front. The 2 tables were always empty and for the entire time we're there almost every time. One time, when I went in with friends, her son said in Chinese with a nasty look on his face, there goes those women with trouble again. I think he meant for me to hear it since he probably knows I understand Chinese. I can't believe they can run a business with such bad customer service and rudeness. It's mind boggling to say the least!! I vowed never to go back.