P. F. Chang's, Galleria (Boulevard Saint Louis) - Visited November 2015

Today was another birthday lunch for two of the ladies in our department, which meant it was time to go out for lunch. One of them decided we should visit P. F. Chang's at the Boulevard (across Brentwood from the Galleria) which was okay by me since I had never been there. I had heard it was pretty good but rather pricey for what you get, so I was curious how it would be.

We drove over in two cars and both ended up parking in the surface lot just south of the shopping area. The restaurant entrance is guarded by two large concrete horses which do look pretty impressive. Once inside the interior was roomy with large tapestries and plenty of tables. It only took them a minute to prepare us a table for eight since we showed up around 11:45 and it was still fairly empty. I know they do serve entrees family style, but we opted to each order the lunch specials instead. Both Bob and I ordered the Chang's Spicy Chicken, although he ordered his with fried rice and I ordered mine with white rice. Margo ordered the Korean BBQ Chicken and Lisa ordered the Sesame Chicken. I know Marcia and Beth both ordered one of the lettuce wrap dishes. I remember ordering a lettuce wrap at Pei Wei (which is part of the same company) and I was not overly impressed with them there.

The food actually arrived fairly quickly and our server was quite attentive in bringing out everyone's but Robert's lunch (he ordered some combo with hot & sour soup.) He placed my plate in front of me and I gazed down at my lunch. It smelled very enticing but I noticed the serving size was not very generous. I remember ordering the spicy chicken lunch at Pei Wei and I did not think it was as small as it was today (perhaps I was just hungrier today?) The dish actually seemed pretty identical to what is served at Pei Wei so I was not sure why they appeared to charge more for a smaller portion of the same food. It was still pretty tasty though, and well prepared - I just wished I had more of it! Bob liked his and Margo liked her Korean BBQ Chicken which she said was good and spicy. Everyone else seemed pretty pleased with their lunches too. The P. F. Chang's Bistro does have a fancier decor than Pei Wei, although all throughout our lunch they played some background music with a beat so quietly all you could hear was the beat. That was a bit distracting.

It was still a good lunch, and a nice place to go for a departmental meal out together, but it was definitely not the best "bang for the buck". I suppose because of the smaller portions, I was not so stuffed that I would just collapse asleep at my desk at 2:00 pm. Plus I would still be hungry for dinner that evening too!

Food Quality

Value