PF Chang - Tampa, FL

WestShore Plaza, 219 Westshore Plaza

Visited August 4, 2011

The guys behind PF Chang, Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang, are marketing geniuses. They took ubiquitous Chinese restaurant food, put a little more effort into cooking than typically offered by the typical American Chinese restaurant, added decor appealing to the American masses, made PF Chang a hip must go to place for Chinese food and in the process made PF Chang arguably the most successful Chinese food restaurant chain in America.  I wish I had their marketing savvy.

We ordered the Flaming Red Wontons, Crispy Green Beans, Egg Rolls, and Pad Thai. The Wontons and Egg Rolls were better than typically offered by the typical Chinese Restaurant. The Beans reminded me of an American preparation rather than Chinese. The Pad Thai was a little watery but better than normally offered but no where near close to that of an authentic Thai restaurant.

Assuming this Tampa PF Chang was typical of PF Chang and if it were located in Toronto, it would sit in the middle of the pack in terms of food quality. The marketing genius behind this would probably make it a leader for the Canadian crowd lacking the adventurous spirit to enter authentic Chinese restaurants.