Siam Basil Thai Restaurant

Priyal Gupta

Terrible service, rude/insulting waiter, decent food, small portions, expensive menu. We arrived at the restaurant for early dinner and called ahead to let them know of our arrival. As soon as we came, the restaurant was quite empty and the server didn’t greet us with any pleasantries but instead said “Wait outside” as she assembled the table of ten for us. I believe the server’s name was Annie- she was a tall Asian woman. Shortly after, as we were seated she asked us for our order and when we said we liked the vegetarian options, she exclaimed “so?” “So what’s the order?” As we went through our list, she was very disrespectful and kept cutting us off. The room was frigid and when we asked if temperature could be adjusted, she said in the snidest way possible, “I don’t control the temperature.” Soon after, when our food finally came she banged the plates on our table in the roughest manner- as if we were undignified and didn’t deserve a seat at the table. While majority of the food was acceptable- all thanks to the chef, some of our food was not made to our asking- fault of the server for not listening to our order properly. She didn’t come back to our table when we kept glancing at her- to ask if we wanted second servings or to correct the order. When we chased her to the reception desk she rudely exclaimed to us, “I don’t understand you” and stormed off from us without taking our order. Her snippy behavior persisted. We asked for extra soup bowls - she gave us chipped ones and when we asked for non-chipped bowls, she asked us, “why?” with the most inhospitable inflection. Towards the end, she didn’t come to refill our glasses or take our order for dessert or to even give us the cheque. We had to personally go to the reception to get the final cheque. We are not sure if this was because they were understaffed (but the restaurant was relatively empty- 3 other tables). She treated other tables very well and very unlike how she treated us. Is this racism? Is this terrible hiring on the owner’s behalf? Is this the new era of service in America? I am not sure if this restaurant or rather the server understands what the hospitality industry stands for. Never in my ten years in the US have I faced such a nightmarish experience, I had to pinch myself twice to make sure I was not lucid dreaming. I did not feel like a guest but rather a beggar vying for attention and basic human courtesy / respect.

Perez Amy

Went for a Saturday lunch. The tall Asian waitress was so incredibly rude and basically yelled at me when I asked to be seated at a different table when the place was empty. Portions are ridiculously small and over priced. Left starving. Would never go back after waitress yelled at me.

Sean Chang

I have dined at this restaurant twice within the past month. Both times, a Friday night and a Saturday night, I have found the wait staff to be exceedingly rude and rather curt with the customers. On both nights, the restaurant seemed busy. I noticed there were only two servers for the entire restaurant. The two young servers were primarily dealing with customers, new customers coming into the restaurant and the seated customers, as well as fielding phone orders. They certainly seemed significantly overwhelmed. Unfortunately, their inundation translated into absolutely poor customer interaction. I heard one of the diners at the table closest to me nicely ask one of the servers about the status of one of the dishes they had ordered. The other people at that table had already been served their food and this one person was sitting there puzzled. This particular diner politely asked her again after she seemingly ignored his first inquiry. I nauseatingly heard her say, "It's not going to come out quicker if you keep on asking." There was an instantaneous pause in that table's collective conversation, as they all looked on with bewilderment and indignation. Surprisingly, the "scolded" diner maintained his cool and never responded with any rancor. I was expecting him to say something to the effect of, "Excuse me!" But he was seemingly calm and patiently waited for her to bring out his dish. At no time whatsoever did I notice any apologetic sentiment from this server for such an appalling and unjustifiable comment. Instead, she steadfastly maintained a look of defiance and vexation. Her repulsive conduct actually caused that table to prematurely ask for the bill, despite them not finishing their respective dishes. She unquestionably ruined their dining experience at this restaurant, and, more than likely, their entire evening. Upon leaving, I looked at one of them with outright empathy and subtle sorrow. It is not completely fair to lump this server's conduct with the other's comportment. But, she was the least bit affable or cheery herself. As a direct result of the deplorable and fortuitous behavior by these servers, my family and friends will unquestionably be dining at a new Thai restaurant, despite the fact that we all reside within a few miles of Siam Basil Thai Restaurant. I just read a captivating quotation today, "Rudeness is a means to attract attention, assert power, cover-up ineptitude, deflect personal insecurities and intimidate meeker people." To the owner/owners, this should assuredly be something to think about when hiring servers.

Jeanette Schirripa

Went to this restaurant because couple friends of ours said it was very good. The wait was long to put in an order....then I knew why....there was only one person taking orders and bringing food to the tables. She was snippy to me but I then I realized she was probably overwhelmed. The soups were good and my friends liked their dinners. I ordered Pad Thai with pork. The pork was dry and had a rancid taste. I picked out all the pork and ate some of the Pad Thai noodles. For dessert we had cheesecake egg rolls...now that was worth it! Delicious! I would give them one more chance.