Restaurant Peony

The service was terrible. The dim sum cart only made its way to our table 3 times and we had to order our dim sum with the waitress and in addition to the dim sum, we also ordered noodles. We waitied 30 minutes and finally left. They were slow as snail. I recommend Legendary Palace 708 Franklin St., between 7th and 8th Street within walking distance from Peony. Their dim sum are good and their service is excellent. The waiters and waitresses are everywhere and the dim sum cart comes to your table constantly. On weekends, arrive at Legendary Palace before 11AM to avoid putting on a waiting list for a table. However, the wait is just 20 minutes max. It is well worth the wait. Cons: EVERYTHING more

We had made a non-refunable deposit of $100.00 for a dinner reservation for the next month. The manager, Mr. VINCENT KWONG, wrote us a receipt. We had to cancelled the dinner a few days later because something came up. Mr. Kwong nicely told us that we could use the deposit money some other times and there was no expiration date on the receipt. A couple months later, I went back to the restaurant and tried to use the deposit money to buy some take-out. I shown him the receipt with his signature on it. Mr. Kwong told me that he couldn't verify if the receipt was valid. I needed to come back to the restaurant Monday through Friday, between the time 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to talk to their ACCOUNTANT DEPARTMENT to clear the issue. After I left the restaurant, I discovered that there is a line on the lower left corner on the receipt, printed in Chinese saying ""Please return this receipt when used"". Pros: Foods are just ok Cons: Bad management more

Food: 2.5 stars, Service: 1 star, Price: 3 stars Pros: Ok food, not too expensive Cons: Awful service more

Peony is some of the freshest, most mouth-watering dim sum you can get in the Easy Bay Area. That being said, do not head out to Peony expecting a Western-Style dining experience. Pros: amazingly fresh and delicious food, convenient location, coconut cake is awesome Cons: potential for excruciatingly long waits, noisy, parking more

They taxed my gratuity (they call it 10% service charge). I complained and they would not help me. It wasn't worth the hassle for a dollar and change Pros: Garage Parking, Large Parties Cons: Service Charge, Bad Service more

I read all the reviews and feel the restaurant gets a bad rap. It's definitely a hard-core Chinese restaurant that isn't typically directed to non-Chinese palates or service comforts. In most Chinese restaurants, it's a given the waiter/ess is elusive and patrons pack their own leftovers. I've visited numerous times with family that visit frequently and know half the people eating there. My hubby and I get an instant table, decently placed table and free dessert (some bean soup thing, really not a treat to me). What really makes this place great for dim sum is the variety and its authentic experience. You get the lady with carts, rushed waiters and loud patrons. Dim sum is about catching up with friends/families to eat small and scrumptious seafood/pork/sweet bites, drink tea and soak up the crazy frenzied place. Really, if you can't find a dish, you're supposed to grab someone and ask. No one will be offended, in fact, it's expected. It's not loud in there for nothing. At a four-star restaurant in the city, sure, your waiter will ask how you are, this is Oakland Chinatown, get real. And I always love that Restaurant Peony has a dim sum dish that is essentially fried milk. It perplexes me to think about it and it does so even as I'm eating it... frying milk. I've been to numerous dim sum places all my life in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, San Francisco proper... this is a better deal than most places out in SF/Millbrae, tastier than LA, completely superior to San Diego and Houston... Restaurant Peony isn't haughty (rather the complete opposite); it's a large banquet-style Chinese restaurant. Service at most dim sum restaurants are bad. All the waiters need to really do is bring tea, the check and be somewhat available for any other requests (water, special order dishes). I come here every couple of months... Pros: Fried milk, variety of dishes, clean Cons: Saturday dim sum is not the same as Sunday more

This place has very authentic cantonese/hong kong fare! My father is a restauranteur/chef and I grew up in the business...this place is much better than most chinese restaurants in SF. My brother had his wedding banquet here and it was terrific. There is a back room available for parties. If you go expecting stellar service, than most chinese places aren't for you, but if you know how to order and can enjoy the noise of a busy sunday with delicious dim sum, I highly recommend it! Pros: Dim Sum, Seafood, Parking and Large space Cons: Long waits for dim sum on the weekends more

I went here with my wife for dinner on 09/04/06. We'd heard that it was well-known for excellent dim sum and we thought their dinner entrees would be worth checking out. While the food was very tasty, the service experience discolored everything. The waitperson couldn't get around the fact that we had ordered something that required 20 minutes of preparation and asked us 4 times if we really wanted it. The items came out in no customary order (entree first, soup second, rice only when asked) and when we asked for our unfinished portions to go, the waitperson came back with a plastic bag of soup - they'd ladled it into cardboard cartons instead of a sealed container! When we pointed it out to him he shrugged, took it away, and returned with just the dry contents in a styrofoam cup, instead of offering a replacement. Pros: Food is actually quite tasty. Unusual dishes not normally found Cons: Bad service overwhelms the experience more

I agree with liliasmith that the services is in Peony is really BAD. This is probably because the tip (around 15%)is mandatory and built into your bill and the waiters no longer have interest to impress you with their service. The first time I went there for dimsum with my friends we had to wait at least 30 mins to get our tea. not to mention the dimsum served was nothing close to being lukewarm. I end up going there a few more times for dinner and the service was slightly better but still generally bad. Seriously, you can get the same quality of food (similar greasiness and taste) in most places in Chinatown and it's not worth the money to encourage the waiters to keep this kind of service. Pros: Parking Cons: Service, greasy food, dinning with a big group more

Never, ever go there. Extremely bad place. Waiters & servers are just ignoring you calling them (I was 100% sure they saw me waving my hand few times). Foods were very greasy and expensive. Air condition was poor and the restaurant was very hot and stuffy. In short, NEVER GO THERE, IT'S WASTE OF YOUR $$$$$!!!!! Pros: Parking Cons: BAD SERVICE, BAD FOOD. more

You need to understand that this is as authentic of a Upscale Chinatown Banquet Restaurant before you enter this restaurant. This is by no means a restaurant that caters to tourists or people that don't understand Chinatown culture and behavior. If you intend on going to this restaurant and you aren't really familiar with how Chinatown opperates, my suggestion would be to bring an ""insider"" someone who is/was from Chinatown or who can speak the language. Trust me, in my case, my mother in law grew up there and we get to cut in line and get food that isn't on any english menu. Pros: great dim sum, great banquet Cons: not a touristspot more

I've been to Peony 3 times now, and am amazed at how terrible the service is. On my latest visit, there was no soy sauce on the table, so we asked for some. Instead of bringing us a bottle, they literally splashed some on our food. I was shocked. In addition, they never bring out the popular items on steam carts - you have to order to get what you want, and even that is a hassle. Too bad, because it can be tasty. Pros: decent food Cons: service, value more

This place is good for dinner and dim sum because everything is authentic, cooked well, has lots of flavor and lots to choose from. You can have delicacies that aren't available elsewhere. The service isn't that great. It's not a priority for them. Yes, they can be snooty, especially if you're not a regular. If you can look past that, then you'll really enjoy the food. Pros: great food, good area, lots of seating Cons: gross bathroom, staff can be snooty more

These folks are incredibly obnoxious. After reading positive reviews, I called today to find out their hours and was told 11-3. We showed up at 2:25 and were told ""We can't seat you. The last order goes into the kitchen at 2:30."" We pointed out that they had not mentioned this when we called regarding business hours, and that in fact it wasn't even 2:30 yet. No reconsideration, no sympathy, no apology -- just a refusal to seat us. Have these folks ever heard of customer service? I guess not. This was my first and will be my last experience with Restaurant Peony. Cons: OBNOXIOUS! more