01/10/09

Terrible, vile food

by ILoveSailing

We've been meaning to try the Rickshaw for a long time and finally decided to tonight. It was among the worst meals we've ever had.

We didn't expect it to be great, but it didn't even meet our lowest expectations. There were bad signs before we even ordered - empty restaurant, no chopsticks on the table and the menu featured mozzarella sticks.

Then the tea came, and we're pretty sure it was instant black tea (like Lipton). It definitely wasn't jasmine tea or anything I'ver had before in an Asian restaurant. We both ordered combo dinners. The hot and sour soup tasted okay, but mine included a substantial-sized piece of egg shell. The meal quickly went downhill from there.

I got kung pao chicken, steamed rice and potstickers. The potstickers, though browned on the outside, were completely doughy and uncooked inside. The veggies in the chicken dish were nicely crunchy but the chicken tasted like it was either bad or on the verge of going bad, and the dish was disgustingly greasy. I asked the waitress - who was very nice and helpful - if i might have them make it again, but with tofu. They did, and the tofu was overly deep-fried and dripping oil that tasted like it hadn't been changed in eons.

My husband started off with sliced BBQ pork that was refrigerator cold, followed by pork chow mein and pork fried rice that had the exact same BBQ pork in it and tasted like it was on the verge of turning bad (leading us to conclude that leftover pork from the appetizer was probably used in both dishes).

His combo also came with sweet and sour chicken that was slathered in a gluey, sickeningly sweet sauce that managed to be overshadowed by the overbearing taste of the old oil used to deep-fry the chicken.

The service was fine and we gave the waitress a good tip, but we'll never go back. The food was absolutely ghastly. I don't know if it would be possible to make Chinese food worse than this. I'm just hoping neither of us get sick from it.

11/29/08

This place has the third best karkoe in town!!!!

by scottish123

I went there my oh my when you come to the rickshaw dont think your coming to a five restuarant becasue it isnt at all. yeah you want a drink your going to have to waite just like everybody else but when i got my drink oh my it was nice. they have only two waite staff to serve only a hundred and eight people but hay thats all good. the food is good if you order the right dishes that is the secret to this old school dive bar and restruant. so you rich uppy degenerates looking for great service go downtown or belevue. and if you looking for a great pychics dont go with a michael hes a fake he doesnt even use real tarot cards and judith ballard is on with some things and the rest of her sight is shoot so go and have a great expericence need a dog talk to ginger she has the best dogs in the world to offer.

• Pros: waite for your drinks there good and have a great time in the dive bar.
• Cons: to many people not enough waite staff

11/07/08

My favorite place

by Missmomme

So I'll admit the service is slow and place isn't the high on style but it's so amaisingly fun for Karaoke I've been going off and on for 4 years now Patty the weekday host is incredible and helpful. the regulars are friendly and the bar tenders know how to pour a drink. If you can be calm and go with the flow your experience with the waitstaff will be great as well just understand that there is usually only one waiter/waitress to an entire place filled with a variety of people in variouse degree of drunkeness And the potstickers are great HUGE and very good! It's a great place to socialise and meet new people.

05/03/08

WORST FOOD ~ POOR Wait Staff ~ Questionable Patrons ~ EVEN GREASY CHOP STICKS!!

by Shagnasty

Just stopped in here last Friday evening at 8:00 PM for some Good Old Chinese Food, as I used to go here years ago. The only Waitress (1) must have been drugged . . . had to get up and get my own Silverware and Napkin, as Brunhilda was too busy visiting with her Buddies by the Kitchen Door. The Kitchen staff had to come out and tell her your food order is up.

The food? Well can you say GREASE, and I don?t mean the Movie either, it really SUCKED.

Just before we left it was almost time for Karaoke . . . up go the partitions between the Bar and the Restaurant . . . Holy Mother of Jesus, what a Tribe they had in there. It was Packed with some of the worst looking Nar-De-Wells in the City of Seattle.

Frankly, I used to go to this place 30 years ago (1976 to 1980) when Ginger & Wayne Yee were running the place and Nora (the snotty Waitress) was there. At that time, the food and Service were Excellent. That is the only reason I came back here!

DO NOT GO HERE, If you are a normal upstanding citizen of Seattle, however, if you want Riff-Raff, you found the right place!!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Poor Parking; Bad Food; Bad Waitress; Questionable Patrons

07/07/07

Bad Food and Awful Service

by juliosoy

The only thing more awful than the food in this place is the absolutely horrible service. They'll often bring you something you didn't order, especially when it comes to take out. Then, when you nicely let them know that they made a mistake, they blame you. And then they're ultra-sarcastic about it.

I'm not the only one this has happened to. I have several friends who have said that the same thing happened to them when they ordered from Rickshaw: They'll bring you the wrong order and then they'll BLAME YOU! When I complained, I was told by the management to "bring my business elsewhere."

They can count on that...

Also, this place has really gone downhill with the quality of their food. They were good a couple of years ago. The food now stinks; a lot of it looks like it came from a can. Yuck.

There are many Chinese restaurants in Seattle. This one is at the bottom of the barrel. Stay away, unless you like really bad food and the worst service imaginable.

• Pros: Was once good, a few years ago
• Cons: Bad food, awful service, hostile staff, not to be trusted

02/06/07

A gastronomic disaster

by msgerto

To sum up tonights gastronomic adventures with Rickshaw: Small quantities, missing items, inaccurate orders, uneatable overcooked food and misrepresented ingredients

We have ordered from Rickshaw many times and have been satisfied, however, the streak has ened. When we received our order tonight, one dish was wrong and another was missing entirely. When I called to complain the phone was put down for an extensive amount of time and I heared the complaint on the other line and the employees discuss the problems with that order.

The other caller was complaining about the small quantity, a complaint I share especially when compaired with our previous orders. After my extensive wait I told the woman that we did not receive our Sweet Chili Prawns and we received Szechwan Beef not Sesame Beef as we had ordered. At NO POINT did she appologise, all she said she would get it to us as soon as they can.

While we waited we nawed on the almond chicken which was no more than 1 cm at its thickest and so completely over cooked that it was reminicent of flavorless jerky.

When the delivery driver returned she did not bring the Sesame Beef only the Sweet Chili Prawns. The "prawns" were very disapointing: first, there were only 12 small SHRIMP NOT PRAWNS and 11 equally small florets of brocolli. Normally, I would not count broccoli or shrimp but after this terrible service I just had to verify what I was seeing!

What happened to the restaurant that we used to enjoy? My sugestion:Save your money and order some where else, anywhere else. Take out from Safeway's deli at the end of the day is better than Rickshaw.

• Pros: they deliver
• Cons: food, ingredients, service

04/06/06

Bad Dive

by tamalie_

There's nothing I love better than a good dive. The Rickshaw, however, is not a good dive. The management is incredibly rude and abusive to customers - I can only imagine how they treat their employees. Last time I ate there, the food I ordered resembled canned vegetables with congealed gravy spooned over the top. Recently, in a fit of hunger, I decided to give them a second chance and called to order some delivery. I was treated so rudely on the phone I cancelled my order. I've sworn off this place for good. I think I've finally figured out why they make their drinks so stiff - it's to make up for their pathetic customer service, truly filthy restaurant, lack of ambience, and terrible food.

• Pros: Stiff Drinks
• Cons: No Customer Service, Filth, Management

03/10/06

Funky Place - Reliably Good Food!

by kangaponie

You've got to try this place! Don't let the funky atmosphere fool you, these guys have been serving good Chinese food and stiff bar drinks for years. Drop by after 9pm for karaoke.

• Pros: good food, inexpensive, friendly waitstaff
• Cons: limited parking, funky decor

12/26/05

Mediocre Chinese Food

by jodielister

Got some to-go since it is close to my neighborhood. Ordered 3 family style meals with almond fried chicken (sauce already on it so the breading was soggy), fried rice (decent), pork chow mein (mostly lots of onion and celery...little anything else), and an eggroll (sat on top of the chow mein so it was soggy too). Won't go there again for chinese. Have heard that the breakfasts are good.

• Pros: delivers until 10 pm
• Cons: mediocre chinese, $$ for the quality

12/09/05

Karaoke rules at this delightfully tacky restaurant lounge.

by Contributor

The Scene
Founded in the mid-'70s, the Rickshaw bears all the tell-tale signs of an era when Chinese food outside of Chinatown was still something of a novelty, from the kitschy decor to the menu that also offers burgers, fried chicken and French dips. The lounge aims for even broader (and tackier) tastes--pull tabs are prominent, the specialty drinks are impossibly sweet (the Trailer Trash features Midori, chambord, peach schnapps, vodka, OJ and club soda) and karaoke is king.

The Draw
The food and ambience are mediocre, yet it's still a pile of fun, thanks to the lively karaoke crowd. Offered nightly at 9:30pm, the event features delightful hosts, a nearly 5,000-song playlist and a serious sound system that makes the singers sound really, really less terrible. Kitsch lovers and earnest troubadours both appreciate the effort.