Mark Pi’s Chinese Restaurant must be avoided at all costs!  I have been a long time customer of this place and have been eating here almost every other week for the past 2 years.  The restaurant is located at 32730 Walker Rd. in Avon Lake, Ohio.  My issue arose when I most recently ate here and at what I discovered that would ultimately make me sick to my stomach.  Mark Pi’s served my wife food that was previously nibbled on & saved from someone else’s plate earlier in the day!

My wife and I were out to dinner and she ordered her usual meal and I ordered mine.  My wife is pretty picky when it comes to food, so she has to have her meat cooked just the right way otherwise she won’t eat it.  We’ve never had a problem with Mark Pi’s in the past because they have always listened to the order and specifically catered to what my wife wanted.  That came to an end when they brought her the wrong food and then simply dished her food off onto someone else’s plate and swapped her’s with leftovers.

When my wife got her plate of food returned after making the requested changes, she noticed that it was cold and that the vegetables were chewy.  I called the waiter over and my wife asked him why the vegies were chewy like rubber.  Basically we had a conversation that consisted of the waiter telling us that they simply re-heat leftover and returned food because they couldn’t waste it.  This was also confirmed days later when I had called and asked to speak to the manager but actually got one of the owners on the phone.  Below is pretty much how our conversation went with Mark Pi’s.

A Mark Pi’s Disaster

Wife:  “Just wondering why my vegetables seem a little off, like they weren’t cooked all the way or they are old because they are chewy.”

Waiter: “Ma’am we don’t have money to spare throwing food away, we need to save all food we have and so this means we reheat food to serve”.

Wife:  “So I’m eating leftover food or food from someone else’s dinner perhaps that was returned?”

Waiter: “Yes, we do not throw food away, we save it and if we can use it we will use it, it’s heated up, no germs, you’re fine, please eat.”

Wife:  “I don’t want to eat my food, can I speak to the manager?”

Waiter: “I am the manager, get out of restaurant, don’t ever come back!”

Me:  “Hey, we come here all the time, I don’t understand why you would tell us not to come back any longer, we just want a refund at this point.”

Wife:  “Let’s get out of here seriously this is crazy I don’t even care about the money at this point this is unbelievable.”

Waiter:  “You get refund and go and don’t come back, don’t come back, go.”

Then, like I said, I proceeded a few days later to call up to Mark Pi’s and ask to speak to the owner, which I got one of them on the phone because I am pretty sure that there are two owners, the person I spoke to was a woman.  She told me the same exact thing, basically that in order to save money they don’t throw away any food.  Food that someone doesn’t like for example like what my wife had and returned they would set to the side and if/when someone else made an order that they could use the food on her plate they would use it for that order.  Which is crazy because my wife ate some of that food.  Then the lady assured me that the food is heated to appropriate temperatures to ensure any and all germs are killed…

Needless to say we will never ever be going back there, it’s a shame too because this was truly one of my favorite places to eat, but after being treated that way and them blatantly admitting that you pretty much have a shot at getting served someone elses leftovers, I wanted to throw up.  This is like seriously, 100% the truth too, no bs in what I’ve said here either, I loved that place, a part of me wishes I could just block out what they said and go back up there (joke), but that’s just not going to happen.

The Bottom Line:  There needs to be some health inspectors and food administrators that come and swarm this place.  There are serious health implications and risk factors at play here if all of what has been stated is to be found true.

SCUMBAGGED Tip:  Instead of worrying about saving a few pennies by not throwing away old and previously aten food, perhaps you should be worried about throwing away your customers.  Don’t eat here folks, unless you want to be like a baby bird and have some regurgitated reheated food gobbled up and spit out to be re-served just for you!  Yummy!