2 Tango Restaurant & Lounge

My most recent experience with Mini Rex restaurant (formerly named May Bon Phuong, possibly due to a change of ownership) was very, very, very irritating, and I will never go back there again.

I came to this restaurant and have even taken my friends there just for the convenience, as it's close to my home. Even though the prices are high and the female Vietnamese manager (probably also the owner) has been quite unfriendly, I am not a difficult person, nor do I make a big deal about those things, including the feelings towards the manager or partner/owner. However this time I cannot let it go and will inform my friends not to do business with them. I had been a customer of the former May Bon Phuong, this was before it was changed to a new name and became the Mini Rex as previously mentioned.

This incident happened last week. I was invited to have a dinner there by a newly acquainted man due to convenience. After we met and chatted in the lobby of the Ramada Plaza Hotel for a while we then went in to have dinner. The bill was about $20. This gentleman paid the bill and was not happy because he was charged for a bottle of water between $3 and $5. A small tin-pot of tea was $3. Although I wanted only a cup of tea, the waiter brought a pot of tea. I was not sure if the waiter intentionally did so to charge more. However I let it go and did not want to complain to him. The bowl of seafood soup is $10 with low quality and quantity; however, this is not an issue brought up here.

My acquaintance told the manager he wanted to pay for his order only as a bottle of water. The remaining balance to be a separate check. The manager refused to give back the change as requested and kept the 20 dollars. She went on to say that she would not give back the change to him as we were together and how much was owed by who was between us.

She suddenly changed her mind and right away asked that I pay my portion of the bill. At this point I was still being a polite customer. She asked me to pay my part of the bill as was claimed by the man to be about $15.

I told her I was invited to have dinner and he had paid the bill. I then explained if I owe the money, it's not her I owe to. It was between my acquaintance and me. At that point I let her know that I had only $10 with me in my purse and had not brought my credit card with me. So I handed her $10 and told her I would come back later to pay her the $5. She knows me as having been a previous customer at her restaurant.

She would not accept this and requested me to take off my gold ring with a diamond and leave it with her as collateral till I come back with the $5. Once paid she would return my ring. I said I would not, and because she does not trust me for only $5, why should I trust her with my diamond ring, I thought she might decide to keep it. This seemed a ridiculous request, as we did not owe her anything. The man had paid her and she had refused to give him back the change owed as he claimed with his order portion of the bill to be $5.

I said no I would not leave my ring and she then threatened to call the police. She threatened me with this 4 or 5 times. She then ordered a waiter and waitress to call the police.

I told her it was not worth it to involve the police. She would not listen and humiliated me in front of the 2 employees and others until an American customer came over and asked what was going on. At this point he then offered to pay for me. I let him know the money I needed was only $5. This whole ordeal took quite sometime and by the time we were done it was about midnight by the time I left.

She seemed so greedy and never even considered she had already collected sufficient money for the bill we owed. It seemed she was attempting to take advantage of the personal problem between this man and me to charge extra from me.

After this humiliating experience, I will never go back there again. As of today I've discovered that Mini Rex was under investigation by the Health Department for "cock roach infestation" and was being closed for several days. This scares and disturbs me even more because I have eaten there than the attitude of the manager/owner. After this horrible ordeal I am seeking legal advice and she may face a slander lawsuit I am considering. She should be taught a lesson and stop her malicious and slanderous treatment of her customers. Without them contributing to her earnings, she would not be in the restaurant business. Who would want to eat where they are treated like a criminal? Who knows she may have done the same thing to others? It makes me wonder whether or not I am the only person who has this opinion about the high prices and the unfriendly staff including that said manager.