Sometimes you just feel like ordering takeout Chinese food, right? That was the sentiment of Sidney and I last Friday. After a long week, we wanted to decompress by watching Netflix and enjoying some General Tso’s chicken and egg rolls.

We opted for a place located in a mini strip mall close to my parents’ house. As a child I ate there numerous times but it had been at least 15 years since my last dining experience with this establishment.

Sidney phoned in the order and I went to pick it up. I walked through the doors and approached the owner who was at the counter. I gave her the name of my order and she started to bag my items. As she did this, I looked up at the chalk-written menu and based on what we ordered I started to calculate the total in my head.

When the owner finished putting all of our items in a couple different bags, she announced the total. I was pleasantly surprised because it was about $15 less than what I estimated. After I paid, we had a nice conversation about how business was doing during the pandemic. When I asked how long the restaurant has been open, she replied with 29 years. She was really nice and I left the restaurant with a smile on my face.

I returned home and took out our items. I immediately knew something wasn’t right. We had steamed rice instead of fried rice, almond chicken instead of General Tso’s chicken, soup instead of egg rolls, etc. On the bright side, they did include Sid’s favorite item, crab ragoons. We probably could have eaten what they gave us, but we were kind of itching for what we ordered. I called the restaurant to alert them of the mix up and to give the head’s up that I was going to return.

The owner was extremely apologetic and kind. I assured her it was no big deal and that I didn’t have to drive far to get back to the restaurant. When I walked through the doors, the owner was once again sympathetic and polite. I had realized that I paid less than I thought I would because she charged me for a different order. I asked her if I could please pay the full amount for our original order but she wouldn’t take any additional payment. Not only did they re-make our entire order, but they also let us keep the original side of crab ragoons and steamed rice. I once again walked out of the restaurant smiling.

Once I returned home, I took the food out of the bags for a second time. Everything that was supposed to be there (in addition to the free items she threw in) was there. After organizing all the food on our table, I went to throw the plastic bags away when I noticed a small slip of paper at the bottom of one of them. I took it out, flipped it over, and smiled at a $20 gift card to the restaurant.

I thought it was so nice of the owner of Mr. Wok to include this gift certificate in our takeout bag.

Although an honest mistake was made, I was so impressed that the owner went way out of her way to overcompensate for the mix up. It was a very kind gesture and I can’t wait to go to Mr. Wok again. Don’t Blink.