IN THE BEGINNING

EARLY 1960s: Even though the first P.F. Chang’s opened in 1993, the story begins in the early 1960s. Cecilia Chiang was flourishing in the wild success of her Chinese restaurant, The Mandarin. Flash forward to 1974 and she has a second location in Beverly Hills, feeding celebrities like John Lennon and Yoko Ono. That year, Cecilia was called back to China for an extended trip. Her son, Philip, just out of art school, was realizing the woes of finding work as an artist. He stepped in to run the restaurant. And run the restaurant he did.

1990s: Enter restaurateur Paul Fleming. He’s living in Arizona running a successful restaurant concept, but also spending time at his regular Chinese place in Los Angeles called Mandarette. How does restaurant owner Philip Chiang make only three ingredients taste so tantalizingly delicious? He hopped on planes for business meetings, but mostly for some lettuce wraps; customers would surely flock. With a handshake, they agree to share the magic and P.F. Chang’s is born.

Kung Pao Jicama Tacos
Korean BBQ Chicken Stir-Fry
Craft Beer
Wok Cooking
Lobster Avocado Sushi

SCRATCH KITCHEN

Many guests don’t realize that P.F. Chang’s has a scratch kitchen — we wouldn’t have it any other way! We hire chefs, not kitchen managers. Even the simplest tasks, like julienning carrots, are done with passion. The pinches and folds in the dim sum must be perfect.

PREP

VEGGIES
All veggies are not chopped the same. The size and cut must match the size and cut of the meat within each recipe.

HAND SLICED. HAND SHAPED. HAND FORMED.

BY HAND

The folds in dim sum dictate how the final dish is served. The stuffing and fillings are made from scratch, and then we hand shape them so that each dim sum plate is perfect.

FOOD IS REAL CONVERSATION… IT’S TIMELESS.

THE WOK

Wok cooking is nearly 2,000 years old. Oil heats up in a matter of seconds and reacts to the heat, causing an explosion of flavors and releasing a wok hei.

SPEED.

ROUTINE.

EXCITEMENT.

SHOWTIME.

INNOVATION

As we look at Asia, the opportunities to take our guests on a journey is in front of us. The intersection of history and food & culture across Asia is going to continue to be part of the menu at P.F. Chang’s.

CULINARY

“For a dish to be authentically Chinese, it must be eaten with chopsticks.” -Philip ChiangVegetables and meat are chopped a certain way so they cook the same and can be picked up with chopsticks. Our scratch kitchen allows us to be nimble with incoming orders. Hold the carrots? No problem. Extra garlic? Sure, but are you really sure? If you’re lucky enough to sit by the kitchen, you know the sizzling of the oil and the rush of the flame is truly a culinary symphony.

Philip Chiang and Paul Fleming introduced a new way of enjoying Chinese cuisine with the industry’s first progressive wine list. P.F. Chang’s extensive wine list offered by the glass was arranged by flavor rather than price or region. Wine is still a big part of our modern bistro dining experience.Our innovative cocktails continue to surprise our guests, with fresh juices hand-squeezed every morning and our perfectly fizzy house-made ginger beer.

THE PEOPLE

“Every single one of us is so important. We couldn’t do our job without the person next to us. The dishwasher is just as important as the host, as the bartender, as the wok cook, and as the person that’s rolling the dumplings.”
— Danielle Eastman, Operating Partner, Palo Alto, CA

P.F. Chang's - The People

SUSTAINABILITY

  • We recently converted all restaurants to TRSA (Textile Rental Service Association) Clean Green Certified linen providers.

     

  • Our goal is to save 250MM gallons of water per year. This year, we saved 100MM (10%) gallons of water.

  • We’re using 40% less plastic resin in 15MM takeout containers.

  • Our goal is to eliminate 10,000 gallons of cleaning chemicals through more efficient dishwashers.

  • We convert paper boxes to compostable material whenever possible.

  • Process improvements in the coming years will save over 45 megawatt-hours of electricity annually.

  • 200MM napkins and paper towels are recycled and converted to compostable material per year.

  • By not using bundled cutlery kits, we’re eliminating approximately 24MM unused plastic spoons & knives.

TRANSFORMING FOOD WITH PASSION AND PRIDE.