Puyalapabs Café

Nice place in the tacoma EQC casino. Unlike the riverbank place, this one you sit first and order off the menu.

This restaurant is very put together. Beautiful scenery. The Asian food is amazing! I love the Mongolian Beef.

Awesome experience in Puyalapabs today! Came by for breakfast and was served by Kim, who was exceptional and made us feel special! Ordered a meal that was a bit complicated and she handled it easily, coffee refills prompt and overall vibe was really relaxed and friendly. The breakfast menu was reasonably priced, a beautiful spot and good time.

By far the best eatery in the Emerald Queen Casino. The service I had today was incredible. The waitress was on point and went the extra mile to ensure I had a great experience. She said she is leaving for a new job soon, which is unfortunate. The prices are really good too for this upscale eatery. I recommend it to anyone!

I got the pan roasted Alaskan Cod with saffron tomato broth w shaved fennel. It came with a wonderful assortment of vegs. It was the best dish.

After reading some of the reviews I was a little cautious about eating here, but I had a much different experience than these other reviewers. We were seated immediately and a server (I'll call her, Vi because I forgot the spelling for the rest of her name) attended to our every wish. She was prompt, quick with the order and the food was quite good. I'll be back!

Delicious food, fast and friendly service in a beautiful restaurant. They offer a 15% military discount with your players card. Will be back!

I had an excellent dining experience there the evening of 2-7-26 by myself! Jordan is amazing and went above and beyond to take care of me and often checked on me. Just what you would expect at a restaurant! Amazing clam chowder, and calamari. Prices seemed slightly high but were more than fair for the large portions! I will come back here! Everything about this location of EQC after the remodel is SO amazingly improved in so many ways! A+++

My experience with this restaurant was the highlight of my stay. The server that turned it all around was Jeremiah. I was pleasantly surprised to meet such a talented, personable, and shockingly multi lingual gentleman in this location. He gave me his recommendations and I was not disappointed! I will definitely recommend this restaurant and go back myself! Thank you Jeremiah and the wonderful staff for making my day so much better.

Amazing Lunch Special. Our waiter recommended the Almond Chicken, came with great flavored fried rice, and the absolute best chow mein I have ever had. Going back again, just for lunch.

For late night options in a casino, not overpriced, still get full menu, servers are kind. The decorations are interesting with culture.

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Puyalapab Restaurant at Emerald Queen Casino and I must say, it was a delightful experience overall. The restaurant's ambiance is charming and cozy, with tasteful decor and comfortable seating. The lighting was just right, creating a relaxed and intimate setting. The staff members were attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable about the menu, which added to the overall positive impression of the place. I opted for the EQC Prime Rib dish, and it did not disappoint. The flavors were well-balanced and each component of the dish complemented the others perfectly. The portion size was also generous, ensuring that I left the restaurant feeling satisfied. Overall, my visit to Puyalapab Restaurant left a positive impression on me. I look forward to returning to explore more of their menu and indulge in their creative culinary creations.

I’ve eaten here many times and the food is pretty good. The staff is great and service isn’t too bad either. All things considered I enjoy eating here. There’s always a wait which is annoying, they seem understaffed, but it’s not horrible. One time I ordered sirloin steak and by the time everyone else got food they told me they had no sirloin steak. They ended up giving me a ribeye. Ribeye came out absolutely horrible, they didn’t comp the meal, and the service was horrible that whole meal. That was just one of many times tho.

So i had a crazy weekend and decided to check out the whole casino life 🤪. Tried this cafe and let me tell you this did not disappoint at all. I got a basic burger the appetizer calamari and that basil chicken on the menu man. The chicken was spicy but it just kept me eating it more, that's how good it was. Cooked to perfection i cannot complain at all. Giving it a 4 star because i would like to try more on this menu instead of judging it on solely one dish. But the service was great and food that night as well

I have eaten at this restaurant about 5 or 6X and majority of the time we would get good service. Now last night wasn’t the greatest. Our appetizer came out when our main dish was halfway through. And that’s kinda okay. However what isn’t okay is that we didn’t get any xtra plates or saucer, and no refills on my drink/ our drinks. And the restaurant wasn’t busy. On another note; I asked for strawberry lemonade and the waitress said we don’t have strawberry lemonade. I used to be a waiter when i was 19 and i was trained to be attentive, be nearby in sight, and don’t put your finger inside the plate. All which i didn’t see.

Service was quick. Decor inside the casino is a real treat. The salad and bread were quite tasty. The King Salmon and potatoes are highly recommended.

Great food. Excellent service. Phenomenal pricing.

Cons: The line formation was confusing to get in. Some people were paying at the front, in line or just lingering to get seated. Didn’t help that the hostess were there but they were closed. The food was mediocre. Ordered the Asian cuisine $50 for 2. The hot mustard for the bbq pork was spicy and cleared my sinus, Mongolian beef was super tender and the rest of the items were meh. It’s open 24/7 so would be a good place to dine at in the middle of the night The place was clean and the service was great. Olivia was our server and she did an excellent job. She was on top of water/coke refills, was friendly/attentive but not overly in your space. 5 star for her 3 for everything else.

Ate here before a show so there was a 45 minute wait. Fortunately lots to do at a casino to kill the time. I ordered the prime rib and it was cooked perfectly, and 14 oz with potato side and a soup or salad for $37 is pretty reasonable. They also have good clam chowder here. And warm sourdough rolls are provided. Then they have a whole Asian menu as well, so maybe I will try that next time.

Ordered the fish & chips. The food was okay nothing special. Fries were good but the fish was on the dry side. The service was a bit slow and our server had a pretty hard time understanding us. Haven't tried the other food options at this casino but I will definitely be trying other spots for better options.

I love the excellent service and environment here , however food is not really good or meet my expectations , I gave 3 stars for food

We got right in with no wait on a Saturday night at 6:30, which was nice and our waiter was very friendly and excellent service. The food? It’s just okay. I wouldn’t likely go back as it’s nothing special. One person had the cedar plank king salmon and it was dry/overcooked. The rest in our group had Chinese food. BBQ pork -Not much flavor Pot stickers were tasty Egg rolls great! Sweet and sour pork, pretty standard and was the best dish. Special House fried rice was decent. House special chow mein - very runny and not a lot of flavor. The pot sticker dipping sauce was awful. It was like a cup of vinegar. We had to have the waiter remove it from our table because it was that bad. I’ve never met a pot sticker sauce that was so rank. Not sure if it was a bad mix or if that’s normal. This needs to go, seriously!! Everyone at the table had the same experience.

For all its airs of being a higher-end restaurant, Puyalapabs Cafe is not without some disappointing yet easily corrected missteps that drag it back to lower-tier cafe status. Ultimately, it’s clear the cafe relies on very hungry gamblers or visiting one-time customers to actually require any change for the better. First the unfortunate. My two siblings and I needed a place to meet for a private memorial for our mother who’d just passed the night before. Having been to Puyalapabs before, I knew a Monday afternoon would be fairly slow and made a reservation through OpenTable. Without knowing the table numbers, I was very specific about describing one of the round-top standalone tables against the rear rock wall; just in case we became emotional, we wouldn’t bother other diners as much. My sister arrived first. I’d not mentioned the table preference to either of my siblings because I’d put the request in OpenTable. My sister had been seated alongside other customers against the continuous wall bench tables. I was annoyed, but my sister was already settled, so I let it go hoping things wouldn’t get too emotional. Foreshadowing. Don’t expect much from the bar. I believe drinks are delivered from the casino bar. From our experience, they aren’t well-stocked or even terribly knowledgeable on the craft of cocktails. My brother ordered a Gentlemen Jack and I asked for an Old Number 7 and cola. Our server returned empty-handed. The bar claimed to have no double-barrel whiskeys, or even simple Jack. I rephrased my order to a Jack and Coke, and suddenly, the bar did have Old Number 7. Again, think of the Emerald Queen bar like you would an overwrought wedding bar: low-shelf, limited knowledge, and no time for complex drinks. The food at Puyalpabs is typically excellent. This is one of the few places that remain in Western Washington where one can get war shu gai and a few other 60s-era Chinese-American dishes taken seriously. The war shu gai (almond chicken with gravy) is done particularly well, but not without some cautions. First, the chef does not take the time to remove the tendon bits of the chicken breasts, so there are inevitably at least three bites that are disgusting and have to be removed from the mouth and stashed somewhere on the plate. An A+ dish reduced to a C. Despite the name on the menu, there is also an obvious lack of almonds (or even peanuts) on the dish when presented. Our server was the highlight of the entire experience. She was top-notch and hugely empathetic. Fast, accurate, and communicative, she made our meal pleasant despite the glares we received from the surrounding tables that cramped our location when my brother became very emotional. Solid note to the host manager: Do not train your hosts to seat consecutively with guests packed into the same area when you have an entire empty restaurant. Break this obnoxious habit. Also please properly train your hosts to respect all information in OpenTable. Guests know best. Will I be back? I’ll likely not recommend Puyalapabs for any future dining events no matter how convenient. There are other options for dining far better in the area with Silk Thai Cafe being top of the list for amazing food, atmosphere, service, and value for the price.

I was there on Thursday, for breakfast. I ordered eggs Benedict. It was the worst eggs Benedict that I ever had. The English muffin wasn't toasted first, the piece of ham or whatever it was was shaved paper thin, and I mean thin. The eggs were okay but the sauce was runny, not thick like it should be. The hash browns that came with it were perfect. And I paid $20 for that. It would have been great if the eggs benedict were good. And you wouldn't even have known there was meat under the eggs except for the color.

Me and my gf just came here for the first time for my bday today all the way from Houston texas! the service definitely could have been better, I asked for a booth for my birthday and the lady in the front caught a attitude with me and started huffing and puffing! She said “I have one booth left “ I asked if we could have it and she said “I’ll put you in a half booth instead”… our server was nice but everything took so long! From us asking what we would like to drink to us getting our meal! Our meal DEFINITELY was over priced and under seasoned! I’m a private chef and own a catering Buisness and WOULD NOT charge that much! It was presented nicely but took a long time to come out and was BLAND! There were a ton of servers out but not that many customers. An elder couple told us the food was a 6/10 before we sat down I would give my experience today a 4 out of 10…. maybe we had a bad draw of luck our first time but it sucks I had to experience this my first time here and on my bday! :(

There's nothing "beautiful" or "intimate" about this overpriced excuse of a restaurant! Our whole party was very disappointed and disgusted with our dining experience. First, the restaurant was pretty empty and slow, but the waiter took our drink order, with the first time serving us water (more on this later). Then he came back and handed us a "cocktail," saying they have a full bar. So, my husband tried to order a boulvadier, but they said they couldn't make that. So he tried ordering a negroni, but the waiter came back again to say, "No, they can't do that." So finally, he just ordered an old-fashioned (this was bad too)! Please don't bother ordering drinks here if you're expecting craft or decently-made cocktails that a full service bar and its bartenders should be able to know and make. After many trips back and forth to our table, the waiter finally took our order about an hour after we sat down. As we waited for our food, I noticed the waiter running around refilling water glasses but touching the glass bottle of water to each customer's individual glass every time he went to a table! Disgusting! I lost my appetite then. Anyway, we got our food. Vegetables were dry, rice was undercooked, salmon was overcooked, and the salads were underwhelming. Cod had a weird taste, so I didn't finish it. Overall, I will not be visiting this place again because of the poor quality of food and service. They need a sanitary inspection or something asap. We paid $150 for four people and was not worth it at all. Do not eat here.

I had the worst meal of my life here this past Sunday. I ordered the Emerald Queen Special Chow Mein, and aside from the cheap boiled chicken and bits of uncooked noodle, it was covered in clear, gelatinous sauce that had no seasoning! Almost like the sauce on orange chicken, except no color or flavor. I’m not sure if it was made incorrectly and it was missing the flavor packet they use, but the dish I was served was inedible. I would have been happy with Panda Express quality food even at the $24 price, but this was unacceptable.

Awful. The worst restaurant food I have ever eaten. The clam chowder was so sour, the pasta was straight oil, the shrimp in the pasta was overcooked, the shrimp noodles had the texture of dirt, the shrimp noodles were heavily salted, the fried rice was bland, the calamari was mushy. This was the first time I tried this restaurant and I will never be coming back. For $30 for a shrimp scampi that was the size of a child’s plate, it was a true scam. I strongly recommend going to any other restaurant inside EQC. Avoid this place at all costs.

This was by far the worst "Chinese food" we've ever had. The restaurant itself is beautiful and the staff was very nice. The honey chicken tasted like they took old KFC chicken strips and slathered it in a honey glaze. The noodles were equally gross. We didn't complain or send it back because everyone else's food looked the same, so that's obviously just what it is, we didn't eat it. Just posting the review to save someone else the disappointment, it really was terrible. Maybe their American cuisine is better 🤷‍♀️

The disrespect on the food...a bunch of overly thick "coconut " sauce over the shrimp..gave my food a bad texture and the fruit cup on my plate.....for real.....and the unseasoned boring walnuts...I would not recommend this plate nor this place... the fact that this is a native casino with deeps roots I would have expected more of native staples to be on the menu...the fact that the back half of the menu was Chinese food.....ashame...I will not dine here ever again.... and this was my 3rd time..the first 2 trys I gave them the benefit of the doubt..my better half, his veggies where undercooked or just plain rock hard and raw served.... we both had a bad experience..

Horrible , we was seated an sat out booth for about 10minutes. An no one came an seen us to ask what we wanted to drink or anything. An they were taking people that came in after us. There was a server walking an looking at us an not once acknowledged us sitting there waiting for a server. I don’t like it 😡 . The service really needs to be better here. An no wonder why they have 2 stars and bad reviews. You don’t treat people like that. You could of came by our table an said someone will be with you in a minute. But nope nothing. If I could give 0stars I would

Today (Thursday - July 1st at 2:45pm) I came to place a to go order. I was next in line to order and a lady working walked over placing 2 people in front of me saying they had been there but waiting in the wrong spot to place a to go order. Though I had been waiting in the correct place to place my order. Those 2 guests took 15 minutes to place their order. The lady behind me was also commenting how weird is was that they placed them in front of us and how long they were taking to order. I myself had once gone to the other podium to place a to go order and the tall male manager told me to get in the back of the to go order line. So that was strike one. You need to be consistent either place people who don't know what their doing in front of the line or in back of the line. I order my sweet and sour chicken and was not given my players card discount though I used my card to pay. I paid the difference though there wouldn't have been a different had they given my discount. At this time I tip cash after I placed my order. after waiting an hour for my food I talk to a manager about not receiving the discount and he offers me a piece of cheesecake. The food is for my husband and he doesn't eat sweets and I'm eating keto. I wait a few more minutes outside the restaurant and see a lady picking up a huge order, I see her order number is 510. My order number was 504. I ask her if she waited over an hour for her food and she said "not at all." At this point I leave. So I'm out my $25 food credit, cash tip and the difference I was charged. Needless to say I will not be going back. You would think places that you spend a ton of money at would care a little more about keeping you around. Maybe if I hadn't had all of these issues in the same day it wouldn't have been such a big deal. The front of the restaurant really needs better policies and procedures so it runs smoothly and doesn't make customers upset. I have worked in food and beverage at MGM Grand, Caesar Palace, Palazzo and Snoqualmie casino. Had anyone ever had an experience like I did at EQC today I would have been embarrassed. I would have made it right before they threw in the towel and left.

The food was just fine, but the waitress was so unkind that it was not a pleasant meal. It took too long to ask for sauce and ask for something without asking often. It was very unpleasant because the attitude of paying attention to other tables and appearing indifferent to us seemed to be discriminated against.

I took my son to the MMA fight at the Emerald Queen, and I thought it would be nice to go early and have dinner. As a result, we decided to go to the Puyalapabs Café. This place was truly one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten at. My son and I passed by several times, and our order was not taken for almost 30 minutes. There were people that came after us and were being served before us. I hate calling the race card, but I can only wonder why my son and I (the only two black men in the restaurant) were passed by as if we were invisible. It wasn’t until one waiter came to our table and asked if our order had been taken yet that someone finally took our order. Might I mention there were waitresses with water bottles that skipped our table several times and went to fill up water at another table. Wow! You would think this day and time and state that profiling people would be a thing of the past, well it isn’t and that is exactly what happened here. Now the food. After all that wait, you would think the food would be worth it. What a joke. I ordered the Chinese sampler, and we got wood, freezer food that was microwaved and hot mustard. For dinner I ordered the garlic fried chicken and my son ordered the General Tso’s chicken. Wow, where do I start? My chicken tasted like TV dinner chicken with no flavor. My son took a few bites of his food and that was it. The best thing about this food was the glass of water. We paid the check, got to-go-boxes and threw the food in the nearest trash can. Look, save your time, money and taste buds and go somewhere else. This place should be shut down immediately. What a joke! All the money the Emerald Queen makes from gamblers, you would think they could afford a descent restaurant. I will never eat at this place again and I would highly encourage anyone else not to waste money or time. In closing, I probably have more money in my bank account than all the patrons that was there put together, so don’t profile people next time.

The seafood hot pot was absolutely tasteless, bland and rubbery. Ordered chicken as well, and had to return it, because it was pink and totally undercooked. They replaced it right away with beef and broccoli, but the meat had just an odd taste. The waitress was really sweet and apologetic, still wouldn’t spend my money here again.

Absolute disgrace. Came her thinking it would be well worth it for lunch with my wife and mother inlaw and that was a mistake. First off our waitress was okay not great but not horrible at least she was on top of the waters but not the beers. I ordered chicken chow mein, my noodles were a mix of burnt rock hard, under cooked rock hard and a couple decent ones, my chicken tastes like salt water and bok choy, baby corn was hard and it was no more than a handful of food not even a plate for $15. Then my wife did some pork chow mein thing noodles were same and her pork was over cooked hard and bland as well for $15 Then my mother inlaw got a shrimp cocktail that should have been a shrimp cup salad lol with only 5 pieces of shrimp for like $12 that's a joke and then a small bowl of clam chowder that barely had any clams and bland for $8. Never again I feel bad for anyone who actually spends there money to eat here. Worst experience I have had at any restaurant in a long time and for that price never again.

We both ordered the chicken fried steak and it was the worst chicken fried steak and eggs we have ever had! The gravy was like a Milky watery substance! My husband was talking to the server and she walked away! The hash browns were burnt pieces and rehydrated and mush in the middle! The chicken fried steak I don't know what it was it was not good!

When we first sat down we noticed that both our water glasses were dirty and had chunks on them. Pushed those off to the side and asked for clean glasses. The next two glasses that came out were also dirty (these we didn't mention and just pushed them off to the side. My wife goes to order and Our server interrupts her saying "hold on while I go get something". He then proceeds to serve 4 other tables. Finally he comes back to take our order. My wife orders a glass of wine....which also is served with a dirty glass. Food was okay. Not bad...but nothing special. The fried rice had shrimp shells which is kinda weird since the shells were from a normal side shrimp and the rice has the small salad shrimp. Overall, we will not be coming back.

Horrible experience. I went there with my boyfriend and another friend. They ordered drinks and I wasn’t ready to order my drink. When the server came back i asked for a glass of wine and he gave me an attitude cause he had to go back. Food was ok, but the server kept rushing me and giving me an attitude asking me if i need a box when i clearly told him that I’m still working on my meal. Top of the cherry was my boyfriend finding a HAIR underneath his pasta. The server called the manager and she said that none of the cooks have hair so it’s kind of weird, alluding that my boyfriend put the hair in there. We all work in the industry and are servers currently, so we rarely complain about anything, but that was just a HORRIBLE experience

Talesia was very unprofessional and unorganized. She doesn't know to prioritize customers in long line. She skipped people on line for dine in and assisted customers for take out. She let us stepped aside when we gad our turned. Imagine we were in line with everyone and how dare she to put us aside when our turn to be serve. She doesn't have good customer service. Need to send her to take a class or training.