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Ai Grill

4.4 (86 reviews)
Closed 5:00 pm - 11:00 PM

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AI GRILL ATMOSPHERE

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Intimate
Good for groups

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Skewers
Jabez P.

Got the toast, noodles and skewers with some beer. Servers were nice and attentive. The Area was clean and parking was accessible on the street. I thought the food was alright I enjoyed the chicken cartilage but the beef was a little mid. Lamb was decent too. Food is decently priced but nothing really surprised me considering it was Michelin rated. Would like to come back and try again

Skewers
Brandi H.

My friend and I have been wanting to find a chinese skewer spot in the bay area. We randomly found this place online and it was opened late so we decided to try it out. There is street parking in the front. We ordered beef, lamb, mushrooms, fish tofu, and chicken cartilage. Everything was pretty food. The lamb and chicken cartilage was probably my favorite. The fish tofu did seem too cold though, like it wasn't cooked all the way from frozen so that was a bit disappointing. They gave a black pepper sauce to dip with which was interesting and the usual cumin dry rub. Seems like they used to have the self cook skewers with the grill but not anymore? This was a good dinner spot. It is probably a good spot to hang out and eat with a big group. Service was attentive. The lady working the front was actually mopping up with the front door locked when we arrived so we did feel bad.

Enoki mushrooms
Violet Y.

Disappointed that they don't have rotating skewers anymore (their previous pics showed that), but the skewers they do have are delicious! Food comes out pretty fast and all of it was delicious. The lamb and enoki skewers were our favorite. The eggplant comes with lots of garlic and the zucchini comes with a Mentaiko sauce. The scallops with noodles also came with lots of garlic, it was yummy but a smidge greasy. The noodles also get a little stuck to the shell. You order everything on a QR code, so it's easy and chill. Definitely will be back since the skewer prices here are pretty affordable vs what's in the peninsula at other restaurants.

Lamb, Beef and Chicken Cartilage Skewers!
Hyper M.

Great tasty seasoned Chinese BBQ grilled skewers in a modern new Chinese bbq restaurant! Think Yakitori or KBBQ but Chinese style bbq. You can bring a group of friends and cook your own meat or order grilled skewers and food from the kitchen! Best of both worlds! Definitely coming back! Lounge/club vibes for tasty food and drinks with great service!

好消息来了开业之际,全场八折,本店名字:AI Grill ,地址:1621 El camino Millbrae CA 94030  我们热情期待你们的光临

这里是城中少见的高档东北烧烤店,只在夜晚营业。我们把地道的东北味道带到都市,用最优质的食材和精致的环境,为您呈现独特的夜晚烧烤体验。 夜幕降临,却有东北烧烤的豪爽滋味。高档舒适的环境,让聚会不只是吃饭,更是一次尽兴的欢聚。约会、聚会都拿捏;羊肉串+秘制蘸料,宵夜必入口就是烟火的灵魂味道; 再来一杯啤酒,快乐瞬间到位! 艹 夜晚限定营业,更有"深夜食堂"的神秘感; 吃的是烧烤,享受的是精改的夜晚。

Went there for dinner work my colleagues, we all liked the food, especially the bbq lamb and oysters , so good, freshly bbq, we chose all the meat with spicy(It's not that spicy). The Chinese pancake is good good too. Overall, the restaurant is very clean? Staffs are friendly, we will come back for sure.

Abalone in special sauce
Herman X.

My friend Brianda suggested this place and it was an excellent choice. We've never been to a barbecue skewer grill restaurant before so this was an experience. We ordered the abalone in secret sauce and the whole dish and sauce was delicious! We ordered a lot of the skewers like the abalone, quail eggs, chicken hearts, and some steak. We told our server (probably the owner) that we were new, and she told us how long to cook the food. She was very helpful! I liked the rotating skewers while it cooked. The food was absolutely delicious and the service was excellent. We also had the Momomo Peach Kotshiso which was delicious. 10/10 would recommend to anyone in the area and will definitely come back again!

Chicken, Beef, and Lamb Skewers
Jennifer W.

First off, the quality of the meats are amazing. My parents and I ordered their Set A to try a majority of the skewers. I absolutely loved their beef and lamb skewers. After grilling it, it completely melts in your mouth without much chew. They even had a Bun Slice skewer that was surprisingly a very tasty delicacy after roasting! I tried their super refreshing passion fruit green tea, which pairs so well with skewers. The service was amazing as well! The owner served us and talked through the menu, recommending her favorites and must tries. She spoke to us about her restaurant right next door as well. She was super enthusiastic about growing Ai Grill, which added to the experience. When our skewers came, she thought us how to grill them to get the perfect consistencies of each dish. This restaurant seems like the perfect place to hit up on a cold night with friends!

Charles W.

My girlfriend and I have craving skewers constantly this year as our comfort food and found this unique place not too far from San Francisco. Unlike traditional skewer places where it comes out hot and fresh directly to you, there's an automatic grill at each table that rotates the skewers so that every piece of flesh is grilled to your liking. We ordered Set A for $88.88 (and also added some other skewers and and eggplant) which was actually a lot of food for two people. The act of grilling the meat was also quite fascinating and fun, making this not just an "eating" experience.

Inside
Adele W.

I liked this place. Good vibes. Clean. Not a lot of tables, but fairly spacious. This place is great for groups! Bring your friends and family for a good time. This place is a little confusing though because I think they go by 2 names - Flame BBQ and Ai Grill. The food was pretty good, flavorful. Their ingredients are fairly fresh. Service was good. They brought out our items at a reasonable pace. Price is decent. One thing that this place does poorly is that they have poor ventilation. For a grill place, good ventilation is highly important, and it got quite stuffy in there at some point. Parking can be difficult, as it's on the Main Street. Luckily, I was able to find parking right outside.

Restaurant interior during opening time

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2 months ago

I tried manu of chinese food before and I liked them. But this restaurant has pretty bad service and ambience. I would not recommend it.

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Ask the Community - Ai Grill

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Z-One Kitchen - Pork & beef Chinese sandwich

Z-One Kitchen

(70 reviews)

I've always saw this restaurant in the corner of my eye when driving, and I finally got the chance…read moreto try it for their Chinese burger! This dish changed my life, the pork was so savory and it had small chopped up pieces of a spicy green pepper. I can't recommend it more! My dad also decided to try their chicken fried rice, and he told me it was delicious and packed with flavor. This is definitely a hidden gem, but I believe it deserves more hype! Staff were kind, and chef was humble and even took the time to walk over and deliver our food to us when we were just ordering to go!!! Give this place a chance if ya can!

Where do I start...from the casualness to the beer to the just the overall vibe...it's reminds me…read moreso much of my hometown Tianjin in the north. This place is kind of a hole in the wall with its self proclaimed "Texas BBQ" and location. Parking can be tough if the parking lot is full, and I wish they picked a better spot to open this shop. It's off the beaten path for most Chinese restaurants in the area. The prices for BBQ aren't exactly cheap, however that can all be mitigated since they offer AYCE at a price starting at $35 a person with drinks. I love their lamb skewers and chinese hamburger. Lamb skewers were seasoned to how I expected them - with a spice mix mainly consisting of cumin. I also like how they include a fatty piece just before the last piece, which is They also offer spicy powder on the side that you can shake on your order to make it more spicy. The Chinese hamburger was very flavorful and authentic and very cheap for the price - much more value than ANY fast food restaurant and a lot healthier! We also ordered a liangpi and cumin chicken, both which were decent. This place offers very fair prices for chinese BBQ if you consider AYCE, since I have yet been to a chinese BBQ place that offers AYCE. Food comes out pretty quickly, and service is welcoming, especially if you're familiar with northern chinese hospitality. If you can look past the fading decor, colored utensils, and overall hole in the wall vibe, this place is actually pretty good if you're from northern china and looking for a homely vibe! Just don't expect Texas BBQ even if its in the name.

Seoul Kalbi Korean BBQ - The spread

Seoul Kalbi Korean BBQ

(1.3k reviews)

$$$

I've been to SK a handful of times over the past couple of years, and I haven't been the biggest…read morefan, but after yesterday, I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than past visits! My biggest gripe from past visits was the lack of ventilation, which for a charcoal grill kbbq can really make or break the experience, but it seems that they've worked on ventilation and it's not as stuffy. We had a reservation at 6:30, and we were sat really quickly, and had banchan ready for us at the table. I'm not too picky with meat quality, but I did enjoy the selection, but keep in mind each portion is pretty small, which can be nice if you're looking to try a wide variety of meats. We decided to stick with the regular menu, and we were happy with the selections. The service here was excellent! They were extremely attentive and quick to check on us and refill our water and meats. We tried to reorder galbi, but didn't know we were limited to one per person for the menu we chose, but they brought out extra on the house which we really appreciated! It seems that they've improved dining experience here, and look forward to visiting again in the future!

came here for a friend's birthday, it's ayce bbq. as a pescatarian, options are kinda limited but…read moreyou can still get full off things like shrimp, fish, and all the sides (banchan, tofu soup, egg soufflé, etc). not the most variety for us but still works for group dinners. also heads up, it can get very smoky in there, so maybe don't wear anything you care about too much.

Smiling BBQ - BBQ Lamb, not bad! Kinda juicy from the fat

Smiling BBQ

(129 reviews)

$$

You walk into Smiling BBQ and the first thing you notice is... nothing flashy. No trendy decor. No…read moreInstagram walls. And that's exactly the point. This is what real Chinese BBQ skewers looks like. The kind of place that doesn't need to impress you with aesthetics because the food already knows what it's doing. Family-owned, family-run. The staff is the family. And you feel it immediately, like you've stepped into a small neighborhood restaurant somewhere between Hong Kong and mainland China. There's a warmth here that can't be manufactured. The menu is simple, but every bite takes you back. From the beer selection to the grilled oysters to the BBQ itself... it's all honest, soulful, and unapologetically authentic. The kind of food that reminds you why street-side spots and humble kitchens often outshine overpriced "modern" versions trying too hard to be something they're not. And let's talk value. For the price? You absolutely cannot beat this place. Other spots charge more, dress it up, and somehow deliver less. Here, the quality is front and center... smoky, savory, deeply satisfying. What really blows my mind is how hidden this place still is. A quiet gem tucked away, flying under the radar, waiting for people who actually care about flavor over frills. This isn't a restaurant chasing trends. It's a place preserving something real. And honestly? That's rare.

So here it is coming from Sunday night working up a small appetite for supper- I definitely had to…read morethink about where to go and so I thought about it -"Let's try something different, but not too far off" and so I landed at a restaurant I always wanted to try after passing by many times - the Smiling BBQ at El Camino Real - and it should have a specific caption lol, "Beifang/Northern Chinese BBQ." So I went in around 8pm not to bad - a very cozy down to earth feeling, restaurant was clean and also had that Northern Chinese vibe. The restaurant was family owned so the manager basically just spoke Putonghua/Mandarin - talkabout like lowkey down to earth (it's as if you gotta be really into the Chinese vibe to get the experience at this joint ). Restaurant was super clean actually for a Chinese place, "chuu bian juo"-or what he said was "have a seat anywhere," (I should've asked do they have maotai and cigarettes lmao like in Chinese fashion-cigarettes and alcohol accompany meals --what a tradition). So I took a little time and decided ultimately go with mainly what the place was for - BBQ. NOW THE FOOD- I'd say that is a definite 4.5 solid for me - VERY GOOD AND SUPER AUTHENTIC - solid Northern Chinese skewers - I recommend the lamb skewer (yang ro), beef skewer (nuur ro), chicken wing (jichi), squid skewer (wuzei) and of course traditional homestyle chives-stuffed pancake (jiou chai he ji). I wasn't sure as this was my first time I wasn't sure how big the portions are so I also ordered what is a "guozi" or fried egg pancake roll just-in-case. To my surprise everything was actually super well grilled - smokey - flavorful . The beef was cooked well and the skewers has a good balance of fat-to-lean meat content, for $5 pricepoint for 2x skewers, not a bad deal at all. The lamb was also super flavorful, not gamey (which is plus) and was juicy not dry. All good and the chicken wings skewer of 2x wings was also grilled semi-crispy with some seasoned spices (love the flavor and aroma). The squid was also marinated well in a sweet glaze before and was not overly cooked so it had texture/not too dry. Now onto the chives pancake and gouzi/fried egg pancake roll. Both were homemade and they were decent. Chives stuffed pancake had a decent texture and for 2x pcs not bad. The guozi was stuffed with some sausages/hotdog and pretty decent for a side dish-sweet sauce was good with the bbq. NOW THE AMBIANCE-ultimately a 4/5 because it was nice, it was clean, but the way they served the food was really lowkey as the plate was nonexistent they simply give you a tray at each table. Sorta interesting. But the utensils and everything was clean so thats good. THE SERVICE - now this is anywhere around 4/5 I would say the owner. Was nice and friendly but really - you might wanna communicate in Putonghua/Mandarin like I did - I mean you could use English as there electronic smart phone menu is in English and Chinese - but to talk to them effectively - I'm glad my Chinese linguistics sorta came in handy. Ultimately very down to earth people - when I asked for water and napkins they were very helpful and accommodating. Ultimately - the is a good place. Definitely worth to visit time and again.

Han Sang - Gal Bi Jjim

Han Sang

(480 reviews)

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I heard a lot about Han Sang in Millbrae before, a solid Korean place. And my experience was indeed…read morereally great, everything we ordered hit, there were no bad dish at all! I went around 8pm on a weekday and place was packedddd, but the service was impressive. All of our dishes came out all at one, within 5-10 minutes after ordering. What I had: Yuk hwe (beef tartare with pears and egg yolk): If you're hesitant about raw beef, please don't be. It's honestly just like eating sashimi. Wagyu meat was incredibly tender, sweet, and melted in my mouth. It was mixed with some kind of seasoning sauce and egg yolk, so savory and addictive I couldn't stop. Highly recommend you should try it if you can eat raw food Bossam: Great but I found it a bit too fatty (meat-to-fat ratio was like 50:50 ). My favorite way to eat was wrapping it in lettuce with garlic (extraaa), jalapeno, kimchi, and ssamjang. It also went well with rice. Big bite was super satisfying Galbi tang: Something we ordered to balance things out (2 previous dishes was just heavy), and it was a perfect decision. The soup was light, clean, and deeply comforting. Beef short ribs were super tender. I like to eat with a big spoon, ribs, rice, kimchi then dipped in the warm soup, perfect!!! I also appreciate that they serve complimentary warm tea, which was perfect for a cold day like today. Portions are generous, we had plenty of leftovers. Would definitely come back.

I have been a fan of Han Sang as an alternative to Daeho in the past for the Kalbijim. However,…read morethis time we decided to try other dishes for lunch. The hubs ordered their soon tofu soup and I order the bibimbap. The food was that flavor wise, it was decent. The bad, and reason for low rating, is due to the portions and lack of ingredients. For $25 per dish, you would expect the same amount of protein, veggies, etc as other restaurants. We were shocked seeing how little beef and other ingredients were in our meals. Literally, the skirt of beef in my bibimbap was less than one spoonful. It was made up by increase amount of veggies either. I know inflation is causing everything to be more expensive, but this feels a bit ridiculous. We'll probably not return, at least not for those items. Perfects the noodle dishes and soups still have hearty portions?

Jinweide Lanzhou Beef Noodles - Braised beef noodles with wide noodles

Jinweide Lanzhou Beef Noodles

(268 reviews)

$$

I love Lanzhou pulled noodles, and Jinweide is no exception. Once you arrive, you are able to scan…read morea QR code to order. I got the potato salad and the zhajiangmian, and my boyfriend got the Lanzhou beef noodles and pork burger. I wish they put the components of the dish in the menu online so you could opt out, because both my zhajiangmian and potato salad came with bean sprouts (which I hate!!). I just picked through all of them and ate the remaining dish afterwards- the potato salad was yummy and the zhajiangmian was savory and came with lots of minced pork! My boyfriend enjoyed his Lanzhou beef noodles a lot, the beef was tender and the broth was incredibly flavorful and delicious. He liked the pork burger a lot as well, they did not skimp on the meat and the bun was fluffy! I would highly recommend this dish to anyone, it's a classic that is done well! This is a great addition to the downtown Millbrae array of authentic Chinese restaurants, I will be coming back!

Delicious Chinese food in Millbrae! I was craving some lamb skewers and came by this place around…read moredinner time. It was quite packed on a Friday night but we got seated pretty quickly. We ordered on the phone and paid on the phone as well. The food then came one by one. I got the beef noodle soup special with the smashed cucumbers and the lamb skewer. The lamb was perfectly cooked and super tender. The cumin balances out the lamb very well. The bao was decently OK, nothing really stands out about it in my opinion. The noodles are al dente in the beginning and the broth gives warmth. The chili oil noodles are even better, it is delicious and smells super fragrant of scallion and onion. I would get the dry noodle dish again if I go back! Overall, the experience is positive and I would go back for the dry noodle and the lamb skewer! The prices are reasonable as well.

Mokutanya - Teba (Chicken Wing Mid Joint)

Mokutanya

(2.5k reviews)

$$

We went here on a Friday without a reservation and probably waited for about 15-20 minutes since we…read morewanted the nice booth where you have to remove your shoes. We were definitely cool with this because they gave us the option instead of just sitting at a regular table. Parking was bad. Their lot is very small, so expect to park on the street or the train station lot. Just don't get ticketed. We definitely did not expect their setup here; it was actually really cool and very cozy. This is the first time my boyfriend and I have actually tried yakitori izakaya, and it was really good. We ordered a couple of things; some were good, and some were okay. Service was good, and the servers were pretty attentive. Appetizer: Geso Karaage (Fried Squid Tentacle)- We ended up returning this dish. It wasn't very good. Honestly, it was too chewy for our liking. Miso soup, Edamame- Both are good. The miso soup was tasty and not at all salty. Meat: Akaushi Beef (Salt & pepper, sweet) Butabara (pork belly) Kurobuta sausage (non-spicy) Salmon Snake River Wagyu (salt & pepper, sweet) All the meat and pork were very tasty. I do think it is a bit pricey per stick. The salmon was okay. The sausage is a must; I highly recommend it. Dessert: Vanilla Creme brulee- really good and not too sweet. I definitely recommend this place. Is it pricey, yes, but the quality of the meat is pretty good. I also like that this place is open late, especially on the weekends.

It's been almost a decade since I've came back and from what a recall I used to enjoy this…read morerestaurant. Unfortunately much has changed within that time and quality of food and service has went downhill since. I ordered the salt and pepper beef and asked for it to be well done due to being pregnant. I'm unable to eat any meat that is undercooked. The waitress appeared extremely annoyed with the request to the point that my relative had to speak up and tell her I'm pregnant. I don't feel I need to explain the reasons why I'm asking for the food to be recooked and with that experience alone, it already ruined my appetite. Then my husband proceeded to order two more skewers. And of course, the waitress completely forgets to put that order in and we end up waiting almost another hour for it to be cooked. Mind you, it was not busy at all. The whole experience was terrible. I won't be coming back. Only reason I'm giving it two stars is because of their fries which was the only thing I enjoyed out of their entire menu.

Ai Grill - bbq - Updated May 2026

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