For being our first Mongolian brunch I was impressed. Many options and you can create your own dish. Mary M, our waitress was excellent very attentive. Juan, she is a keeper !!! read more

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Good food.. the "make your bowl" process was a little confusing to those in my group who've never been but overall a pretty good experience and good customer service read more

If you're DIY kinda person, this place is for you. FTG has a unique concept, where the server will hand u a pop sickle stick with your name, table no. and choice of meat on it. You take a bowl and stick to the veggies counter, choose your carb(rice/noodles), veggies(pretty good choices), and ginormous no. of sauces. The assorted no. of sauces is the selling point according to me. You can take a good 3-4 spoonful of sauces and mix it up. I personally liked their house sauce with a mix of teriyaki, pad thai and black bean sauce. The only irksome part about this pan asian concept is that, you have to fill up everything, in 1 single bowl. I would've preferred selecting the sauces in a different bowl or maybe just listing them out. Gets little sticky and unmanageable. Been here twice now, and have mixed feeling about their service. Was taken care of pretty well on my first time, but the 2nd time, server was in some kinda hurry. He handed us the check in hand, without the folder to place the credit card in. To be fair, it was the peak lunch hour and this place gets crowded at the food counter. read more

Flat Top Grill - Chicken with veggies, noodle and bread, lettuce wraps on the side. Sauces: teriyaki, flat top grill sauce, hot and sour sauce - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Rude management The rice was basically stuck to the bottom of the pot. I asked for fresh rice and she stated it will take an hour for rice to get done. I read more

Absolutely terrible. I picked up an order for takeout and I placed it all online. The description online did not match my order. I called back to let them know that their menu said did not match my order and seemed to blame it on me. And didn't offer to make it right. Fix your online menu to match what your cooks are actually making!! This clearly says it comes with chicken, steak and shrimp, yet I was told I needed to write which one I wanted in the comments. Never been here before so I didn't know. Never will be coming back to this place again. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place was great! We came here as a group on a recommendation from someone in the group. We got here about 15 minutes before it opened but the staff let us come inside early because it was raining. I liked the idea of creating my own stir-fry and it was fun to make different combos. The food was delicious and the wait staff was great. Will definitely be coming back! read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Doesn't look like much and the food match!! fried combo rice was the worst we ever had! The bangkok entree was nothing like i expected, looked like something I would give to my dog!! No taste!! Will not recommend or go again at least this location!!! read more

I have to give this 4 stars for the value alone. The lunch bowl (you can choose steak! even scallops!) is $10 and you can get a student discount on top of that. I paid $10 AFTER taxes which is a miracle in Chicago. The whole set up is really confusing so I'll explain as best I can. You get a stick with a piece of paper that says what kind of meat you want. You leave that on the side while you fill your bowl at the bar with as much as you want. Make sure you pile it high as they give you a bigger bowl once they cook your things with the meat you chose. You can then add as much sauce as you want by mixing and matching from an array. At the end, you go to the grill and there you can choose some colored sticks to add even more things to your meal (for free!). For example, I added roti and eggs. Then they cook it all for you and then bring out your meal in a large bowl. This is a great place because you can choose whatever you fee like eating. There are a ton of meat options and different vegetables and sauces if you feel like getting creating. And this is an awesome value for the amount of food you get! I would definitely come here again. read more

This was the worst fried rice I have ever had in my entire life. Seriously, run from this place and don't let the dicey reviews trick you. My fried rice has this shrimp and chicken, plus this terrible low grade beef, that had this hint of earthy liver taste to it. There were strange jarred red peppers (the kind with the vinegar) that they literally mixed in the fried rice along with canned sweet corn. The whole thing was super weird. On top of it, the price was steep. No thanks. read more

1. Terrible service; it took our waiter, Victor, a long time to come take our order (after I got up and asked if we were going to be serviced). He barely checked on us. It was not crowded, so I'm not sure what he was doing. 2. There were gnats and fruit flies flying over the food while we fixed our bowls. 3. When we ordered shrimp as one of the meat choices, Victor did not inform us that it would cost more than the other proteins. Extra charges should be notified in advance. That pissed me off the most because you can't dispute something that you've already eaten, and when you get the bill. I do not recommend. Sadly, there were more locations and now I understand why they are down to 2. read more

After losing my order (while my friend got his), the manager gave me an options either she could take it off the bill (which should have happened anyway) or I could make a new bowl and they would expedite it... it was not at all expedited, and took another 30 minutes. I reminded her that they never gave my friend the extra roti he ordered, and she said no problem I'll make sure he gets it. She did not do that. I finally got my food after everyone was done eating. And at the end they charged for everything on top of the extra roti we never got, and when I reminded the waitress she said "oh I can bring it for you to go". We asked can you just take it off the bill instead, and she said let me check. Luckily she did take the roti off the bill. Staff there did not care at all about their mess up. Also it was not the cooks fault, he cooked by himself for the entire restaurant. read more

It reminds me of the time at college, I love this! My friend took here and I would definitely come back again! read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This was great! I get so excited and enjoy eating at restaurants that do things a little differently. So when they give you your bowl, they also give you sticks so you can write what choice of protein you want on it. Then you go to the food bar. Where they have a huge variety of veggies and topping and sauces to put. After I chose exactly what I wanted in my bowl. You go to the grill section and leave your bowl. You also have the option to add different color plastic sticks in your bowl and they'll know if you have a certain food allergy or if you're vegan and other important details. You can also add roti or breads to your bowl. Then when it's ready they bring the bowl to your table. I loved it! So sad they don't franchise and expand. We would loveeee for you guys to open a flat top in Miami Florida! read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I do like that they allow creat your own because it takes into account all diet restrictions! But if you're looking for a flavorful place, this wouldn't be my first go to! You only get flavors you decide to mix in. A lot of the sauces have a lot of salt, so watch out on dumping sauces! Service wasn't terrible, but could be improved! We went on a weeknight and not very busy, but our waiter took way too long to return to the table and check in on us. A few of us wanted to ordered more drinks or get refills on waters! read more

This place is a weird toss-up that combines choice foods across Asia onto one menu. I'm from Los Angeles, and this is a Midwest chain. It's basically a Mongolian BBQ grill but with roti bread, assorted protein (whitefish, scallops, andouille sausage, chicken, beef), and Asian sauces (coconut curry, pad thai, hoisin). You pick a protein (or do half and half), get a wooden stick with your name and protein order, and walk you, your stick, and your bowl over to the self serve station. You then pile your bowl with as much veg, carbs (rice noodle, egg noodle, brown rice, white rice, quinoa), and soy protein. You drench your food in 3-4 ladles of your choice sauce and then put some plastic sticks in your bowl depending on what you want. I'd recommend 2 ladles of pad thai sauce and 1 ladle of peanut. It's sweet and compliments the food without overpowering it. Pros: I get to pick what goes in my bowl, how much sauce, etc. which is great! Watermelon radish is a nice touch. I like that scallops and whitefish were protein options. The food was delicious. Cons: Bowl isn't that big. It is seriously such a weird assortment of pan Asian foods that I'm hesitant to rate this place any higher than 4 stars. I looked at the menu like, is this what the Midwest thinks of Asian food??? That it's not distinct by countries (or even regions) and can just be thrown together to make a meal? The restaurant conjures up memories of watching people eat fried rice and noodles together, and makes me shudder a little bit. Otherwise the crowd here is more diverse than I've seen in the rest of downtown Chicago, so it's food for thought--literally. Even though it's supposed to be a quick meal, the food took longer than expected (like 20 minutes are so). read more

The food is not good. I got the build your own bowl. I selected food i normally like and I didn't care for the food at all. I initially asked for water which tasted soapy so i ordered lemonade. The wait staff was okay but did not go out of the way to help. I won't go back and I don't recommend it. read more

I enjoyed my lunch at Flat Top and find the concept to be quite appealing. It will take a few trips to really experience everything the menu has to offer but it's my sense that, overall, your meal will be worth the price tag. Flattop is somewhat of a medium between a grab and go lunch and sitting down at a full service restaurant. I can't vouch for their dinner menu or experience but I would indeed recommend this venue for lunch. read more

Been to the north Ave location when it was still there never had calamari before the freshest I ever ate all the food is water fresh very delicious best Asian food I ever had in my life read more

I did enjoy my meal here. It was very good, and I liked that I could make my own stir fry. The process is pretty easy once they walk you through everything. Service was good. My only complaint would be that it was a little dirty in the restaurant for my tastes. The bathroom was pretty bad, but the place needs a good scrubbing. read more

Rate 1-10= 10 I went in for the first time to eat a bowl! Let me Tell you... the luxury to customize your personal bowl is amazing! I'm a picky eater and I was able to enjoy it all! read more

Coworker and I came here for lunch. What I like: pick my protein, pick my veggies, pick a style (noodles, rice, in a taco, etc), pick my sauces all by myself with no judgement on my lack of veggies. You put your marked bowl on the table and the cook takes your creation and it is returned to your table. The warm buttery bread was the best!! If your food comes out dry, you can get more sauce. I had chicken and the portion was more than decent. They serve alcohol. Price is nice as well. What I don't care for: the wait. Going in on a lunch hour along with everyone else will hurt your feelings! If the line to place your food on the table is long, no control whose gets on the grill when. It could take your entire lunch hour like the poor folks next to us who wound up taking it to go after shoveling two mouthfuls in. We happened to catch the tail end so we were lucky and I saw my bowl go on the grill. Still had to wait a decent amount of time but it was purely for cooking the chicken and not the jockeying for grill space. Tables are tight. Overcrowding of people waiting for to go orders spilled throughout the place which makes it uncomfortable for everyone. read more

So this place is essentially a Mongolian stir-fry. You order your protein, then you go to the buffet line and pile all you want into a tiny bowl. Then you put in the marinades that you want (and make sure you taste it first). You should put in at least 3 scoops to ensure you get a flavorful dish. The buffet options are carbs like rice or pasta and a bunch of different veggies and some fruits. Overall, it was decent. Service was prompt and friendly. read more

Took my new team to lunch. Arrive before noon otherwise it's bananas. I had no idea they take reservations. Weirdest thing is that our waiter didn't show and we recruited someone else to help us out. Dwight is amAzing and totally deserved the 15%. I would've tipped 20% but the way my company reimbursement process is set up. Either way I'll be returning and I definitely encourage you to eat here if you're in the area. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Avoid. Caution. Run. The only reason I am giving them a 2 is because the server was extremely kind. Otherwise, it was slow and my friend rice (how do you mess up fried rice???) for was possibly the worst think I have consumed this year. Not worth your money, time, or tastebuds. read more

I love flattop but please cook your chicken! The last three times I've been it's undercooked. The server said "that's how they cook it"... I'm happy to return but I want to be able to eat the chicken!! Roti Bread was wonderful as a usual. Update: I returned and the food was much better. The server I usually have is wonderful and always remembers me. A great spot for a quick be theatre dinner in the loop. read more

Delicious food! Could use a bit more nuance, but that's from the carry-out experience; if you're at the restaurant, you build your own bowl. Another nice thing: I specified on my carry out how spicy I wanted my meal on a scale of 1 to 10, and -- for interpreting a stranger's instructions --- they did really well. Some spots are too timid even when you request a certain level of heat; Flat Top might have erred a tiny bit on the timid side, but not bad! Thanks, folks. Carry-out orders take a little while, so be patient. They have a few seats for people awaiting their orders. read more

I ordered take out online. It was expensive and they didn't notify me when the order was ready so I eventually just went inside to find out that it was already ready to go. The food was still hot and tasted great. The staff was friendly. Overall a good visit, just a bit expensive but that's to be expected in the city. Location was conveniently close to Millennium Park! read more

The ambiance and cleanliness of this establishment left me in awe as I grabbed my partner and left. Fixing your long uncovered hair before grabbing menus and seating people.. really? Bon Chance !! read more

Went for lunch. The food was cooked well - flavor is kind of up to what you pick for sauces. There's a large section of toppings. I will say piling items into the bowl requires technique (or you can get the limitless bowl). My recommendation is start with light greens and then pile heavier items on top like bamboo to squish them down a bit. Add your main carb last on top (noodle or rice). Only complain was that I stuck the stick for extra egg, but could barely find a piece of egg in my dish. The staff was courteous and very speedy. read more

Meh. This place use to be good years ago but not anymore. We walked in and immediately sighted food dropped on the floor where the toppings are and around the grill area as well. The cleaning bucket near where they have the rice smelled really old and disgusting. I put my food in and when I received my bowl there wasn't any meat in it, they forgot. So by the time the meat was cooked my bowl was cooling down. Food was okay but I think it would have tasted better had the meat been cooked with the sauce and veggies. We left around 10pm and they were cleaning the floors with very strong cleaning chemicals that started making me cough. My friend ordered the brownie ice cream sundae and the brownie taste like an off brand boxed brownie mix and it wasn't even warm. It wasn't moist either like it was sitting around all day. Ice cream wasn't really good and really lacked flavor. Doubt I'll be back anytime soon. We had potstickers that were good and the only thing I liked. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place has a good vibe and a good idea. The execution is another thing. It's a Mongolian BBQ/Stir Fry concept. You pick your protein, fill your bowl with veggies, rice or noodles and a few ladles of sauces. They then take the food and cook it and bring it back to you. We ordered two bowls as well as beef skewers for an appetizers. The appetizers needed more flavor. Very bland. The bowls came back to our table with many items we did NOT put in our bowl! Chicken in the bowl of shrimp., broccoli, corn and noodles- none of which were included in our bowls. Where did these items come from?? There are two possibilities, either they came from someone else's bowl or they were leftover items on the grill. Either way, kind of gross. I must mention, the servers were very kind and the service overall was good. But as much as I'd like to give this place a better review, their quality control (and taste) need to be taken up a notch before we would try this place again. read more

I had to write a review because this is by far the worst tasting food I ever ate. I ordered the supreme fry rice and a create your own stir fry because you know I'm a little picky. But my god, how did they f***ed that up. The food was bland. No flavor at all. For a little visual it look and taste like a bunch of left over food tossed together and bomb stir fry. I was highly disappointed. My total with taxes and fee included was $40. I never felt so hurt about food before. So disappointed. read more

This place is freakin awesome!!!!! We came around noon and the place wasnt very full which was nice. More service time for us. =) Our waiter came around to us and explained how things worked. There is a wooden stick on the table with your table number on it. With a pencil on the table, write your name on the stick, grab a bowl, fill it with food (they have noodles, rice, veggies, meats, seafood, and sauces) and put the wooden stick in it. You can also choose to add bread, egg, shrimp skewer, etc. You can even make your food into a wrap!!!!! So many options here. After they finish stir frying your food, they will bring it to you. If you get stuck on what to pick or what sauce to use, there is usually someone around that can help. They have a lot of staff at this location which I thought was awesome! If you want one bowl the cost is $8.99. For unlimited, you pay a $1 more. We got unlimited of course! But could only fill our bellies with two bowls. If you end up not eating all your food and want to take it home, it will cost another $4.59. So make sure not to waste food! The drinks here were yummie. My server suggested the desert pear drink. It was delicious!! He saw my initial hesitation to order the drink and offered to switch it to something else if I didnt like it. What great service!!!! He came by multiple times to make sure things were going ok. Overall a great experience! I would definitely come back! read more

Let me start by saying this really isn't about the food, but the experience and service. Flat Tops food has always been good. The food line was clean, everything was filled and at a place like this, it's your own fault if you don't like your meal....for the most part. Now, on to my experience. My friend and I went here for lunch this afternoon, it was later in the day, around 2:00pm, so it wasn't overly crowded. The hostess sat us down at a high top and asked us if we have been there before. We have. Our server came, and at first we thought he was nice. He took our drink order and said we could go ahead and start. My friend and I made our bowls, she is gluten free, so she loves places like this. I got the mushu wraps and 2 roti breads. When we went back to our table, our drinks still weren't there... fine, no big deal. A little while later, our server finally brought out our drinks. We knew our food would take longer because hers is cooked in a wok and mine have to be wrapped up into delicious little burritos. A food runner brought our food out and no roti bread. Our drinks were near empty and there was no sign of our server. We continued on, cautiously sipping away expecting our server to show up at any moment to ask how our meal was or to refill our drinks. After about 15 minutes, he finally arrives. I ask for some roti bread as they had forgotten and refills on our drinks. He quickly ran from the table. 5 more minutes go by and the manager brings by the bread. We ask her for our drinks and she said she would have them out right away. Never happened. We were abandoned. Left to deal with a liquid-less lunch. Another 10 minutes go by and our server magically appears, we ask for a third time for our drinks to where he pulls out a pitcher and just fills our now empty cups with water... we didn't have water, we had a lemonade... and he rushes off into oblivion before we could make a sound. At this point we are just annoyed and want to get out of there. Our bowls are empty and our water almost gone. What seemed like forever, our server appears with the check. I give him my card and again, not to be seen for another 15 minutes! Now I would understand if they were busy or if it was during a lunch rush, but it wasn't. There was no excuse for this server to keep playing this disappearing act. Sadly, it ruined it for me. What we thought would be a 30-45 minute lunch turned into an 1:30 minute magic show....that we didn't ask for. What a shame, because like I said earlier, the food is good, but you dear server, sucked! read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

If you're in need of something more hearty than a sandwich, but also want to get in your serving of veggies, Flat Top might just be the right spot. Lunch specials are under $10. You pick your own rice/noodles, veggies, and meat and pile your bowl high, leave it at the counter for them to stir-fry. Be sure to put a blue pin in your bowl at the counter to get their delicious roti prata bread. Service is friendly. Wait times are not too bad, never more than 5-10 minutes. Seating is a bit tight but that's just because they have a small space. Great place for lunch. read more

Welcome to the Loop, FTG! On September 21, the brilliant folks at Flat Top will open this gem for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We swung by their complementary practice lunch for a preview, and I was thrilled for several reasons. 1: TWO serving lines, y'all. Because one bummer about the other locations is the amount of time you have to stand in line waiting for people to craft their perfect meal. And then not wanting to hold up the line while you create YOUR perfect meal. I always wave for people to go around me; they never do... With two lines filled to the brim with identical fixins, they're making this whole "quick workday lunch @ FTG" thing a possibility. Good thinking, Loop location. 2: Lotttts of veggies. Enough to make me say, enough already. And many I've never seen at other FTGs. All this plus their brilliant faux meat options (Quorn, seitan, +2 others) plus meat-meats and calamari. 3: More colored stick options. Including one to add eggs to your stir fry--of course! (Oh and if you're new to this, ALWAYS use the roti prata bread stick. Always. 4: Tasty appetizers and desserts. I still find the concept of ordering appetizers at a AYCE place pretty silly, but they're good. The quesadilla appetizer inspired me to branch out from the usual Asian-influenced stir fry I normally create-- now it's all about Mexican-style veggies, Quorn, horseradish tofu + black bean sauce, lots of shredded cheddar with the roti prata bread. Heavenly. And should you save room, the signature brownie with homemade whipped cream is devine. 5: Flavored lemonades & teas. I cannot recommend highly enough the chipotle pineapple lemonade. Just enough bite to highlight how refreshing it is. Other flavors include pomegranate, mango, and desert pear. The grill remains under $9 for lunch, $3 for the flavored drinks. Student discounts plus a free meal on your birthday and for joining their email list. And rumor has it they're going to do breakfast every. day. of. the. week. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I love this restaurant.I make sure I eat here atleast once whenever I am visiting family in Chicago. The concept is different yet simple.They give you a bowl and have a large spread of raw ingredients like rice/noodles/veggies/sauces etc.You fill the bowl however much you can and then take it to the grill to be stir-fried where you can choose your style -like you want it a wrap or soup or just stir-fry.And can also ask to add any protein whether meat or tofu etc.And they make it and bring it to the table. The cocktails and appetizers are good too(last time I filled up on veggie quesadillas,which was scrumptious) and food is always more than enough even though I fill my bowl loosely.you can get much more food in that I believe.I love that it's totally customizable.I love the spicy sauces there and they have marked the vegan sauces too.My family and I are vegetarians and appreciate that they have an option where we can ask for our food to be cooked on a separate grill. Love this place.Try it for a different experience and tasty food.you will not be disappointed! read more

Flat Top Grill - Nice cocktail - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Outstanding! I had dinner here Saturday night with out of town friends and their 2 year old. We wanted to be close to Millennium Park so we could walk around and look at everything. I was surprised by how busy they were! At 5pm they said it would be a 45 minute wait. The 2 year old started screaming, so I asked if I could leave my cell phone number with them and we could take him outside for a walk. Less than 30 minutes later I got a call saying our table was ready! (It was perfect timing, since everyone was getting cold). Our server was wonderful! He was really patient with the 2 year old, didn't mind that we were in a rush and being rude (a huge table was seated right before us, so we were in a rush to beat them to the lines). The food was really good. I am normally terrible at picking my own sauce combinations. Not to worry, they had suggestions on the flyer at the table! (Yes, I did carry it with me through the line). So all in all, the hostess was wonderful, the server was great, the food was delicious (and came with helpful suggestions), and the place was loud enough that the 2 year old at our table was not too disruptive. It was a great night out! read more

A fun meal concept. And coming from SF, a $9.99 lunch seemed incredibly cheap, especially when you can really get a giant bowl out of it! They're good at explaining how it works if it's your first time, but it's also useful going with friends who've bene before so they can tell you their own tricks of the trade. Here are some tips: - Stack even more in your main bowl but doing veggies first, then putting the noodles on top. The noodles act as kind of a net that holds everything in place. Then the sauce just soaks into it. - Add PLENTY of sauce. Even if it seems like overkill, your bowl will taste really bland without enough sauce! I did about 4 scoopfuls (between the tomato, thai peanut, and a curry one. It was fantastic). - MIX your sauces! Test it out by adding your combos into the little plastic containers getting it mixed thoroughly by and pouring back and forth between to containers. You can ask someone to help you out with choosing a sauce, and that's what they do to taste it! - GET THE ROTI it's delicious!!! You have to add an extra stick. - The lettuce rolls are a nice option - you just get an extra plate of lettuce and you can wrap some of your into those and eat it in a different style! - MEATS: The Filipino Sausage was fantastic. The beef was really great too. Here's my delicious bowl: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/flat-top-grill-chicago-7?select=5tzzpeSyPYg8-qdvdgCc-w#5tzzpeSyPYg8-qdvdgCc-w read more

Flat Top Grill - My delicious bowl! Sauces: tomato, thai peanut, and a curry one. Sunday lunch, 2014-11-23 - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Terrible service, the alleged administrator was totally inappropriate. First time at the restaurant and no one explained to us how it worked, my husband gave me a taste of his dish and they charged us double for having tried it. On no side of the menu does it say that the dish is untouchable nor do the waiters explain the conditions. read more