2/5 -- Disappointing first experience…read more
I spent hours researching Korean BBQ restaurants to find the best place to take my family, and ultimately chose Gyubee because of its high ratings. Unfortunately, our first experience was very disappointing all four members of my group will never return.
We went as a group of 4 at 4 PM on a Wednesday, and since it was our first time, we expected the staff to explain how everything worked. Instead, we were simply told to scan the QR code. The ordering system was unnecessarily complicated: you have to scroll through the menu on your phone and verbally place your order, while also specifying how many people at the table want each item. For AYCE with 4 people, we found this confusing and frustrating. A tablet or paper ordering system would have been much more efficient.
The QR menu also had virtually no descriptions. When we asked our server what certain meats were, she couldn't explain them and essentially told us to "just try it." That's not reasonable when you're paying for food you don't finish. We also had difficulty getting explanations about how to cook some of the meats. Communication with our server was extremely difficult; multiple times we asked questions and received a smile and "OK" without an actual answer.
The meat itself was decent, but there wasn't much variety that we enjoyed. We found ourselves ordering the same few items repeatedly, and many of the meats tasted very similar. The sides and appetizers were much more disappointing. Everything seemed to be covered in sugar. Both variations of their fries we tried were covered in sugar and seemed undercooked, and even things as simple as bean sprouts tasted off. There simply weren't many sides we wanted, so we ended up eating mostly meat and rice. Which was disappointing for the cost.
The grill changes were another major issue. During our 2-hour dining period, while we were still actively cooking, the server came over several times, lifted the grill with a tool, shook the food onto the new grill, and removed the old one. This happened around 4-5 times. Food that was still cooking was lost in the process, meaning we had to reorder and start cooking again. With such a strict time limit, this felt especially unnecessary.
We were also told with 30 minutes remaining that if we wanted dessert, we had to order it immediately -- while we were still eating dinner and ordering more meat. I understand having a last call, but requiring us to decide on dessert while we were still actively eating felt excessive. The one-ice-cream-per-person limit also felt unnecessarily stingy for the price.
We were also disappointed to find there was no sushi available despite seeing sushi listed online, and the QR menu we received appeared different from what we had seen beforehand.
Overall, the experience felt overly complicated and restrictive. The meat was decent, but it wasn't enough to make up for the confusing ordering system, lack of menu descriptions, difficulty communicating with staff, limited sides, repeated grill changes, and strict time restrictions.
I chose Gyubee specifically because of its high ratings and spent a lot of time deciding where to take my family. Unfortunately, we all left feeling disappointed. Maybe other locations are different, but based on this experience, I wouldn't return or recommend it.