Korean BBQ Town — Restaurant in St. Catharines

Fake Charcoal Grill, Forced Tips – Wouldn’t Recommend because of INGENUINESS

We went to Korean BBQ Town near closing time, about 30 minutes before they shut down. Before heading over, we called ahead to ask if they’d still be able to serve us. The owner seemed nice on the phone and told us we could come in. However, when we arrived, he rushed us immediately, handed us a QR code to order from, and said, “I’m only doing this for you.” It felt like he was in a hurry, even though we had already asked in advance if he was okay with serving us.

We ordered AYCE (All You Can Eat) and, in the middle of it, he gave us what he called an “exclusive” tour of the charcoal grills. He made a big deal about how authentic they were. However, we had already read reviews that said they’re just for show and that the restaurant buys pre-cooked, charcoal-grilled chicken from Costco and sells it as their own. We laughed about it and decided to enjoy the meal anyway.

When the food arrived, we noticed something strange—it was cooked but cold. It felt like we were just reheating pre-cooked food before eating it. Unfortunately for the owner, one of our friends had worked at Costco for 2.5 years and immediately recognized the taste, texture, and the consistency of the grill marks of their spicy charcoal chicken. He knew for sure it wasn’t freshly grilled or grilled the same day, but we kept quiet and just ate.

Then came the final surprise—the bill. We were automatically charged a 15% gratuity, even though we were only a group of four. Usually, auto-gratuity is added for groups of six or more, so this was unexpected. When we questioned it, the owner argued that it was clearly stated on the website when we ordered. Technically, he was right—it was written in a banner on the website. But who reads banners when they’re just trying to order food? It felt like a trick to avoid telling customers upfront.

I quickly looked up Ontario laws while my friends were paying their share (~$71 each) and found out that automatic tipping is actually banned under the Elimination of Automatic Tips Act (2010). This law only allows auto-gratuity for banquets or private events—not regular restaurant service.

When we confronted the owner about it, he got irritated, defensive, and even a little aggressive in justifying the charge. We still paid but made it clear that we knew it was illegal and that he was forcing our hand.

Final Thoughts:

The food wasn’t terrible, but the fakeness of the whole experience ruined it. The charcoal grill story felt like a gimmick, and the hidden service charge just made it worse. If a restaurant wants to cut costs by using pre-cooked food, fine—but don’t lie about it. And forcing a tip in a province where it’s illegal? That’s just dishonest.

Wouldn’t recommend—not because of the food, but because of the dishonesty.

Maybe, he will reply to this mentioning his justifications and having experienced what some the other low rating review experienced, I can honestly say - WE WERE ROBBED, and there will be more.

Reply TO the OWNER’s CLAIM ABOUT AUTOMATIC TIP CHARGE:

Thank you for your response. However, your explanation misses the key point. Automatic gratuity is not illegal, but it is also not enforceable unless customers are clearly informed beforehand.

Ontario’s ESA only regulates how gratuities are distributed—not whether they can be forced on customers. A “reasonable person” would expect automatic gratuities for large parties (typically 6+), but for a table of four, this should have been explicitly mentioned before ordering, not buried in a website banner.

While we were willing to tip, the lack of transparency makes it feel like a forced charge rather than a fair service fee. Respectfully, this is not about legality—it’s about ethics and customer trust.

Clarification on Ontario’s Automatic Gratuity Rules: Automatic gratuity is not illegal in Ontario, but it is NOT mandatory for customers to pay. • Restaurants can add automatic tips to bills, but customers have the right to refuse to pay if they were not...

After the change of the ownership, this place is going down hill. This used to be a pretty solid korean bbq place, so I and my friends ignored the bad reviews and decided to give it a try.

The prices for ayce jumped from under $40 to $50 on the weekdays and $55 on the weekend, which make this place the most expensive ayce restaurant in town. Despite of the huge price increase, the menu selections seem to shrink significantly from before. No more rice cake tempura, cold noodles, or korean pancake.

The taste of the meat is ok; it is smokey, which is quite unique. But does it worth the price? No. The herb in seafood was nice, but also oily from butter. Personally, I wouldn't mind, but I know some people would.

At the beginning of the meal, everything seemed fine. The server lady was nice. It was what happened at the end of the meal that ruined our whole experience.

I was shocked with how strict they are with their leftover policy. I and my friends were 3 girls, since it was our first time trying the restaurant after they reopened, so we decided to try 6/9 meat options. On the order sheet, they mention the amount of meat varies depending on the number of people, so we didn't think much about it. We used to eat here before, and we were able to try everything on the menu in one meal. But this time, we ended up only ordered one round for the whole meal, and still had like 10 pieces of meat leftovers. They insisted on charging us $5/person based on their policy, adding up to $15 of extra charge for a few leftover pieces, with no room for compromising. I and my friends have eaten in many ayce restaurants before. We personally even work in one of the ayce restaurants in St. Catharines, so we have seen many leftover charge policy. If the customers only order one round or didn't order much, we would just waive the fees for them because we want them to be happy and feel their meal was worth the price.

For this meal at korean bbq town, I wouldn't mind paying $5 for those few pieces, but $15 is definitely too much. On top of that, they were the ones who control the amount of meat that we received. But that was their policy, so we still ended up paying. What happened next was what concerned us the most.

When we pay, they owner appeared and pressed the 15% tips option and gave the machine to us to tap our card. We were really confused and asked. Then the owner with a very bad attitude said it was their policy for customer to tip at least 15%. But excuse me, we didn't see you mention about this policy nowhere! Of course we would tip the standard rate regardless, but we would really appreciate it if you didn't interfere and let us enter the tips on our own. Your action really made us feel being pushed to tip, which was not a nice feeling. We felt overcharged, and now the owner being pushy made us feel even more uncomfortable with this place.

When we told the owner how we felt, he started complaining that they only got 7% of tips for the first week of reopening (well, understandable). He kept claiming that they provided the best meal and service in town, so the price and the tip percentage are justified. He kept saying that he didn't try to compare his restaurant to other places, but he really thinks his food is the most authentic, and the service is the best. I just want to say, be humble man. If you want to get more tips from your customers, please fix your attitude first. Secondly, if you are going to charge $50-$55 (not including tax and tips) for ayce, please be more generous to your customers, charge a reasonable price for leftovers and listen to their opinions. If the customers are happy, they will tip you more! I have tipped you guys 18% for the meal, but we will never be back. Is this worth it for you? Your call ^_^.

In conclusion, we paid more than $70/person and were left extremely unsatisfied. This by far was the worst dining experience that I have ever had in Canada. Avoid this place at all cost if you don't want to feel overcharged and uncomfortable with the...

My cousin chose this restaurant for her 18th birthday but unfortunately we both had an extremely negative restaurant experience. Above all, the worst part was when the owner repeatedly responded to our concerns by telling us that their restaurant is “5 star and everyone else at the restaurant likes it.” The pork was so salty that the salt was all I could taste, it was borderline inedible, and I am not a picky eater by any means. I couldn’t make myself eat any more of it. The manager offered us a complimentary seafood dish which we actually asked him NOT to bring out- it was unfortunately equally disappointing, which he responded to again with “everyone else likes it, i’m just trying to make you happy”. When we had arrived we were told that new owners took over, hence the changed menu, that they were the #1 place for Korean BBQ in the area, strange to front with that but okay, usually you let your restaurant speak for itself, no? The new menu and pricing was not explained to us. The menu was not incredibly broad. There was no complimentary water provided, no glasses for our 4$ canned pop. The atmosphere was horrible, like he gave a teenager the AUX cord. There was an open window beside me which blew in winter air, when I asked if it could be closed I was told to close it myself however the window did not fit right in the wall and I could not close it entirely. The first plate of cooked meat was served cold, not lukewarm, but cold as if it had been sitting on the counter for 15 minutes before being served. All food that was brought to our table, other than the seafood, was cold. Manager said he “can’t heat up the food anymore, it’s not reheated it’s cooked in the kitchen”. …We didn’t suggest it was heated from frozen, suspicious for him to mention that. We were served dishes that we did not order, we were not asked about refills for our drinks, some of our food came 30 minutes after it was ordered. I have never disliked an experience to the extent of feeling the need to raise my concerns mid-meal. There was nothing good about the entire experience. THEN he hands us a $160 bill for TWO PEOPLE. This man was arguing with me and standing in my way at the table, at no point did I say I wasn’t going to pay, I was just wondering why the price was so absurdly high. I began to feel very uncomfortable at the end as he became louder about my dislike for his service. throughout this entire situation, I had remained calm, polite, and respectful. I did not threaten, blame, raise my voice, or swear. The manager told me to calm down while gesturing his hands down when I was stating an issue with his service. I asked for the bill multiple times as he continued to shower me with “everyone else likes it”, while waving around the pay box out of my reach. My anxiety took over and I finally pleaded him to just let me pay and leave. He continued to throw in my face that his restaurant has 5 star reviews, when I said “okay, but I am telling you that the food served to us was cold, that the pork did not taste good. I, a customer, am telling you that, I am leaving your restaurant hungry.” (In a level voice). He continued to argue with me and box me into my seat. I told him that I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable and I wanted to leave immediately, finally he let me pay. Absolutely horrendous service, never seen anything like that in my entire life, I began to feel unsafe at the end when he was blocking me in the booth, maybe he thought I wasn’t going to pay… Obviously his main concern. I left with my head down because I was embarrassed for the owner and my cousin. Very unfortunate, used to be a...