Burning Rice — Restaurant in Addison

Oh no! What happened to this place?

Original review below, was 5 stars until today. Everything has recently changed, the menu, the condiments, the drinks, everything and not for the better. Read some of the recent reviews.

Not sure if I will come back, but certainly not as often. No more iced teas, only soda (and most were out of order today). No more silverware or chopsticks, only single use, wrapped plastic ware (what a waste). No more spicy soy sauce (just regular, and in a single use packet - so wasteful). The food tasted completely different too. Boo!

One of my favorite local places to eat for lunch. If you've never been, read on for what to expect:

The restaurant specializes in Bibimbop - look it up for more info, but it's basically a bowl of rice and tasty toppings.

When you walk in, you'll see a few self serve kiosks. You can make your meal selection as easy or as complicated as you want. I suggest you don't overthink it and just pick the very first option which is a signature bowl. I recommend the Tofu.

Next, add a Korean Iced Latte - or a soft drink / iced tea, if you prefer (take a cup if ordering these). Finish up your order - grab a table number and type it in when prompted. They'll bring the food to you. Don't forget to tip - there isn't much interaction with staff here, but they are nice, work hard, and make delicious food.

In the middle of the restaurant, you'll find napkins, silverware, and sauces. I suggest the spicy soy and sesame sauces! Once your food is delivered, pour the spicy soy over everything and stir your bowl up. Trust me, this is the best way. Then, drizzle the sesame sauce over the top. I should have told you to get two sesame sauces. After drizzling one, use the other to dip every bite. Yummy.

Enjoy your bowl and anticipate...

I've been wanting to try this place when I first noticed it opened a few weeks ago. The restaurant has a nice ambiance and feel. It is pretty much similar to every new "quick eatery" restaurant currently opening up along Beltline. My order was taken and prepared quickly. The price point was just under $15 for a regular rice bowl with BBQ shrimp. I chose shitake mushrooms, carrots and zucchini with vegetable fried rice. I did receive an adequate amount of large, perfectly cooked shrimp. However, I was expecting hot food. My office is a 3 minute walk from the restaurant, which means my food should still be hot when I get to my desk. Unfortunately, my order was warm and not hot-warm but almost lukewarm. This leads me to believe my order was not prepared on the spot (like Pei Wei). I think the scrambled egg was most likely cooked while I waited. That was my biggest disappointment along with the price point. The price was $3-5 more than what I would spend on a similar dish. Had my food been hot and not as expensive I would have given the restaurant...

UPDATE!! If I could give it 0 stars I would. We went in person to dine in and never again we will order or dine in. Everything was going great I love the presentation but the minute we took a bite the meat had bones. We told the workers it had bones and they just said it was just because of the meat because sometimes they might have bones. I have been to many korean places that serve this dish and I also make it at home and you always make it with meat that has no bone. Bulgogi meat never has bones. We couldn't even eat it even my daughters food had bones and did not wanna eat it anymore since she couldn't anyway. We spent 60 dollars on food we were not able to enjoy. I feel very disappointed in them. No wonder the place is always empty

I used to order from this place all the time through Uber or Doordash, but you can't even customize your bowls anymore just on one specific one, and that's it. So I haven't been able to order anymore. It's such a shame we loved this...