Bang! — Restaurant in Charlottesville

I’m so disappointed. We’ve come to Bang before and have recommended it as one of our favorite Charlottesville spots but last night we had an experience that will keep us from ever returning. We ordered 7 dishes and the first one came out about 10 minutes later. It was the fried rice balls. They were cold and soggy, so my husband and I asked our waitress if we could get a fresher order. She acted so bothered but said she would ask the kitchen to fix it. Our next dish (Korean pork buns) arrived without any of the sauce it was supposed to come with, and one of the 2 buns was 100% fat, and we didn’t eat it. We then sat for 15 minutes without water, until my husband finally went and found someone to ask for more. The next dish that arrived was correct and we ate that, but then another one came and it was wrong as well, missing more than half of the toppings that come with it. At this point I had asked to order a drink when our server returned, but hadn’t had the chance because we kept having issues with our food. We waited 15 min for a side of soy sauce and still were missing multiple dishes when I finally spoke to our server about it. I tried to kindly tell her that it was a little frustrating and convoluted to have so many issues with our meal and to have to wait so long between each issue for it to be fixed and she shrugged and said sorry. I then asked to speak to her manager, and she told me I didn’t need to talk to the manager, and that she would take 10% off of our meal. When, at that point, we had only eaten 1 and a half of our dishes, 10% didn’t make much sense, so I asked again to speak with the manager. She came to the table with an attitude right away, even though we had been really calm and understanding with the waitress at that point. Her name was Mackenzie. She basically told us it was too bad we felt that way, but she was gonna charge us for the food we had gotten. We pointed out to her that we were missing a lot of the food we ordered, and had barely touched the food we had actually received. She literally haggled with us saying she could take off half of one entree, and an additional 15%. We still said we didn’t believe that was fair, but maintained a level head as we spoke, even though she had begun to raise her voice and other visitors were watching. Finally she said she would fix the bill, and stormed off saying “if you have an issue, reflect it in the tip” - my husband then said to me (not loudly) “I can’t believe she said that” to which she turned around and raised her voice to say “like I said sir, let the tip reflect that” When she returned with the bill she had only taken 5$ off. We ultimately paid 40$ for food we barely took any bites of, and were yelled at by the manager and mistreated by the server. The entire experience was draining and stressful. I had heard that within the last few months Bang has gone downhill but I couldn’t believe it was this bad. Mackenzie has no business being a manager and we will never...

5 for the FOOD!

Tapas style. I personally had never been to a tapas restaurant.

The food we ordered: crab pot stickers. bbq pork tacos with slaw. firecracker shrimp. a pistachio blondie with coffee ice cream (this was tasty and THE favorite thing we ordered out of the 3 of us). chocolate 3 ways which was a chocolate cupcake. chocolate mousse and some cake thing with chocolate syrup. sirloin with some potatoes and cilantro. also other tapas ... southern fried chicken with spicy mayo and pickles. and some pork protein I think with lettuce plus something else... and another tapa with sliced pork curry and sweet potatoes. pork belly with miso mayo on a steamed bun - that was my favorite of the night as far as real food. My boyfriend liked/loved everything.

The food came out fairly quick. They even let us sit upstairs which they didn't really seem to want to do but they let us do it anyway. No one else sat up there the whole 2 hours we were at this restaurant. The only knock on the service was that it took forever to get our check. I don't know whether they forgot we were up there after we ordered everything and ate it or there was some miscommunication on who was supposed to bring us the check. The latter seemed to be the issue from what I could gather.

I personally didn't care for the seating upstairs with the weird leaned back chairs, couches, etc. but my group I was with wanted to sit up there so we sat upstairs. It seemed more of a hang out spot to chit chat than to actually eat food up there. The table was good just very odd seating. Weirdest seating ever that I have had at a restaurant. Sit downstairs if this upstairs seating doesn’t appear to be your thing!

There were 3 of us and the total bill was over $120. I feel a tapas place can get you in trouble with your wallet. HAHA. Prepare to spend the money (and not split the check with credit cards) if you are going to get several things and have a group with you.

5 stars for the food. The only thing that was had that we wouldn't rate 5 stars was the chocolate 3 ways. It left a lot to be desired and the cake was dry to us.

This review was mainly from my boyfriend’s perspective as far as the rating since he loves Asian food, etc. This was his second time dining here. I found things I could eat like the steak, pork belly, etc. I will try out some more things next time I am sure if we go back to Charlottesville and try here again. Our friend would of gave it 5 stars too. I would of gave it 4 at least. The food was tasty but again I am not as adventurous with food and I do not like spicy food nor seafood really. A big knock on this place from my perspective is that they do NOT want to do separate checks so be prepared to have cash to give your friends or family or send them money later on if splitting the check. They allowed us to use two separate credit cards. I think one of us paid 60% and the other 40%. It was quite weird but not a deal...

This is an awesome spot within walking distance to my old apartment! Beautiful downtown location in what seems to be a remodeled historical home! Very quaint!

Upon entering the area we were greeted with a sign at the front which explained dining instructions, takeout instructions, as well as opening hours! (Pictured)

We of course opted to sit outside on their front porch to look at all the beautiful plants and spring scenery! We were seated, and greeted by a sweet server who told us about the menu and how to work it!

I came into this knowing we would order several small plates to share so here we go!

Caesar Kale Salad- this was very crunchy, fresh, and cool on a warmer day! It was beautifully plated and seasoned nicely. It was a little on the sweeter side for my liking but I enjoyed it anyways! (Love a good starter salad)

Drunken Noodles- These also had a wonderful flavor and were mixed with yummy veggies and mushrooms and a hint of spice amidst the sweet sauce!

House Pickles- I love pickles! Almost everywhere I go if it's on the menu, I'll try them! These are the sweeter type, not dill, tad bit of a spice, and very crunchy and delicious!

Chicken Buns- These are the BEST!!! The buns were so soft and doughy and the chicken was deliciously moist with a wonderful spicy Mayo! I could have eaten about three of those in addition to the other things we ordered! What can I say? I love chicken and this hits all the spots for me!!!

Braised Short-Rib Dumplings- These were to die for and they certainly didn't hold back on the meat for all you meat lovers! They were literally packed with the tenderest rib meat with just the right spices! The miso mayo was a favorite and complimented the dish very well!

Crab Pot Stickers- Came out beautiful as did the rest! The post sticker had a nice crispy shell that wasn't greasy at all. The filling was a nice blended filling with a delicates crab and seafood taste (according to my husband, I'm not the seafood lover). They looked awesome and as was everything, BEAUTIFUL!

Water was brought out complimentary and we ordered two sprites which were served in cans with glasses of ice. I noticed they had many drinks, sake, beer, so I wanted to try out something non-alcoholic (daiquiri, special soda, mock tail) because I no longer drink, but unfortunately the basic sodas and water were my options. This will not hold me back from visiting in the future! We would like to return for dessert, and some...