Flaming Grill & Modern Buffet — Restaurant in City of Mount Vernon

Disappointed by Service, Though Venue Has Potential

I recently visited this Flaming Grill location with a large party of fifteen. Unfortunately, the service we received left much to be desired and impacted our overall experience. While the concept of choosing your own dishes and moving around is appealing, the attentiveness and professionalism of the staff—especially our assigned waitress—was noticeably lacking. After requesting our drinks, only the sodas were initially brought to the table, with the rest arriving later. When we asked for straws, they were abruptly tossed onto the table without a word. Throughout our meal, the waitress was largely absent, returning only near the end to clear dishes and distribute checks. At one point, she reached across a guest to take their plate while they were still using it, and didn’t acknowledge when checks were mistakenly handed out. My husband’s receipt was even snatched from his hand without an apology, which felt unnecessarily disrespectful. To add to the discomfort, the music playing in the restaurant was overly loud and not particularly pleasant—though you could still hold a conversation, it didn’t contribute positively to the atmosphere. There was also a noticeable lack of warmth or courtesy from the staff overall—no greetings when arriving, and no thanks as we left. It’s worth noting that we visited another Flaming Grill in a nearby city the previous weekend, and had a completely different—and far better—experience there. So while I do appreciate the franchise's general concept, I wouldn’t recommend this particular location based on our recent visit.

I truly hope this location improves its service, as the concept has great potential. Until then, I won’t be returning. I share this experience in the hope that it encourages improvements in staff training and customer care. A warm welcome and respectful service go a long way. While I know not every visit will be perfect, the lack of courtesy here made a lasting impression—for all the wrong reasons. Here’s hoping future guests have a better experience.

A...

I went to this buffet with my boyfriend and the waitress was extremely discriminating against us, specifically him. He is a 6’3 Hispanic male with tattoo sleeves on both arms. When we first got there, we saw a few people get up and pay their bills at the counter. In the middle of our lunch session, we saw more people get up and pay at the counter. While we were still eating, she brought us the check and told us it was time to pay. This was extremely rude as we were not done, and I was under the impression it was a buffet, so you could eat as much as you want at the pace you want. When we were finally uncomfortable enough and feeling rushed, we got up to go pay. She quickly walked towards us as she saw us get up, and said we cannot leave without giving her our payment method. We explained to her that we were going to pay at the counter, as that is what we saw everyone else do. She aggressively pulled the bill out of his hand said that we couldn’t, and that we needed to give her the form of payment before we can leave the table. We asked why, and she said that that is just how it is. This is not true, as we saw literally everyone who left the establishment between the time we got there and the time we were leaving pay at the counter. When we saw that she was insisting on giving her the payment method and had pulled the bill out of his hand, he gave her one of his debit cards and she quickly walked to the counter herself. We followed her to the counter, and when we got there a couple of men were paying their bill on their own, without a waiter or waitress watching them. It was extremely uncomfortable and felt as if she was directly discriminating us. Afterwards, she was still holding the bill and not letting go, even though he needed to sign it. Would not recommend to anyone, as you risk being discriminated for your appearance. I believe her name was Maiku or Maku, but I could be...

I went here with my family for lunch today 4/12… I went here before a couple times… firstly the buffet was very crowded so we got sat in the party room and we were the only ones there in the room and it was good since it was quiet in there…Now to the food. There are a decent amount of options from fried food to specialty foods. They also have a sushi bar and a Hibatchi area for food to be cook in front of you. The problem I found with some of the food items I ate was that some of them was luke warm and it wasn’t that good especially the Beef and broccoli which the beef I got was cold and I didn’t eat it. The foods I did enjoy was the ribs and the shrimp and I got a few plates of that… when we finished our food we got our check. And we were still eating our desert and the lady kept coming about every 2 minutes to see if we paid and after a while it got annoying so we paid and left.. Overall my experience here today was so-so from the service to the food. I will still come here in the future since they closed the buffet I used to go to a while back. Hopefully my experience then will be better...