FIYAH Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Cleveland

Initial Review Below Updated Review:

I reviewed Fiyah on Google about a week or so after it opened and gave it 1/5 stars. Six months later I'm pleased to announce that my experience was significantly better than my initial visit.

Service: A huge group was waiting to be seated when my group visited and the staff were overwhelmed. I'm going to be chalking this up to being understaffed. Our waitress let us know that they hadn't seen such a busy night in quite some time. We were expected to have a 10-20 minute wait time, but it took about 25 minutes to be seated. Our waitress, D (I can't remember her name but she said she also went by D) was absolutely fantastic and extremely apologetic that things were taking so long. Her recognition of the fact made it easier for us to be patient.

Food: They have changed the bonchon to be self-serve, which is the BEST decision they could have made. There were a variety of classic accompaniments including kimchi, pickled vegetables, bean sprouts, etc. They also had more "Western" style sides like macaroni and potato salad. The meat itself was high-quality, just as it had been on my first visit, and for $30/person, there were many options to please everyone in my group. The bulgogi was by far the best option, followed by the pork belly.

Another thing of note is that the restaurant was not as smoky as it was during my first visit and there were no fires caused by dripping fat-- they have perfected the art of the grill and it made the entire experience a pleasure.

If you tried Fiyah and were not impressed, try it again. I am glad to be eating my words six months after the fact and will indeed be returning.

INITIAL REVIEW: As a self proclaimed Korean BBQ aficionado , there were pros and cons of Fiyah.

Service 5/10- our waitress was new and trying her hardest, but it still fell a little short.

Food 6/10- premium meat was high quality but everything felt like it needed salt. Provided bonchon was pickled cucumbers, sesame bean sprouts, and kimchi— cucumbers were solid but the bean sprouts didn’t taste like anything. Keep in mind they have been open for approximately two weeks so they are still finding their flow.

Ambiance 8/10- everything was decorated very well and the vibes were “chefs kiss”

My biggest concern was the lack of ventilation. They have big ducts with vents on them around the building but they didn’t seem to do much. The windows were opened the entire time and it still didn’t reduce the smoke. I have been to many Korean bbq places and have not experience that level of smoke.

Another concern were the number of small fires caused by dripping fat and oil- some flames are to be expected, but multiple tables had to have the flames covered in copious amounts of salt to be put out.

Overall score 19/30

P.s. for bigger bodied people, the stalls in the bathroom are spacious and there is plenty of room...

I have been to a number of Korean bbq places but with it being the opening night and in cleveland i kept an open mind and didn't set my expectations high. With that being said they even fell short of the low bar i expected. We arrived at 6 had a party of 4 did not eat until damn near eight and didn't leave until 9 something

First there is no number to call to contact for details showed up at 4 told us they were shutting down until 6. They put us down for a reservation but gave away our table anyway. Lucky enough someone left and we got a table

First the place looks nice but doesn't look like a Korean bbq. The place was cold everyone had there coats on. The place doesn't have ventilation above the tables so the place was smokey. Be prepared to smell like a grill, also they do not serve alcohol because they do not have there liquor license yet.

Service was horrible, i understand it's opening day but unacceptable. Took an hr just to get water and even longer for our order to be taken. Was practically ignored by our waiter the entire time. We got the meat first before any of the other condiments(rice, kimchi, sauce, oil beansprouts, etc). Waiter did not come back for 45 min, asked about condiments waiter looked confused as if he didn't know he was suppose to bring these things out, even though he attended to other tables perfectly fine. Waiter came back saying they RAN OUT OF DISHES AND RICE!??!?!??, so by this point our meat was cold. Another waitress came and asked if we needed anything because it was obvious we did. Eventually we got some rice only three bowls though. Never got any of the other things. One of us was vegan so they literally did not eat until damn near the end. The vegetarian options were horrible he bring out one sliced mushroom, 2 pieces of asparagus, and maybe a quater of an onion. Once he brought out the veggie that we had to remind him of multiple times, he straight up told us he wouldn't be back to help us anymore, and if there is anything we needed right now. Again i get its opening night but this was ridiculous.

The meat was decent, we ordered the pork belly, beef bulgogi, assorted veggies, spicy pork, and chicken teryaki. The only meat that seemed marinated that was suppose to be was the bulgogi. The chicken and spicy pork was just okay. The veggie selection needs to be improved.

Overall the experience was horrible, we were celebrating a birthday and it was ruined. With the poor service, lack of communication, running out of food, and dishes to serve on, and subpar meat, i unfortunately would not recommend, which is sad because korean bbq is a great experience, she normally...

Food was delicious. Asked for the spicy bulgogi multiple times because it was so good. The corn cheese hits the spot after you're nearing the end of your AYCE feast.

Adequate parking spaces. Cute inside, can be a bit loud with other people's conversations blending with the music blasting.

(We dined on a Saturday evening)

However, there are MAJOR areas of improvement for a smooth sailing system, especially with customer service. Having worked in the restaurant industry previously, I noticed there really wasn't a 'host/ess' who was at the front at all times, to put people's names/numbers down or cash people out, when there is a rush of people.

There was a group trying to pay for their drinks and others who were simply waiting to put their name down to be seated. It took 10-15 minutes until one of the employees finally realized the people crowding around were wanting to dine in. And a bit of commotion of who was there first so there needs that flow. It felt unorganized and can cause people to be frustrated and wait even more afterwards.

So instead of having all of your employees do every job of every role there should be set roles for sets of people designated to do so (e.g., host/hostesses, servers, table busters, bartenders), but not for them to do everything. I'm not sure if the place just doesn't have enough people to work? Or the manager didn't set a system to run smoothly. I waited almost 45 minutes and got seated to a table that had been empty the whole time we waited and others before us had already been seated.

The banchan station did not seem to be refilled often so we had to wait for a sauce dish and only got what little of what was left. Granted we went late in the evening.

Having a seat chart and ensuring there's a system of who has been sat at what table and whose still waiting, so you're able to keep track of which table needs to be cleaned off after a party has left and immediately sit the next group. I observed all night and saw maybe 1-2 people cleaning off tables, while some tables still not cleaned off because they were doing things at the bar and then going into the back. It may leave your employees stressed and overwhelmed in the long run.

Manager was kind to us and checked in on us every so often despite reading other people having had issues with him in their reviews. Man needs some extra training to be more cohesive, coherent, and at least professional. His explanation of the menu was so casual that I still didn't understand what he was talking about.

The food was great overall, we enjoyed it and ate until our stomachs couldn't down anymore but the system can be...