Bonchon South Riding — Restaurant in South Riding

Update, 11/25/2021, Thanksgiving day!

I do not erase my previous post so people can still see some negative events and be aware of. But for today, I will update my review to 5 stars.

After the incident happened to me in 2020, I stopped going to this branch as a strong protest for those two poorly behaved employees. I started to go to this store again in Spring 2021 checking if things are really fixed up, and I was very pleased to see my old friend Yuni working there again!

Big shout out to the employee Yuni. She is a very kind and very industrial employee and I always have good time when she is working there. Food order is prepared in time and in neat condition, not messy, no wrong items been added. She served in a very good manner and seeks to provide any needs the customers need. I admire she takes her job serious and does it right.

After the tiring day at work, I am almost exhausted and thinking to just get some food from this store, and I was happy to see her working there, because I know my dinner will be just as a happy meal as a Thanksgiving day should be. She prepared my food in a fast speed, faster than I expected, so I could go home, eat, and rest soon. It's kind of a good ending of my day.

Thanks to Yuni and I will visit this store more as I used to do in the past.

Bad employees. Store was supposed to open until 10 pm, but when I arrived at 9:45 pm they already locked the Main door and cleaning. I tried to pull the door and asked if it was okay to place an order since there was still 15 minutes left, but the door was tightly closed.

Even if they cannot make more food at that time, they were still supposed to answer the door and see what I need. In stead, the female employee gave me bad face, the male employee ignored me and just kept on turning light off. I stood right outside the floor glass watching their poor behavior.

Very bad manner. I am thinking to talk to their manager about this...

UPDATE 2: Changing my rating from 1 star to 4 stars.

Customer service was truly excellent in responding to my poor initial experience. Went back today to give them another shot (had the wings), and it was truly excellent! Still crispy after a 20 min car ride, and really well cooked.

Everyone can have an off day, and I think they did a few weeks back. But I really admire the desire to not only make it right, but improve. Happy to return to (and recommend) this store.

UPDATE: I did hear from Bonchon management, who shared that the mistake was likely a newer employee pounding the chicken a bit too aggressively (not a cost saving change). They were quick to respond, and I am willing to try them again and will update this review accordingly. As I mention below, I have always been a fan, and would love for this experience to be the anomaly! I appreciated their customer service response.

Used to love Bonchon, but won’t be back anytime soon.

Ordered strips, and I presume to save money they are now slicing the chicken paper thin. So not only is the ratio of breading to chicken off, but that chicken has zero chance of being anything but overcooked given how thin it was.

When I say it was dry, some pieces were basically chicken jerky. Chewy and nearly inedible.

Frustrating...

Korean fried chicken is no stranger to the food scene in the American diet. This chain is doing us all a great favor by serving a superb alternative to Popeyes or simple southern fried chicken joints. The biggest issue I'd have is the bibimbap that doesn't come with traditional Korean pickled vegetable sides - what gives! Hey Bonchon, don't settle and don't cave using Americanized ingredients on your Korean iconic dish!

I stand hesitant in even submitting this review for rather peculiar reason.

Bonchon South Riding is hidden..... so hidden that for the first time in my life, I got to eat at a restaurant like the entire space is reserved just for me. Is this how the obscenely-powerful or uber-famous people dine and how it feels? It's not a dining option actually offered by Bonchon as it's a side-effect of doing tremendous takeout business. I think we saw 10-20 takeout orders during my entire time dining in.

Ok back to the chicken. It's delicious, I need not say anything more and remember not to compromise on the bibimbap or any other...