bb.q Chicken — Restaurant in Falls Church

I was in the Falls Church, VA area and decided to visit bb.q Chicken for the first time. The place decor is very simple and functional, with big posters of their Korean fried chicken flavors. There is an outside patio up front with ceiling fans but it was too hot to eat outside, so I sat inside. They do have table side service, but while I was there many people came to pick up orders, so it seems that part of their business is being "to go" which explains the sparse interior. I was presented with a menu to chose from chicken, whole or boneless, and select the sauce. There are other Korean dishes to have, plus many American sides like French fries. I ordered the boneless (breast meat) chicken in their "special sauce" and a kimchi fried rice. Also ordered a strawberry ramune, a Korean carbonated drink with a weird bottle top that both the manager and me struggled to open (which was a funny moment, we had to follow the diminutive instructions on the wrapper!). The boneless fried chicken arrived hot from the frier, crispy and covered with a sweet and tangy sauce (their "special sauce"), and it was crunchy and delicious. The kimchi friend rice was a huge portion, enough for two, and with a lot of kimchi pieces and thigh meat chicken pieces, which was a surprise since the chicken in the rice was not advertised. As traditional, there was a fried egg on top, but it was overcooked (Korean dishes served with a fried egg always have them runny, to be mixed with the dish, whether it be a rice dish, noodle or a bimb bap style). The rice was hot, freshly made, and spicy from the kochuchan and the kimchi itself. One of the best fried kimchi fried rice I have ever had! I was also asked if I wanted a complimentary side of Korean pickled radish (a little "banchan"), which I did get, and the little crunchy and slightly sweet cubes were a refreshing compliment to the meal. The service was friendly and efficient. Overall a...

It was quite bad, and I was more than a little disappointed. My family had a very concerning experience tonight, and there was a moment when we feared for our health.

We got 10-piece honey garlic boneless chicken and 10-piece hot spicy chicken as a carry-out order. All of three of us each bit into a piece when we noticed this bitter gasoline-like (?) chemical taste and had to stop eating it shortly afterward. We took it back, and they made us a new batch, but it had the same exact taste when we ate it at the restaurant. We let the staff know and left the food there. We have no idea what we ingested and are a little bit concerned for our health. Never received a refund.

For context, 1 of us had COVID months ago, and the other 2 never had it, and we all tasted the same thing at the same time; I doubt it was COVID-related. The fact that the 2 separate batches had the same exact problem tells me that there was something wrong with the ingredients or preparation. Hopefully, I was the only person who ordered chicken from this place tonight and this will end with just my seeing the consequences of ingesting whatever was in there. Hopefully, this is an isolated incident because I would love to continue coming here. If this does not change very soon, I unfortunately do see myself changing this to a 1-star rating and coming here far...

I’m a fan of BBQ Chicken, one of the most popular fried chicken chain in Korea. I thought their chicken would be the same quality and standard everywhere, and it turned out to be too naive as different owners run each franchise store.

At this falls church store, I had a to-go order of its signature golden olive chicken and cheesling boneless chicken during late afternoon on a weekday. Overall, the experience is good. The staff was nice and service was quick while their fried chicken were just OK in terms of freshness. The chicken they used to cook were like they’re from yesterday. Or maybe they just reheated some left-over chicken. But the most prominent feature of BBQ chicken is its freshness, at least to my knowledge.

Recently I tried another BBQ Chicken franchise in Maryland, making me feel that the chicken here at the falls church store are not as fresh as that in MD, which is unfortunate. I wish they would be the same.

Hopefully this is just my case or they suddenly ran out of fresh chicken that day@.@.

I would like to give another try...