KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Fayetteville

We were excited for this restaurant opening and being an hour away, we planned a whole trip to eat at Kpot. After a 2 hour wait, we went inside. Automatically it’s beautiful from the seats up and below that it was gross and destroyed. This brand-new restaurant had chipped and broken tiles already. There are so many people working I didn't understand why the floor was so disgusting. We were surprised to know the "server" was more like a host who guided you through the experience and could assist you if you needed help. There's a cooking cheat-sheet on the wall so you can do it yourself. Then there's a “sides” bar that is also self-serve with a stack of dirty plates. My niece was looking for clean plates and found the best plates she could find with a hopeful disclaimer that she hoped I wouldn’t get sick since the cleanest plates where still dirty. One plate had sesame seeds and sauce stuck to the bottom.

To make matters even worse there was water and sticky substances on the seat and floor under our table with a puddle of liquid next to it. The tongs that were there for cooking the food had food on them already. We asked for clean tongs which seemed like a chore to the staff. The scissors to cut the food were also dirty and you'd think with so many empty tables and so much staff there would at least be clean utensils. The cleanest things were chopsticks and that's because they were wrapped in paper. The paper drink menu was soggy from this magical liquid that seemed to show up everywhere. The “sides" bar had some edible food but the fried chicken bites were hard as rocks and probably the only dry thing in the restaurant. The bulgogi and pork belly tasted ok but couldn't redeem the experience.

The other strange thing is that they had people pushing carts of meat and other foods who waited in the dining area out of the way until someone put in an order, meaning the meat was well traveled. The lettuce leaves were beautiful and fresh and green, which we marveled at in awe and confusion. I then had to use the restroom and I'm slow with my knee brace on and a restaurant staff member almost ran me down.

In the bathroom, the first thing I saw was a busted-up stall door off the hinges. For all the bougie décor, it was startling to see it adjacent to standing water, and filthiness. It was also weird to see a plunger and a toilet bowl cleaner in every stall. The Dyson faucets really seemed misplaced in the tiny restroom. With so many staff members standing around and running around like they were servers and not just guides, there was no excuse for this restaurant to be filthy. It is mainly a self-serve restaurant where you put your orders in the tablet, and it comes out of the kitchen. We were feeling queasy from our experience and decided to pay the extra for wasted food and went to eat somewhere else that was well equipped with a...

Went out this past Saturday May 10th for a combined birthday + Mother's day dinner, and boy was it crowded! First stop was Longhorn Steakhouse, but they gave us a 3 HOUR wait for a party of 7. Ain't no way! So we wound up going to my backup option, KPot. Bout an hour wait for that, but on that particular Saturday, it seemed reasonable.

Not my first KBBQ experience, but it was actually one of the better ones. The grills in the table were clean, gas-fired, and most importantly: actually worked! That alone was an upgrade over previous Fayetteville establishments for sure. Service was phenomenal; the young man serving our table was attentive and on task.

The order system is super convenient: they had a little tablet you could order from the kitchen from. Select what you want and how many orders, send it to the kitchen, and they bring it right to the table! No hunting around for what meat is kept where. Turnaround time for orders was short, especially considering the restaurant was PACKED that night.

One thing that was different from other KBBQ places I've been to is that the sides were at a salad-bar type dealio in the back. I found this convenient, especially bc we half our party had never done KBBQ before, and would quickly become overwhelmed by the number of options, had they brought them all out to the table like at other places. Interesting idea. They also had appetizers like spring rolls, and sides like fries and fried chicken??? Fried chicken was apparently really crispy, according to those in the party who tried it.

As for the food itself, it was fantastic! I love grilling, so I had a great time. Highly recommend the Kalbi (short ribs) and Hanger Steak cuts. We ordered beef cuts, spicy salmon, and various vegetables at our table. All were excellent. Great marinades and quality meats. Its all-you-can-eat within 2 hours, and I think the $30 per head price was worth it for our group.

We only got soft drinks at the table, so I can't comment on cocktails, but a couple of us did get Boba; which was not amazing, so I'd recommend skipping it, especially since we got so many excellent Bubble Tea locatiosn in town.

Sorry for no pictures!! We were too busy cooking and eating T_T

And as an aside, why the heck do NO restaurants in Fayetteville take reservations!! Only a couple do, and even then, only for events. They must love wasting our time, bc I am not spending no three hours waiting to just get seated! There is NOTHING in Fayetteville good enough to qualify for that amount of wait time. Most places do have an online thing where you can get put on the list a little ahead of time, but Lemme call out Longhorn in particular for this; you can only do it for parties less than six. Ridiculous!

All around, 5/5 rating for KPot from this foodie. Def check them out if you...

I’m writing this review shortly after dining at KPOT, as the experience left my husband and I feeling disappointed and frustrated. We arrived at 6:00 p.m. and were greeted warmly by the hostess, who was professional and welcoming. However, once we were seated, the level of service quickly declined and did not reflect the standard we’ve come to expect from prior visits.

After waiting about ten minutes with no follow-up, we set up the tablet ourselves and placed our meat orders. The server had briefly stopped by to say she’d return shortly, but we didn’t see her again until after we had already placed our order. I had even gone to the sauce bar and returned before she asked if we had set up the tablet ourselves. She then brought our drinks, but after that, she was largely absent.

Over the course of an hour and a half, we saw her only a handful of times. At first, we didn’t need anything, but later on we ran out of napkins. I asked for more, and about 20 minutes passed with no follow-up. When she finally returned, I reminded her of the request. She brought the napkins but told us that we could get more ourselves from a station near the appetizer bar. That was surprising, as we’ve never been told guests are expected to retrieve their own napkins. Had we known, we wouldn’t have waited.

Other interactions felt equally off. When my husband tried to hand her an empty short rib plate, the exchange was awkward and uncomfortable. We also received only one drink refill throughout the entire meal, and the grill surface became heavily charred. Normally, servers replace the grill proactively, but this time it was never addressed. As a result, our meat ended up tasting burnt. We noticed the server on her phone at points during service, which further contributed to the feeling that we were not being looked after.

By that point, we had lost our appetite. After such a long day and looking forward to this as our first meal, we ended up cutting the dinner short and stacking our plates ourselves. My husband even placed his card visibly on the table. Despite that, we sat for another 20 minutes before the server finally returned to close us out. We didn’t flag anyone down—she simply came back on her own after that long delay.

This meal cost us $85, and while we normally enjoy KPOT and have had great service in the past, this visit left a sour impression. We understand that everyone can have an off day, but the lack of attentiveness, awkward interactions, and overall service breakdown made what should have been a relaxing dinner feel like a chore. We want to return in the future, but this visit left us...