818 Heat Hotpot & BBQ — Restaurant in Boca Raton

I never leave reviews, but this place definitely needs one. Upon entering, the atmosphere was very strange but we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Everyone at the table had no idea what hot pot was so this was a completely new environment. We did call in and leave a reservation for the party that we had which was five-ish people, but we were never notified about an auto gratuity. Everyone at the table sat for about 15-20 minutes before any server came over (which is understandable but we could see the workers standing there talking not doing anything). When our server did come over, she didn’t ask for any beverages. She just kind of told us to order but we were very confused. We didn’t know how to. She didn’t care to explain to us after her initial greeting. We just ordered what we thought sounded good. We didn't know they came out in portions. After placing our first initial order, we were never checked up on, no server or worker came over and asked us how we were doing. A lot of the beverages we ordered (which we had to ask for cause we were never asked what we would like to drink) were completely empty and we had to go up to a worker and request a refill. After finishing our food, we sat at the table for about an hour to an hour and a half waiting for a bill. Mind you the dining room was basically empty. There was about eight-ish workers and not a single one came over and asked us how we were doing. After waiting for the bill, we ended up going up to the counter and requesting one. Which, when we initially went up to the counter, the workers were just talking and completely disregarded that we were standing there. And I would understand if they didn’t see us, but one of the workers was facing us. One of our guests had to raise her voice to ask for the bill, which I know can be seen as rude. But that was the only way we could get their attention. When we were finally shown the receipt to one of our guests expressed that a 18-20% auto gratitude was not deserved due to our table, not even being checked up on once. Also, we were never notified that there would be an auto gratitude for our table & we weren’t explained how to even order hot pot. All we wanted to do was to celebrate a friend’s birthday and this place made the whole experience horrible. Upon expressing our opinions on the gratuity, one of the workers blew up and started cursing at us and threatening to call the cops. All we did was express that our service didn’t meet the 18-20% auto gratuity. Also, one of my guests did leave a review after the incident and the response alone from one of the workers shows what kind of business they are. If you are in Boca and looking for a hot pot place stay away from this one because this is definitely not how you run a...

Okay, where to start? We had a reservation for 10 people for a birthday dinner. We were sat and ordered drinks, everything seemed fine until it was time to order; they have no vegetarian options for hot pot or BBQ. The waiter offered hot water for the vegetarians for the same price of $31.95. Of course this is not ideal- who would want to eat boiled vegetables in hot water (no seasonings?!) for the same price? But okay, the vegetarians ordered vegetable fried rice, which is also on the menu. Again, everything seemed fine, until the another waiter (possibly the manager?) approached our table to make us aware that although the vegetarians would not be eating the hotpot or BBQ, they would still be charged for it due to a flat rate of entering the restaurant. Our party reiterated these rules back to the possible manager just to make sure we were understanding him- so the vegetarians would not only have to pay $31.95 for simply entering the building, but also the price of their vegetarian meal? He responds yes. Also, he tells us that the vegetarians would have to be physically separated from the rest of our party and moved to a table that is closer to the front desk to ensure the vegetarians are not eating any of the meat-based foods. Once again, we reiterate these rules back to the possible manager, just to make sure we are understanding this correctly (it is almost so unbelievable): so people with specific dietary restrictions not only have to pay extra for food they cannot eat, but they also have to be physically separated from the party and watched to make sure they're not eating food that they cannot eat? He responds yes. This kind of customer service is so poor, it makes me want to believe our party simply wasn't wanted at the restaurant. I just have never encountered practices like this before. It was entirely uninviting- we ended up leaving (still had to pay $60 in drinks) because we weren't allowed to sit together, at a birthday dinner, because some people had dietary restrictions. The man who told us these rules was not friendly and not apologetic. This is my first and last time ever going- there is much better hotpot restaurants in the area, restaurants that will let you eat with the people you came there with! (Who knew the bar...

If I could leave 0 stars I 100% would.. this place is one of the worst hot pot / kbbq places I have ever been in my life. The service was horrible, we weren't greeted for about 10 minutes after sitting at the table. When we were greeted the server did not try to explain how it works, or asked if anyone at the table had ever done hot pot before. I had to ask for my drink because she did not ask anyone at the table what they wanted. When I ordered she forgot and asked me again what my order was. When they brought the food they were pretty much just slamming the plates on the table like they didn't care to be there. The server checked on us ONCE the whole 2 and a half hours we were at this place. We were NEVER brought a check and after waiting while the whole staff was chit chatting at the front desk. The server never let us know anything about included gratuity or any terms they have. When we went to check out we found out the gratuity is included which should ALWAYS be brought up especially if it applies towards parties under 6. When told them we didn't want the gratuity included because we didn't feel that the service deserved a tip, the short man at the front with the short temper started threatening us and saying he has us on camera, even though all we asked was for the gratuity to be removed, especially since our checks were split and the service was literal trash. This place is disgusting, the food was subpar, atmosphere was gross, bathrooms were gross. The employees or owners or whoever they are need to learn customer service because they're not running a good business at all.

Update - see photo added : first it was a surprise dinner for ME, secondly the person that didn't want to eat because he knew the food was gross was my brother, third you didn't get tipped because your service was horrible. Your response alone shows your character. I hope this place goes out of business and don't be surprised when the food service health...