Shila Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Fresno

Updated review. Last time we had this place was 4 years ago. I really need to check the recent reviews before going back to an establishment i haven't been to in a long time. I drove 4 hours to come back and have my family try this place and man do I regret ever writing a positive review. This place has definitely gone down the drain. Service is horrible and people talk down to you. The meat comes out tasting like gasoline because of all the oil in the grill. I asked the guy how often do you clean the grill and he tried to educate me about their process especially when you can obviously see that my onions were covered with soot from the grease fire. They constantly raised and lowered the fire and I think we ate half our food uncooked. For $33 dollars a person, it's like the frontier airlines of Korean food. $3 for a cup of tea? Bill came out to $166 for 4 people. Total waste of time and money. I feel like I have to apologize to the guy who read my review and drove down from Yosemite. Takes a lot for me to write a bad review and this was a lot.

This is the review from 4 years ago that i wrote. Update to yesterday’s post! I’m back here for lunch and it seriously is unbeatable! $13 all you can eat with an assortment of meats to choose from. Below is yesterday’s post.

This place was a bit iffy in the beginning because I didn’t see any old Korean Hajuma’s (ladies) hanging around the kitchen. Being a bit of a Korean food expert I was a bit apprehensive but didn’t hesitate to give it a try. The service started off great and it continued to the end! They didn’t hesitate to ask us numerous times if we wanted more meats and they changed the grill several times so that we weren’t getting too much char on our food. Best part was that they had plenty of lettuce and sides set up for us to get at our leisure. The meats were well seasoned and the choices of meat were quit abundant. The only thing missing was some Korean Joasan paintings on the wall to cover the bare walls. The place was super clean and the staff was amazing. I would definitely give this place a go when in town. If for some reason you’ve never tried Korean food go there for a lunch intro and go...

What a disappointment tonight. My family and I love Shila, but tonight was the final straw. We understand that the side dish buffet had to modified due to the pandemic, however, there are other buffet-oriented restaurants nearby that have implemented a convenient and efficient way to still enjoy the buffet experience. Shila could invest in buying more tongs and have the patrons use a clean one, select their side dishes, and discard the used tong in a container. OR...they can have some one or more be stationed at the buffet table and serve patrons what they want. Back in November, they still offered customer favorites like garlic, lettuce, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and more, but tonight, we only had an individual portion of select sides for four people. Not cool. To top it all off, they have increased their price per person to $28.99...how is it logical to serve a party of four an individual portion of 4-5 side dishes to be equally distributed to the table. Even if you're rusty with fractions, you'll be quick to realize that you'll receive a tablespoon of a portion of that side dish. If you're fond of those delicious side dishes, you'll find yourself asking the ONE server, that your side of the restaurant has been assigned to serve their shift, for multiple Styrofoam and plastic containers throughout your meal. (each side of the restaurant has about 11-13 tables, so it might take a while for that ONE server to provide more servings, or anything else you might need. Look, don't get me wrong, we love Shila, the food is delicious, but what we don't like is the fact that we paid more and received drastically less portions than what Shila is known to provide(portion and selection wise) We understand that times are difficult due to the pandemic, but after you have seen how other restaurants nearby have made adequate modifications, while remaining at a reasonable prices, it might make you think differently about supporting...

Husband and I took our family members there to dine in for dinner. Major red flag that we should’ve realize why the parking lot looked “dead” when we got there. Confused, we thought the place was closed but surprisingly, it was open. As we got inside, we were told to wait 15 minutes (thinking that they must be super busy). Finally got called to go sit and looked around to see that there was BARELY any customers inside. Here’s the cons: all of the side dishes were in white foam containers and a Korean pancake meant for 2 people ONLY! Not for 5!! They’re not fresh and looks 1-2 days old (probably made then stored in the fridge and taken out only when they have customers), meat selections were not separated but put all together on the same plate (quantity was little! Mind you, there was 5 of us! Not sure if they’re stingy?), grill was not hot enough and took forever to grill the meat, you only have 90 minutes to literally eat (but seriously, how is that possible when you have a large group?). You’re basically just snacking on the meat, side dishes and rice while waiting. Lastly, it was uncomfortable to enjoy your meal while being stared and observed by the staffs (giving you the vibes to hurry up, pay your tab and leave). Much more to say but I’ll leave it as that. Pros: they take your drinks, meat selections orders and bring it out within 10 minutes. If you order water, you get a “bottled” water. Btw, we ordered a rib-eye for the 2nd round and never got it!! Overall, it’s not worth the money unless you want to go experience it yourself. They have macarons ice cream but definitely pricey. We’ve seen/been to better Korean BBQ restaurants with a much lower price or roughly around the same price as here. They offer 2x the meat quantities, side dishes that is fresh (not old & salty like here), and served with other...