Red Castle Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Garden Grove

ORIGINALLY 'FLOWER PIG' RESTAURANT; NOW UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT **

I was referred to Flower Pig by my roommate who was born and raised in Garden Grove. I figured since I was on a budget but had a very strong craving for Korean BBQ, I could pass on paying the $20+ prices for premium kbbq restaurants.

I originally checked on Yelp for the restaurant but was saddened to see that Flower Pig was closed. After all, hearing about a $10 AYCE kbbq restaurant seemed like SUCH a good deal for the average broke college kid. I decided to give the business a phone call since I wouldn't take no for an answer and was more than surprised to hear someone pick up the phone only to say that YES, THEY WERE INDEED OPEN!

I asked her how long the average wait would be for 2 people on a Friday afternoon ~4:30pm and she said --- NO WAIT.

I KID YOU NOT. THE LADY ON THE PHONE SAID THERE WAS NO WAIT.

I hopped into my car with my boyfriend SO quickly it wasn't even funny. But of course we hit some traffic on the road... And somehow, on what was originally a 20 minute ride ended up buying one hour. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think our chances were bleak and that we would have to kiss our AYCE for $10 dreams goodbye... So a mile before driving into the plaza I gave the lady a phone call and asked how long the current wait was, and she said, "... NO. WAIT!!!!!"

Now I'm sitting here thinking this is way too damn good to be true. You honestly cannot tell me that on a Friday at 5:30pm there is absolutely NO wait for $10 AYCE KBBQ. And yet lo and behold, when my boyfriend finally pulled into the plaza, we found a few parties in line. No wait, my a**!! BUT, don't let this little white lie fool you.

I actually only ended up waiting about 10 minutes in order to be seated, maybe even less! Check-in is done by simply walking inside the restaurant and writing your name and party size on a clipboard. There really isn't a lobby for you to go to so all of the parties loiter outside the restaurant and into the parking lot. One of the employees then calls out your name whenever there is space.

I have to say, the turnover here is really high... and I like that a lot! My boyfriend and I were seated in less than 10 minutes and since we didn't want to waste any time we immediately ordered our three cuts of meat and our side dishes!

Because it is one of the cheaper AYCE places, you can expect the side dishes to be a lot fewer and obviously a lot less comparable to better or premium locations. I personally don't like side dishes like kimchi and vegetables so I just told my waiter I didn't want any.

There are 3 menus to choose from, $10.99, $12.99, and $16.99... (I could be a bit off on the pricing but I think you get the point-- it's cheap!!) Based on the menu you choose from, you will get a selection of quality meats to order. I opted for the $13 menu since my boyfriend and I wanted to order some steaks and order steamed egg, yum!

The service was great! There was always an employee walking by asking if you wanted to order more meat or to take your dishes away and clear some space. I can honestly and wholeheartedly say that for such a low price you can still get a great meal.

I would highly recommend visiting this place if you are trying to enjoy AYCE kbbq on a budget! My only wish is that they served complimentary ice cream at the end. Personally, I prefer to go to Star BBQ next door because of their self-serve ice cream machine, but I think I can easily settle for paying a much cheaper price in order to get some...

We came here since waiting for Star BBQ was too long. We got table right the way which was very good,not many people when we came. All seemed good, we picked up 22.99$/person. They allow 3 dishes per order. On menu stated you have 1.30h for dining. Their server who took order for us, his voice was very loud and rush, he took order and ran away which make us feel like he does not want to be bothered more. We still talk and think maybe they are busy. Then we ordered 2nd times, it was hard to catch the waiter since they not come to our area very frequently. Then we got him, we got 2nd. Thing turned bad when we needed to make 3rd order. We tried to call the staffs, they ignored us. We saw the server who took our order before, we waved him to get his attention but he saw and he pretended not seeing. Another staffs came to clean table, they said they would call someone to take order, we wait but no one came. Then we saw the server again when he bring food for another table, we called and waved hand to him, he saw but left us. We waited for long, our table was empty, only few slides of meet on grill which was completely burned so bad, we needed to change the grill but no one even walked into our area to check. I then got upset, I walked out to find manager. We got she changed grill and take a 3rd order. The server told to supervisor that we called buser that was why nobody came, just like we tell lie. We did not lie for that; the server ignored us, they barely walked into our area. Even their busser called someone to come to take our order but no body came.

We then ordered 4th order, the waiter showed his attitude to us when we order LA Galbi for 4 of us with another 2 items. He acted so rude as if we were begging for him. He shouted “ only one order for that!”. Then they gave us another bottle of water, it was water from tap water not fountain one, strong odour. We asked them to change new one, they gave us hot water, they wanted to punish us for complaining I guess. Water was too hot when you eating bbq, we had to ask for ice which is really inconvenient for them but they wanted to challenge customers I guess. About food: Price are: 19.99$ or 22.99$/ person. Good deal Food taste: Not too bad not too good Portion: very small Service: very bad like I mentioned above. Not deserved any star. Tip: charge to table 15% regardless good or bad services.

They trick you on time limit with small food portion and that your time to find people to take order is already enough to 1.30h. As you can see we 4 people, could only call 4 orders, each order 3 dishes. So the it sounds cheap but it is not cheap at all. We definitely never come back. We paid for food and services not come here to beg for food to be treated like trash like that. The manager was nice but her staffs were not well trained, they think they are bosses. They do not need to serve well because they force you pay 15% tip on any table so regardless you like or not they get 15%. Consider to get here or not. If my review can not be shown here mean they are paying google to take my...

I ate in this place last night, and it was the WORST DINING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!

My friends and I came there at 8:30 p.m., we were a party of 22 people. We waited for 2 hours before we were seated, only because the lady who was taking the reservations skipped us – and was letting other “small” group come in before us. We were 10 girls and we were seated in one booth that can only 6 people.

We came from out-of-town and it was late so we decided to stay since we were already there and everyone was really hungry – WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT.

The food was fine, nothing too special, but he SERVICE SUCKS BIG TIME!!!

The servers were very rude, every time we were asking for an extra plate, spoon and fork or drinks – they gave us the look that is pretty much “I do not want to do it”.

A friend and I ordered 2 hot tea that was served not even in lukewarm state. We returned it and asked for new ones that are HOT – only to be given another 2 not-even-lukewarm tea. We only took a sip and never even bothered to have drinks the whole meal. The 2 “new” cups they served the tea into had stains inside (so horrible…).

One lady server had to tell us at least 3 times that we only have 30 minutes, then 15, then 5 minutes to finish our food as they are closing.

During the remaining 15 minutes of the “notice” they gave us, another server started taking away the containers of the sauces in our table and WE WERE STILL EATING OBVIOUSLY! SERIOUSLY???????????????

We understand that it was near theIR closing time and the servers were already tired because they were almost done for the day and they were overworked – BUT WE WERE CUSTOMERS TOO. WE WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO EATING DINNER DECENTLY WHEN WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR 2 HOURS ONLY BECAUSE WE WERE NOT SEATED ON TIME AS WE HAVE PLACED OUR RESERVATIONS. AND AS A RESULT, WE WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN EATING “NEAR THEIR CLOSING TIME” TO THE POINT THEIR SERVERS GAVE US RUDE, UNPROFESSIONAL, INCONSIDERATE, AND ANNOYING ATTITUDE.

NOT GOING BACK – EVER! WE GAVE THEM NO TIP. I WILL NEVER EVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE – PLEASE GO...