Empire Fire Mongolian Grill — Restaurant in Goldsboro

I was extremely disappointed and compared to other Mongolian grills, I was let down. The 1st disappointing thing was having to return my tea. It didn't look like tea it didn't taste like tea. My assumption was there were using some sort of syrup, I did not see a tea urn where they were brewing it. Secondly I would prefer to be able to ladel my own sauces for my dish. Not only was the sauce selection poor but I was completely flabbergasted by the choice of garlic water. Go to a real Mongolian grill and it will be garlic, heaping ladle as opposed to tossing some remnants of garlic flavored water in your dish. The sesame bread was a joke. Hard and chewy, I could hardly tear it. As opposed to small soft and warm as I should be it i have had other places. The buffet side of options other than Mongolian style was a joke. Nothing like fried frozen food that is not even warm anymore. And the place was busy. And lastly was the rice. The white rice was not fresh and hard. And the fried rice was not fried rice. It was white rice doused in a soy sauce. I asked the server about it and she got a little bit bashful and said yet it's not fried rice it's something else. Hands down laughable in comparison to Bodobo...

The selection available at the grill bar is decent and was well stocked. Plenty of the expected vegetables and meats to choose from. They also have a salad bar and side bar that have items more kid-friendly (chicken tenders, mini corn dogs, French fries, pizza) along with a few sweet items and a 8-flavor ice cream cooler.

There are two main reasons I dont rate it higher than 3 stars. One is you dont get to add the flavors yourself. You hand them your bowl full of goodness and the only option you get (without holding up the process or potentially ticking someone off about your pickiness) is the level of spice they add. I'm used to Mongolian grills where I have full control of the added sauces and what I got when letting them do it was disappointing. The second reason is that when they are crowded there is not enough room to wait for it (you're backed up to the other bars and in the way of others) and it can be difficult to follow your bowl through the waiting and the cooking process while being elbowed out of other's path.

Summary: food variety is good, flavor may not meet your expectations, crowd management is an issue at peak hours. But hey, at least...

When I got there I attempted to use the restroom which is in the back with a lot of junk. The restroom was not clean and smelled so bad I lost my appetite for a while and never went in. When I finally went to get my food to be cooked I asked one of the employees cut me off rudely when no one was even talking to him. There were 8 people standing around with no clue which plate of food was really theirs. Standing there waiting some red necks seemed to have an issue with black women standing there. which made the atmosphere odd because no one knew them or was talking to them. After they handed my mom the wrong plate I decided to leave and pay for the fruit that my mom had. One of the cooks had the nerve to pick up a bowl and walk with it threw the crowd to the cash register to ask if I wanted carry out. He also spit when he talked. I declined and made the decision to never go back. I suggested to the man at the register to set up a ticket system with everyone's bowls so that they know when its ready and he did not care. I will be going to a real Mongolian grill next time cause this one is a nasty unorganized mess. You get what...