GAO’s BBQ — Restaurant in Houston

My review is a little late due to the fact that life be lifing. Me and my sister went on January 18th and boy let me tell you about our experience. When we got to the location we seen people sitting outside on a bench they have by the front door . So we asked them what was going on and they said it was a wait , we were like fine no problem. When we got inside the front door area was craned with people. We went up to the hostess who let us know that we had to scan a code to be put on the waiting list and said it would be a 35 to 45 minute wait. So we decided we would wait because we really wanted to try the place given all the hype online. After 45 minutes went by there was still no word from the restaurant , so we waited a few more minutes which was right at about an hour . So we started heading back to the place . Skip to we finally got seated after waiting a whole hour and it still took another 20 minutes to order because the people who was sitting there before us payment was messed up or something. Skip to we are finally able to order . The all you can eat buffet does not include snow crab and you have only two hours to order and eat and if you don’t finish, on top of the 45 dollars you already pay they will charge you additionally by the pound . Let’s pivot to the drinks really quick . Mind you it was January 18th which was a Saturday, we asked if we could get some shots or just a regular alcoholic drink , the man then proceeded to tell me that they didn’t serve hard alcohol that day only beers . Please tell me how you don’t sell alcohol on a Saturday. Now back to the food , we finally received our food , I got crawfish and clams and my sister got crawfish and shrimp . We from New Orleans so we definitely can tell the difference from live and frozen crawfish. It tasted like they mixed both live and the frozen crawfish together, my sister shrimp was hard to peel and my clams were chewy. So from the experience so far , 1. We waited over an hour for the food , 2. Still couldn’t order when we sat down, 3. Didn’t serve alcohol on a Saturday and 4. The food was definitely not worth the wait. After me and my sister left I went home went to bed . From 12am on I was up running back and forward to the bathroom. I had really bad diarrhea and was very nauseous. This went on for about 4 days . I had to call off work. So the food made both of us sick . This was the worst dining experience I’ve ever had . I hardly ever do reviews but I had to...

I am beyond impressed, truly. The thing that stood out to me first and foremost was the service. Beyond professional, but also extremely genuine and kind, and super helpful. They helped us pick out flavors and foods, and were incredibly patient. They were super attentive, but words can’t fully explain how professional and great these servers were. I could tell from everything from there body language and gestures to the articulation of words that they chose that they were well trained from somewhere. It was truly a pleasure to have these servers. Next, the food. Loved every bit of it, specifically the crawfish. We chose the Chinese 13 spice seasoning, it was phenomenal and terrific. I highly recommend. They close late at night too so it’s a perfect place to bring some friends or a partner for a late night meal and some great conversations. Highly impressed, thank you so much

Update: after my second time here, I’m so impressed! I tried the Cajun spicy crawfish spicy level 9 and then 10, so amazing! Love it so much. The crawfish here are so good, but again, what makes this place my #1 of all the hundreds of crawfish places in the area is the excellent service. The service here is phenomenal! They always go above and beyond. Both times I’ve been here I’ve had Zhang and Bai, they have been beyond amazing. They’re so professional and genuine, I love them! What separates them from every other server I’ve ever seen is not only their professionalism, but particularly their ability to connect to you. After briefly speaking to them I’ve felt like we’ve been friends for a long time even though I’ve only seen them twice! The ability to do that is extremely rare. They are truly a blessing. They actually remembered not only me and my mom from the first time, DAYS ago, but remembered exactly what we ordered and the spice level. That’s AMAZING. I wouldn’t expect that out of anyone, especially since they must have seen hundreds of customers since the last time I came. Some of the most professional servers I’ve seen, ever! Keep up the good work guys! We met the manager too, super warm and kind! We will visit again immediately next time we are able to!! Remember me! We have decided the second upon leaving the restaurant we’re coming back the next college...

The food was fine. Good flavor. My issue was the horrible service. They greeted us at the door which was nice, but then it went downhill from there.

First, the menu is through a QR code.. normal but our phones couldn't connect through the wifi for about 8 minutes. No backup physical menus offered. The man said after the order is placed, the woman will come to us to confirm the order and ask for allergies. My sister placed her order before me. The woman came and asked what the man said. When I placed my order 5 minutes later, she never came to confirm anything. I would had liked to ask for no green onions on my fried rice but she never came by.

Then, food came out before my drink was even being made. Note that it was not busy and the workers were gallivanting and having conversation and a grand ol time behind the bar. I had to call her over and ask for my drink to be made maybe about 10 minutes after my food was even delivered.

Asked for chili or anything spice for my fried rice. Woman waitress said yes.. then all you hear for the next 5 minutes behind me is her panicking and talking to other waitstaff "something spicy! idk she ask for something spicy!".. for 5 minutes. ma'am. If you didn't have anything spicy, just say no. Even though there was clearly chili peppers on the rest of my families dishes.

Then someone else in my party asked for soy sauce or fish sauce for her white rice. Woman said okay and just never came back. It was like she was avoiding the table completely to just go stand in the corner. Like I said, it was not busy. A lot of standing around and not checking in with us.

When it came to the bill, we had made two separate orders and it was combined in one. Asked to separate the two and it seemed like she didn't know the order and had to ask someone else. I don't understand why the bill was merged into one when we made two completely separate orders.

I've been a waitress for many years when I was a teenager and college student and customer service is not that hard. It was like their only priority was to yell "welcome in" whenever someone walked through the door and not pay attention to their customers already in the restaurant. I will not be coming back. Good food but...