Bonchon Huntsville - Whitesburg Dr — Restaurant in Huntsville

There’s lots of better places to go in this area. Especially for various ethnic food. Thai Garden, Viet House, Dashu, I Love Hawaii, etc. This place is a dumpster fire of contradictions. My husband and I really wanted to like it. We watched it as it was being built, and were thrilled when the sign went up. He lived in South Korea for a short time, and we both love Asian food of all kinds. We don’t really love this type of order at the counter type of service, but we tolerate it for Bandito Burrito, and I Love Hawaiian, and Urban Cookhouse, because everything else is good. This was a horrible experience. We went on a Sunday around 7:00pm, so maybe this was the 3rd string team, but is that really an okay excuse to treat customers poorly? We sat down to wait while our food was prepared. The table was dirty. I went back to the counter to ask the he/she man with the long nails to wipe it off, and my husband saw him give me a stink eyed expression. A bit later, he solemnly wiped it and left it wet. Oops! Apparently I offended him. We are sadly getting used to so many places hiring people that would prefer to not be at their jobs, so this seemed rude, but not shocking. We had ordered beef Bulgogi, Chicken strips, and potstickers. This with 2 sodas and the “encouraged” tip was $48. We waited a bit, and it was brought to the table. The potstickers were delicious, and a bit chewy. The beef bulgogi was good, but a bit bland. The chicken strips were chewy and extremely dry. Like cotton. I kept chewing, and it would just get bigger in my mouth. I looked around for some kind of sauce to rescue it. I went up to the counter to ask for sauce and the girl went straight to the register and twisted up her face…”we have to charge you for that, because we really don’t offer sauce on the side”… okay…forget it, I asked for a box. I had lost any love I might have for this place. I told her about how horribly dry the chicken was, and she got a real giggle out of that. She was looking forward to teasing the cook about that. At this point we felt completely disrespected, ripped off, and angry that we didn’t just choose one of the deserving local businesses that treat us so well. But, If you like really dry chicken, insolent service, flavorless bulgogi, dirty tables, and loud Korean pop music, then this is your jam. Next time I’ll go to Dashu. They absolutely...

We arrived around 6 pm on a Saturday. There were two (very very closely situated) tables available and about four couples in front of us so I grabbed a table while my husband ordered. The restaurant is small and seems to be more of a pick up and go type than sit down and enjoy with family. The tables are ridiculously close to each other. And when the line backs up (if you are sitting at the perimeter tables) you’ll have people basically talking over you as you eat. (Fun fun) I will say that the bathrooms were very clean and the staff was friendly and efficient. So to the food: We got the pork buns, bulgogi fires, regular slaw kimchi slaw, and the boneless wings (spicy). The boneless wings were meaty but there was also a lot of breading on them and they were very greasy from the “double fry” technique. The sauce wasn’t evenly distributed on the them and the bottoms of these had no sauce. The bulgogi fries were delicious. The flavor was well balanced with the green onions, garlic, spicy mayo, and cheese but they needed more spicy mayo on the side instead of ketchup. The kimchi slaw was just the regular slaw with taekyung red powder. I would still order it over the regular slaw. The pork buns would have been better if there was less slaw or maybe even none. My husband and I agreed that most of the options that we got would not carry well so dine in would be necessary but honestly we likely won’t return. I’m not excited to go back and try anything. This was essentially dressed up fast food. And while some people enjoy that type of food, its just not my cup of tea as I typically avoid fast food unless I’m traveling late/stuck in airport. My husband ate most of the wings and complained about feeling sick for the rest of the night and attributed it to the greasiness. So my suggestion is: don’t order a meal, split a few options just to say you tried it, and then make a decision. I think that we would have enjoyed our meal more if we had asked for slaw on the side for the buns and if we hadn’t gotten the chicken but they are “known” for the Korean fried chicken. I gave them an overall score of 3 for the lack of seating, essentially being stacked on top of each other, and the fact that their known for item “fried chicken” was the least exciting/enjoyable dish...

I was looking for something to pick up for to take in for dinner when I realized there was a Bonchon in the area. I was so excited because we used to frequent this organization all the time when I lived in the DMV. I am sad to say that based on what I received yesterday, I do not see myself returning.

The young man working the register closest to the drive thru did not want to be there. I did not time it, but usually, when someone walks into a restaurant, someone says hello. Then, if they can not assist you immediately, they will say, "I will be right with you." That did not happen. I understood there were people there who arrived before me, and their food was ready, but we are talking basics in customer service. After he distributed four trays and two to go bags, he finally came back to the register to ask, "What can I get for you?"

I placed my order to go, and at the end the transaction the tip menu came up. For the first time since the pandemic, I felt irritated to see the tip screen. I usually tip, but I am not tipping you for your poor customer service. I can tell you the gentleman on the right who came to the front after I ordered had better customer service. I observed him while I waited for my food, and he gave me my order when it was ready.

In ordered the 30 count wings half Soy garlic (which used to be our go-to order), and (I also tried the new flavor to us) half Korean BBQ. The Korean street corn was also new, so I tried that as well, and I opted for the cole slaw over the pickled radish.

I opened the box when I got home. I knew immediately that there was a problem. The wings looked wet, no drenched in sauce. That is not how bonchon is supposed to be. The wings were supposed to be crispy, not soggy. That was what I liked best about them. The Korean street corn was good. The fries were okay, but the chicken was not up to standard, especially if you had Bonchon at another location. The look and feel of Bonchon's product was not there. Unfortunately, until they get that right...I do not plan to return. The food and the service both...