Bonchon Town Center Jacksonville — Restaurant in Jacksonville

I’ve visited this specific Bonchon several times while in town to go to the beach with family. Bonchon’s is the perfect introduction to Korean fried chicken, in my opinion, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences at the Tampa, FL location, the Orlando, FL location, the Hanover, MD location, and the Fayetteville, GA location. With that being said, my experience here on 12/21 was the WORST. I’ve been traveling all day from the Carolina’s to Central FL and decided to place a to go order around 7:50PM. My toddler was napping and I figured I would be in and out. When I parked, my son woke up and needed to use the restroom.

Upon entering, I wasn’t greeted by the manager (female presenting, mid length hair). I told her I had an online order and she didn’t say anything to me but just looked for my bag and put it to the front. Cool, no biggie..they may not in the mood to speak at the moment. After using the restroom, my son let me know he was hungry and I proceeded to sit down and open the food. The manager told me that we are not allowed to eat there since we had a to go order. I explained to her the circumstance and how we’ve been traveling all day and he just woke up from a nap. She said the owner is very strict and watches the camera and it is completely unacceptable to eat to go food that I just purchased that I did not take one bite of. I asked why, and the only thing she could explain is the owner is just very strict and she would get in trouble as they watch the cameras. I asked are all Bonchon’s like this and explained to her about my delay in flight in Orlando and how I was able to eat the food that was originally to go there since there was an abrupt change. Still, nothing.

I asked her could I buy some more items just so that I could give me 5 year old the comfort of eating inside and not in the car that we’ve been in since 10AM, she said sure, but we could not open up the food that I just ordered. For additional context, they were only one family there when I arrived. It wasn’t busy by any stretch of the imagination.

This rationale just felt very backwards because I would hope that the owner would be more concerned about their patrons being properly acknowledged upon arrival. I would think that the owner would care about their managers not being on their phone to the point where they could not do that. I would think the owner who is very strict and watches the camera and reprimands their employees would care about that at the same level as this scenario. We ended up eating in the car and because luck wasn’t on our side, the chicken that was supposedly fresh wasn’t even crispy the way they normally are (like they were only fried once and not twice) and it was the worst Bonchon meal that I’ve personally had in all the 6 years I’ve been...

I have a lot to say about this place to be honest and it has nothing to do with the food mostly but the pricing and service. we went in about 3 times for dinner and ordered to go the dinner menu alone is about 3$ more expansive so I'm at least expecting a dinner size portion for what I'm paying but no its the same size as lunch so why am I paying so much more for the same thing let alone a bowl with not more then three cucumbers on there its not even a decent size putting all that to the side nothing infuriated me more then the sauce to be honest I've honestly never been to a place that charged me 1$ for a small typical cup of sauce that's not even all the way full I ordered 4 expecting it to be anywhere from 50-75 cent but was asked to pay 4$ only for the sauce and not even a good size containers but regular small ones I might as well go order a whole side order with that another thing is I cancelled and told them I don't want all 4 give me 2 keep in mind the small almost 12$ bowl alone didn't even com with sauce to began with nothing but the bowl it self one sauce should at least be provided but no and I wont mind paying for the rest but nothing is even given and like I was saying I stood there for a good 3/4 minutes watching the manager I believe going "latterly" from one register to the other using and typing on both just because I canceled 2 sauces not a meal just a cup of sauce. that he did end up giving me cause he made anyways but looking at his face I honestly just wanted to leave it and the food and walk out his face was so rude and straight he didn't smile communicate or even simply say thank you absolutely RUDE. SERVICE was terrible but there was another guy working there that was sweet and I know he only works there so I don't blame him for the prices or attitude of his manager. ive worked in a reastarunt for over 9 years and I hate to write a bad review and tried avoiding it the first couple times but after last night and the service the Asian guy with glasses and black hair had given us it was terrible a simple thank you or have a good day wouldn't have...

A true shame on Korean culture. While the staff was friendly, they seemed ashamed to tell us that they know tradionally bibimbap is served hot, however they serve the many, complex components of this dish cold, with only the meat hot. I can put foot together from the fridge at home. How can they charge for bibimbap, in the traditional korean side of the menu, and they cant even make it right. Embarrasing to bibimbap and for no good reason other than ease of preparation. The fried chicken strips (the special at the time) were good if you enjoy bland, unseasoned meat and breading, thrown lightly in a mediocre sauce.So, so bland, it was unbelievable. Served with a side, cole slaw or pickled daikon. The small portion was a mountain, 10 breaded strips, just absolutely insanely huge. Id rather have half the portion and get something else to go with it to add some contrast. Just anything other than some coleslaw or raddish just scooped from the fridge. Why not kimchi? French fries? More than 2 options please good lord. How can you call yourselves a Korean restaurant and only offer 2 sides? Its a joke! Absolute lunacy. Of the two, yes i repeat, two, flavors offered on their fried chicken, I would hope the spicy one is more reminiscent of korean, because the soy garlic surely wasnt. There was harly any sauce on the food also. Just awfully regrettable. It is hard to imagine a bigger disgrace to the wonders of...