ARI Korean BBQ & The Cakeshop — Restaurant in Johns Creek

반찬이 아마 최고였을 거예요 The green beans were 맛있는 Sorry this is going to be a lot because I’m half Korean and I was a little disappointed.

I’m from GA so KBBQ is pretty popular and has great flavors. We have Korean town and Korean is the most spoken language besides English and Spanish. I have had tried over 50 Korean bbq and planning to go more around the world to try. I’m visiting in Murfreesboro right now and was craving for some 냉면 (cold noodles) I have a favorite back home but of course I know every restaurant is different. My husband and I were very hungry too so we wanted Korean.

My husband and I came here wanting to try it since we’ve been hearing that there’s a new restaurant. It was so hard to try not to judge too much due to the fact we love the flavors from KBBQ in GA. Especially since this is the only KBBQ in the area near us. Might as well, you know? Their Banchan was good. It was simple and not to much sides. I liked the green beans, fish cake, radish, and their cucumber kimchi. The cabbage kimchi was a little on the sweet side and kind of bland. Didn’t have that fermented sourness to it. But it was still good. We had meat from the a la carte. My husband and I enjoyed the brisket and it was delicious. We love pork and wanted their spicy pork. I didn’t know it was like a bulgogi. Kind of wish they did spicy pork belly. Kind of disappointed on that the most. It was sour and over marinated. Idk if it was the salt or fish sauce, for marinated meat you have to balance the salt with the gochujang and gocharu; add sugar probably?? We also had the korean chicken soup, since my husband and I were feeling somewhat under the weather because it’s warm and raining then cold and sunny 😅, it was very delicious and comforting. Their cold noodles though…. I’m also disappointed in that. For spicy cold noodles it’s like a bibibap but the noodles are soo dry you need some of the broth to be able to mix the noodles and the sauce. It was overly sweet and not spicy. It had a lot of sesame oil too which made it taste weirder than adding the right amount to someone’s taste. It didn’t have that umami kick of deliciousness. It was too sweet. 😭

I’m trying not to make this into a bad review because the food was good at first. There are some dishes we probably will not reorder but my husband may not be able to come back. He said the after taste is still sitting in his mouth no matter how much water or juice. He said it was not a nice after taste.

Our service was ok. They were nice but it took a while to get what we asked. I think my husband waited 10 minutes for a refill of water but we saw our server sing happy birthday after the 10 minutes. So it was an ok service. I also had to cook the meat myself as soon as the meat was sent to our table. I kind of looked confused if this was a KBBQ restaurant that has their customers cook their own meat. Every restaurant is different just confused me because I guess we’re not used to it from K-Town in GA. But It wasnt busy till we started to leave so service was confusing as well.

I also brought a toddler and used a highchair to prevent them from touching the grill in the middle but the knob to turn on the grill was right in the middle outside of the booth and my child kept touching and playing with it. Maybe not safe have your child on the outside of the booth.

Overall we liked our first experience, maybe we will be back, but we did enjoy the time and food for the moment. I hope some of you guys who read my review don’t get hesitant towards the food here. This is just my opinion due to have been eating a lot KBBQ over the years and experience. My taste buds is different but honestly speaking this is a good restaurant just not as good as the restaurants I’ve tried over the years and places I’ve been. It could be better but of course it’s just my opinion. Still come and enjoy the...

We made a reservation for 9:45PM and we did show up early to see if we could be seated early (8:45PM), however, was completely understanding if not. Was told that it would be probably around 30-40 minutes. No big deal, we sat and had a drink. We got called back right around 9:30, so a little early, great!

We passed by about 3 booths that were completely open and cleaned, but was placed into the larger party room. My husband asked if we could move since we prefer to sit across from each other and he was told that there were no other open seats. Okay, fine. Maybe they were reserved, who knows.

The party room was absolutely freezing and we were sat next to the window. I was practically shaking the entire time due to it being so cold. We were seated around 9:30, made a decision on food around 9:40 and we continued to wait for RAW MEAT to come out to be cooked until 10:27. Why in the world does it take you almost an hour to bring out raw meat? My husband had got up to look for the manager but she was nowhere to be found, so he came back and just sat down. We got the Galbi Feast ($52 per person even though their online menu says $49 per person) and did not receive everything we were supposed to. We asked for steamed egg to be told that the two tables in front of us never got there's so "maybe we are out of eggs". Nothing was ever confirmed. Our meal was also supposed to come with soybean or kimchi stew.. never got this either. We were presented with a potato pancake (part of this meal) but we were told that it was "on the house" from management for the wait.

So you are giving me something for free that's ready baked into the price of our meal? How kind of you. We did get a 10% discount on our meal (not including drinks) without asking, so while that is appreciated, this was not handled properly. It was left up to the waiter to apologize for the delay. But every table near us was getting served meat while we sat there for almost an hour sipping on water. The poor waiter was nice but looked very flustered and never followed up on questions we had.

We're very familiar with Korean BBQ and this experience is by far the worst I have ever seen. I understand you're busy but you should prepare for things like this as a business that has been open for more than one Valentine's Day.

This was the first and last time we will ever go here. I will say that what we did get to eat was pretty decent, but nothing extraordinary for the price that...

We’ve loved coming to Ari in the past, but our recent experience during a crowded Saturday dinner service was disappointing enough to warrant this review.

After being seated by the hostess, it took 15-20 minutes before our server greeted us and took our order. Another 15-20 minutes passed before our food started arriving, and my drink order was forgotten. I politely reminded the server, but even after their two busiest tables left, the service remained slow—if not slower.

Throughout the evening, we noticed a consistent pattern of delays. After ordering our meats, we waited an additional 20 minutes, leaving us full from sitting and waiting rather than enjoying the meal as intended. When I requested a refill on some banchan, the server cut me off, saying he was only taking orders for meats at that time. I later had to remind him again about the banchan, as it was overlooked.

Frustrated, I asked to speak with a manager. Instead of bringing a manager, the server returned to address my concerns. He explained that they were doing their best to bring out food items as quickly as possible but that they were waiting on the kitchen staff. However, this explanation didn’t align with our experience—our order of gyoza, for example, arrived cold in the center, suggesting it had been sitting for some time rather than being freshly prepared. This inconsistency was disappointing and made it even harder to justify the delays and lack of attention.

Adding to our frustration, during our final meat order, my girlfriend specifically requested a half-serving as we were already feeling full from the prolonged waiting. Unfortunately, the server forgot and brought out a full serving instead. By this point, the entire experience felt rushed and disorganized despite the long stretches of waiting.

While I appreciate the acknowledgment, the server’s response felt dismissive, focusing on how busy and understaffed they were rather than taking accountability. Even after the dinner rush phased out, the service didn’t improve.

I’ve noticed similar concerns in recent reviews, with management promising improvements, yet the same issues seem to persist. Ari has always been a favorite, but the combination of high prices and subpar service has us reconsidering. We hope the restaurant can address these challenges and provide the quality experience we’ve...