Bando Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in Lawrence

Firstly I would like to state that I am a firm believer that everyone should try everything once for themself as every experience will be different. This is just my own personal review, I have dined at this establishment on many occasions and each of my experiences is usually different than the last. The food itself is honestly quite delicious, from the actual Korean BBQ to the various sides and appetizers that they offer, it is also satisfactory. When we first started they did not charge for extra bowls of white rice, now you get the one bowl with the AYCE and every bowl after that is charged. I tend to only eat about 2 bowls with an AYCE meal but if you have a larger party , it’s another fee you need to keep your eyes peeled for. They also cut you off of the various sides that come with the AYCE. My family typically enjoys most of the sides and in the past hasn’t been an issue to ask for more, however with our last experience when we asked for a refill on the kimchi the server laughed and said that they couldn’t give us anymore. It made us feel bad for asking and we didn’t feel comfortable asking for anything else the rest of the meal. Again we understand the price of things can be high , especially when it comes to AYCE, but for the money you pay at this restaurant you would think they’d be able to spot you some extras here or there. Which brings me around to the gratuity situation. They claim to add gratuity to parties with more 5+ people but I have had gratuity added to my bill when I’ve only had a party of 2-3, I believe it is 18% but in my personal opinion not every experience is worthy of an 18% tip. Which ultimately brings me to the service, we have had some really amazing service and then we’ve had some very not amazing service. Sometimes we are made to feel like we do not cook things correctly when they come and just take over the cooking without saying anything. We do not mind the assistance but the silence is sometimes tense and awkward. Each table has a large vent hood above it that is meant to fan out the smoke created from the charcoal of each grill, they are typically loud once the restaurant fills up. Sometimes it’s hard to hear the people I’m sitting across from with all the noise. Typically I wouldn’t see this as an issue but the last couple times we’ve dined in our vent hood hasn’t worked properly it seems. The person I was dining with had to duck out of the way of all the smoke. Overall we have been to this establishment many times and for the most part we will probably continue to come , and please consider that every experience for everyone will vary. We have had amazing experiences here and we’ve had not so amazing experiences. The food is always on point and i for the most part always am satisfied after leaving. This review is by no means meant to bash anyone at or anything about this establishment. I am hoping it can be helpful to people who have never dined here before, to know...

We used to come here quite frequently, as I love one of their side dishes and all you can eat grill.

We had been seated at a booth table where the table was so close to the booth itself, that we had to turn the table at an angle just so we could both sit. It had never been like this before, but they were having a busy night and one larger party had moved their actual booth creating a space issue all the way down the wall.

We just dealt with it, because it wasn't so bad to sit with the table at an angle. Well, let me tell you, the server (an older woman) did not like this at all. She kept coming by to try and put the table straight, but it would mash us up against the walls. I'm a petite 5ft person who weights 130lbs and it whenever she tried to straighten the table, it would push against my breasts and be painful. We kept trying to tell her why we had the table like this. There was a language barrier and she didn't seem to understand. We wanted to be seated elsewhere, but the place was full. Eventually, they left the table alone. Because this is the only way anyone could possibly sit there.

The second issue was with ordering the "all you can eat buffet" items. They had not come by to ask if we'd like a refill on the side dishes, as they had normally done. We asked to had a refill on two of them, the gelatin noodles and some sort of lotus side dish. The older woman had seemed annoyed that we asked. We also asked for 1 more plate of the marinated beef, after waiting for service for a while. The older lady had ended up bringing another worker with her, to ask for clarification about the meat. The new lady had asked us if anyone had been by to see if we had wanted refills. My husband said "No, they haven't", in an annoyed tone of voice, but remained polite.

They became quite upset from the response and told him he didn't need to be rude about it. I'm not sure why they asked, if they did not want an honest response. Simply put, we had been there nearly two hours just waiting around for grill changes, services, ect.

Anyways, it's been over a year and we have never gone back. It's unfortunate, as I did enjoy this place and the flavors of their dishes. However, I think they were quite rude about the table situation and the meat/side dish refill. When you pay $30/person for an all you can eat buffet, I do not think it is unreasonable to ask for a refill on two side dishes and 1 order of beef. In other Korean restaurants I've been, they just bring the side dish out. They would just bring them out before here as well. Not sure what changed. If you do not want to offer an all you can eat buffet, do not offer it. Simply charge for the meat platters.

I truly think that older server is quite rude and is damaging to the business. She is the second woman from the left in the picture on the front page. Please treat your customers...

First of all, I hate to complain about any restaurant I went you are the first one I have to complain and I hope your owner will train you all better than this

The restaurant had really poor service one of the brown-haired waitresses was a liar.

The waitress took the tongue away after I put all the first set of meat on the grill, I didn't even finish my first round ( chicken, pork, kalbi, bulgogi) I had to use my chopstick to cook raw meat.

After I finished my first round of meat I ordered another kalbi one of the black hair ladies who came to our table told us we couldn't order just beef we had to order pork or chicken along with beef I tried to tell her I just wanted Kalbi she tended not to listen so I didn't want to argue with her I just let her bring it.

She brought the meat out with bills but still had no tongue for me to cook, she snatched the chopstick out of my husband's hand to spread the meat on the grill.

I was cooking my meat and about to eat when the brown hair lady came to ask how everything me and my husband told her the food was good but the service was very bad with no aggressive voice. I tried to explain to her in a nice tone of voice

(it was because my kids were there and I have to be extra nice to set a good example for my children )

I was about to tell her what was going on she had already come up with all the excuses she said she was busy with the party table when we had only 2 my tables and the 8-9 people's party tables in the restaurant.

She said she asked us if we wanted water or not when she didn't show up at our table

She asked us why we were complaining and I told her we were not complaining we just let you know that was all I told her.

After that, she went to the kitchen to get a tongue and threw the tongue on the table for us and tried to fill up the water when we didn't want it

By the way, tips for volunteer tips depend on whether I like your service or not, you can't charge tips without asking the customer, you can do that only for a party of 5...