TAO Hot Pot & BBQ — Restaurant in Mobile

Yall...if I could give them 10 stars I would!!!!! Apologies on my pics....it's the aftermath.

Everything was fresh, clean, tasty, and yummy. Even the bathroom was CLEAN! Love all the exotic foods and flavors. EXCELLENT, friendly service. We got hotpot and Korea BBQ. WELL worth the price. MUCH cheaper than a trip to South Korea. It was fun and easy to do. The meal is timed. You have 2 hours and it is ALL you can eat. The shrimp are HUGE!

There are a large variety of meats available-seafood, pork, chicken, beef, lamb.

Order 15 items (meat/veggies/etc.) at a time. 5 minute delay between orders. Cook your food at the table. Black containers are for the grill and white for the hot pot. Make your own sauces at the sauce counter. Honestly I didn't use much sauce because my Tom Yum soup base was sufficient to infuse the meats and veggies cooked therein with plenty of flavor.

Each person at the four topper table (6 topper available as well) picks their own soup base. There is also miso and pork bone. There were a couple more but these are the ones we got. Our server was friendly and so were the hostesses at the front. They let me ask as many questions as I needed to. Don't let the 2 hour time limit scare you. It is PLENTY of time. If everyone at the table helps with cooking and sharing it goes very well.

Wonderful for a large group of people. Communal meal. Share, cook and serve one another.

Tips-toss all your hot pot items in your hot pot as you receive them. Temp on high to get the pot hot...and adjust the temperature as you go. Up or down as needed. Use a side plate for fully cooked hot pot items to cool as they are done.

Tip-Put all your grill items on the grill as you receive them so that everything is cooking simultaneously. As items cook, flip them with the tongs and use scissors to cut the items then serve with tongs.

Use the iPad to order hot pot or grill specific items. Be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of each section so you don't miss a thing! There are a plethora of food items to choose from. They even have dessert!

Unfortunately we did not make it to dessert. We were too busy eating quail eggs, calamari, fish cakes, rice cakes, pork belly, gyoza, lamb and other exotic foods. Don't be shy or scared try new things! We were made to feel welcome. Our server "Darren" was AWESOME, kind, courteous, and attentive. Everything was delicious. Additional sides available at the sauce bar-kimchi, seaweed salad, and more. You can use your ipad to request items and contact your server. Your time limit is on your iPad...counting down. We will be back....

My husband was very excited to see a hot pot place come to Mobile and wanted to try it. However, I think it's very important for people to note that the kids meal price does not necessarily include kids.

Instead of going by age, this place determines childhood status by height, which honestly feels racist because some nationalities - like Asians and Hispanics - tend to be much shorter than ethnicities like white and black. My 8-year-old son, who barely started the third grade, was nearly at their height limit. He stands at about 4'8". My daughter who just turned 12 was well above their height limit, and was counted as an adult, which we had not anticipated. She barely ate more than a handful of glass noodles and some chicken.

Another major issue is that you can only order 15 items at a time (This includes all individual ramen/ hot pot ingredients), which is a problem when you come in with a party of six like we did. My husband and I had to order food for our children and then wait 15 minutes before we could order our own. And at a restaurant where you are timed from the second your hot pot is put in, every minute counts. We wound up using the entirety of our 2 hours without trying.

The food itself was very delicious (Especially the pork belly) and our waiter was very sweet. It's also helpful that there is a call waiter button on the device on every table. That prevented us from having to wait for any drink refills.

They also have a seasoning/sauce station where you can add green onions, peanuts, sesame seeds, salt and pepper, kimchi, or other basic ingredients to your individual bowl. You also get to choose the base broth for every hot pot at the table, which was nice because my oldest daughter likes food much spicier than I do, and my second daughter doesn't eat pork.

It was an overall nice experience, but not practical for a family. Thankfully, we happened to go when they were running a special, or else we would have paid close to $300 for our family (one child is under 3). I would not go back unless it was for...

I'll be changing my rating later once things smooth out. They just opened and Thanksgiving came right after. This is also Mobile's first and only KBBQ/Hotpot restaurant. You can assume most of the staff are completely brand new to this style of restaurant.

I've been twice already.

Wait times were short, but maybe it was good timing. Staff were friendly and the place looked pretty amazing to the eye. I can't really fault the staff, but items were getting sent to the wrong tables constantly on the first night. Also had stuff not come out at all and sometimes extra of stuff we only ordered one of. Second time I went, the rice cooker was unplugged so our rice was cold. Once the hot batch was given to us, we were practically full. Can't hold that against them though.

Here is where I chip away a little bit at the rating; a lot of the meat tended to be chewy. The beef bulgogi and pork belly were great, but I found that the brisket cuts (though they looked beautiful) had an awful lot of bite to them. My family was slightly disappointed that there weren't any marinated/spicy options for some of the food like at other KBBQ places. Still, I can't complain nor take away from the rating base around items they don't have.

My family loved the soups since we were able to add seasoning to them. I love how the pork belly is sliced a little thinner than other places. I usually hate having to cook pork belly for the family at other restaurants due to it taking up so much space and taking so long to cook. The thinner slices actually had me looking forward to it.

I'd say once they get the ball rolling and they settle in, it'll be a 5 star easily. Maybe a few more menu items once they're comfortable with what they have- and perhaps adding a giant rice pot to the sauce bar. It feels weird having to constantly ask for rice.

I will be visiting again and I'll be looking out for a smoother operation and fresher ingredients. I can only assume Thanksgiving two days after opening night threw their menu...