Bonchon New York - 1st Ave — Restaurant in New York

Tl;dr: Worst korean fried chicken franchise for a reason, management should reconsider hiring choices or a communication system as I have experienced two wrong orders in two separate occasion.

I love Korean fried chicken, and like to think that I know a thing or two about it. In North America, the main franchises are BonChon and BBQ Chicken with lots of other smaller local restaurants. These two franchises originated in Korea with BonChon being one of the oldest, if not the oldest chain franchise. In terms of quality, BonChon has been known as the bottom-tier franchise in the current market in Korea for good reason - horrible service and unkind pricing. (BBQ is a couple of blocks away near Baruch college and deserves much more love than this franchise)

It seems that this culture has followed to their North American franchise. I have visited this location twice - once on their opening day and another just today. The first time I visited, I was happy that there was a KFC shop near me, and placed an order of wings. They were ok - half soggy when I arrived home, and the sauce felt average at best but was bad value considering the $22 for 12 sad pieces of wings and a drink. While I was waiting for the order though, a customer came in saying she had a wrong order but didn't think much of it.

The second time I visited this location, I received a wrong order myself and was met with an indifferent attitude, and that my order will be out soon. There were people working with their laptops on some of the dine-in tables who I assume to be the management/owners. The employees told them that I was simply waiting for my order, but didn't mention that I received a wrong order. I didn't say anything because I knew I wasn't coming back to this location and would rather take my business to BBQ chicken - where the chicken is also ok, but the employees give excellent service when they notice even a slight delay.

All in all, for a location with a team of 14 or so kitchen staff and 3-4 front of house, the quality of food was ok while the service I received was pretty terrible. I can't wait for other KFC franchises to come into the US, as BonChon is really not cutting it for myself - franchises like BBQ, BHC, and Pelicana would encourage healthy competition for a stagnant franchise...

Omg first I have to say the associate Quan has so much customer service ! I Initially wanted to get food and go, but the energy The customer service was so good upon arrival. I found it to be slightly chilling, and he offered to lower the temperature so that me and my children would be more comfortable in the environment. Secondly, he gave a tasting of the different sauces to me and my children, allowing them to decide which one they chose and they ended up liking the experience and asked me to stay so I decided to stay And then I also ordered more food so that my other family can try it as well. The chicken was fried to perfection and Chris and juicy and flavorful. The fries were out of this world. The donuts were nice and sugary not too much but just right and fluffy and the music and environment was very good and clean. Definitely a five star definitely coming back definitely Telling people about it. You guys need to try this place. .!! Thank you again to Quan And the chef for making this experience, amazing here at Bonchon . My son was...

It’s amazing how inconsistent this place is. The woman at the register has no idea what’s in anything.

What kind of sauce does that come with?

“I don’t know”

What’s in the Korean street corn?

“I don’t know, I just work in the front.”

I’ve ordered the bulgogi bonchon bowl twice from this particular location. The first time it was similar to what you would get at other Bonchon locations. Sautéed beef with sautéed onions, mushrooms, scallions…basically what is listed on the menu. Tonight, it was a few pieces of dried up shriveled up beef, topped with carrots, mushrooms and iceberg lettuce????? I’ve never seen iceberg lettuce served in a bonchon rice bowl. This is the driest bowl of food I’ve had in years. Which is odd considering the cashier asked me what sauce I wanted in the bowl????

Nonetheless, I’ll never order from this location again. From the clueless cashier who couldn’t answer literally any question in regards to the menu, to this weird freestyled beef bowl…the prices are too high for this foolishness.

The 2 stars are...