Jiang Niu BBQ House Orland Park — Restaurant in Orland Township

This is a Chinese inspired Korean BBQ restaurant. Even if you didn’t know, the name of the restaurant is clearly Chinese. It’s a chain and I’ve been to the location in Chinatown a few times. Here, the parking lot is more spacious. It’s easier to get in and out. We walked in with no reservation after 7:30 pm on a Wednesday night. We were seated immediately (it’s not that easy at the Chinatown location). The interior is different here, it still has a chic look but it has a cozy atmosphere. Service was friendly and attentive for the most part. There was only one server so you have to be a little patient. If the grill isn’t cooking the meat fast, please let the server know.

We got the premium ayce menu ($37) and added pork jowl and house special pancake. The house special pancake tasted like a combination of a Korean pancake and takoyaki (no octopus but similar toppings). I prefer the pork jowl over the pork belly because the taste is richer and more meaty. Honestly, you have a lot of choices without any of the extra items. Recommended items are garlic beef slices, black pepper beef rib strips, marinated LA bone-in short ribs, chicken wings, cheesy corns, and king oyster mushrooms. You can’t go wrong with anything here. Use the scissors to cut large pieces of meat. It’s easier to cook and eat. The seafood tofu soup does have a bit of a kick, if you like a little spicy you’ll enjoy it. Order it with rice. Chicken wings take longer to cook, you have to keep flipping to get both sides fully cooked. If it comes out white and juicy, then you’ve cooked it right. There aren’t many Chinese inspired Korean bbq restaurants in the burbs, so it was nice to come here without all of the...

I've been wanting to try this Chinese-Korean fusion BBQ house for a while and I'm glad I made the trip!

My mom and I both opted for the dinner AYCE option ($37 at the time of this review) and really, really enjoyed our meal. The spicy pork belly was outstanding, the marinated shortribs were definitely my favorite, and the little garlic rib pieces were an absolute hit. They do send smaller portion sizes than most KBBQ places do, but I honestly appreciated it so I could focus on getting the right cook on everything.

Like most "self-cook" BBQ places, you have a two-hour time limit to eat everything, which is more than enough to eat your fill and then some. Their sauce bar is small but mighty; I suggest the spicy dry seasoning, which was delicious with rich beef belly. Their kimchi is super spicy and delightful.

I also ordered a spicy salad, which was included with the AYCE menu. It offered a really nice contrast to all the heavy meat items and I was glad to have it.

The only negative I had was the fried/hot bar food. The lo mein noodles were overly cornstarch-y, the potstickers were very oily, and a piece of karaage chicken I had was undercooked. Personally, I'd opt to ignore the hot bar and get your fill of whatever's coming directly out of the kitchen instead.

Service was excellent and our waitress was very attentive with timely grill changes. The atmosphere is the same as most KBBQ places, but an adorable robot server does deliver your raw foods to you. It might be gimmicky to some people, but I thought it added a nice touch!

I had a great time and can't wait to come back and try their Happy Hour menu and some...

I was excited to try this place as we have limited options for Korean bbq in this area. I was taken a back a bit by how restrictive and strict the rules and dining options are. My fiancé has a seafood allergy so we were told we shouldn’t do the bbq AYCE option as all of the bbq options apparently have some type of seafood oil. That defeated the purpose of why we went there and is the first I’ve run into that anywhere, but we decided to grab a regular entree option and still give it a shot. We were told we can only have plain white rice as a side, no substitutions allowed. I wanted to order two options for us to share and was told it’s a large dish and they try not to let people waste food. I don’t think I have ever been discouraged from spending more money in a restaurant. They also do not allow to go boxes, they restrict how many items you can order and not on just the AYCE option. The food was mediocre and clearly not fresh, but frozen or sitting for a few days. The best part of the meal was the jasmine green teas we had. Then at the end our waiter stood directly next to us after handing us the bill and would not step back or walk away so we could discuss tip and continue our conversation as if he thought we would walk out without paying. It was uncomfortable. Not long after my stomach started turning and I had to rush to the bathroom when I got home. Definitely not going back and sadly I don’t think this place will do well if they don’t re-evaluate how...