KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Rogers

We absolutely loved the food! There was a learning curve for sure but our waiter was very kind and showed us how. I recognize this is a new business so I always think it’s important to note room for improvement. We came in with two adults, a 1 year old, and an infant in an infant carrier. The hostess recommended seating us at a 4top instead of a 2top to have more space with the kids. We were seated at the 4 top next to the service station (where wait staff collects their supplies). We got a high chair for our toddler and put our baby in the booth seat next to one of us. Between the edge of our table, the high chair, and the service station right behind our toddler we were cramped for space. The line for the sauce bar often ran through there when a line collected so it was such a high traffic area it was uncomfortable at times. Having the line right behind our toddler, and then when wait staff had to grab from the cabinet there was just a lot of moving and squeezing for those walking by and I couldn’t help feeling like we were an inconvenience to those around us. The servers also came through there with the carts full of items to bring to tables, and often ran hard into the high chair. The high chair being at the end of the table also allowed our son to find out about the knob that turns the BBQ on and off and it was difficult to get him to stop messing with it. The hot pot tops on the end were within his reach so we moved the hotpot’s towards the inside seats to stay safe. The server who brought our meats and veggies was very young and kept just placing all of the raw meat directly in front of our son as if he was serving it to him which was hard for my son to understand that the food wasn’t ready to eat since it was literally placed in front of him.

All of this to say we did love our experience and plan on coming back - I really hope this business invests in the mini high chairs that can be placed on the booth seat to keep toddlers out of the walkway and that next time they’re able to put us in a spot that doesn’t have heavy foot traffic if we are needing to put a high chair at the end of the table. Like I said we will be back! I just thought since it’s a new business things like high chair placement and safety for little may not have been fully considered yet and I thought I could give some ideas on improvement. The food was fantastic and once we got situated and got the flow of everything we loved the experience! Our son has asked several times about...

Let me start with walking thru the door. As soon as I walked in I was caressed by the scent of another nation across my nostrils. We were seated almost immediately (around 1 on a Tuesday so not slammed) and surprised to see the table. Our server was named Shy and as overwhelming and confusing as being a first timer she held our hands for all of it. She made recommendations, provided feedback, gave advice, and checked in regularly. Now Shy as her amazing self left us to explore on our own. The adventure we went on was unreal. I was described by my partner as having the energy and joy in my eyes of a retired drug force K9 being thrown a party with balls and treats for the first time. I will say I did get upsold quickly but how could I say no to Shy? We had been through so much together the three of us and as a food skeptic (hardcore Stephen special and chicken tinders) kind of “explorative eater” I think being guided gently and then left to my own devices made trying KPOT one of a kind experience. We will be back. I will be angry about spending a lot of money on mediocre food. I will be more angry about spending a lot of time on mediocre food that is also expensive. The food came within 2 minutes from placement of order. No joke. And with all things considered the price point is very fair. It isn’t a cheap date night however when you can budget approx $100 max (tap included in that ballpark) you can have absolutely full bellies, a fun time, delicious cocktails and flavorful foods. KPOT is a one of a kind around here. We loved it. Shy added a special charm as they visited off and on with our table and that special charm was the cherry on top of the experience. Thank you KPOT, and thank you Shy for making my pallet brave...

They have an incredibly convoluted check-in system that resulted in me, checking in with the host, being told there was a 20 minute wait, then receiving a text before I was even out the door that I was checked in, but what I didn’t realize is that it was saying I needed to check back in with the host within the next 20 minutes to be seated. (Because that would be stupid since I just checked in moments ago to be put on that list) however 20 minutes later I got a text saying that I had been removed from the waiting list. Thankfully, once I went inside, I explained the confusion and while the host was not particularly nice about it, they did seat us.

Our waiter was great, but we were next to the bar and I got the impression the bartender might have been “getting high on his own supply” so to speak.

The food came out promptly and was quite good. We just ordered the Korean barbecue not hot pot, but it was a fun experience.

It was my first time trying Korean barbecue, I would recommend to anyone else that if you go to a similar restaurant that you do a little research on what sauces to make. As someone without a great deal of experience with Korean food I struggled to make a sauce at the sauce bar that I actually liked, I wish they had had some sauces available rather than just letting me fumble through mixing different stuff together. They have some general recipes on the wall, but the recipes don’t mean much without some kind of ratio or measurements which they don’t provide.

All in all, I don’t think I will...