Bonchon Arden — Restaurant in Sacramento

TLDR: This place treats customers like beggars. Very rude and threatened to call the cops on me. Also complained to corporate but no response so I guess they don’t care. So go here if you want bad service and be treated like a criminal. Here’s my story. At around 12:30pm on 10/24/24, I went to pick up my online order at this Bonchon location in Sacramento-Ethan Way. As I entered the store, there was no one to greet me. The team member that was up front was on the phone and completely ignored me like I did not exist. She did not say hi or say they she would be right with me. I usually eat in store at other locations and I don’t usually pick up so I thought it was like a Chipotle pickup where customers are allowed to grab the food themselves. So I went to grab my food off the shelf while taking care to make sure that it was my name on it. Then, I showed my online order on my phone and the food that I grabbed to the front lady on the phone (because there was no one else present), then she finally acknowledged me. It was not so much what she said but the really mean way she said it. She told me that was behind the counter you can’t just go there. So I stated that she was ignoring me so I was not sure if I was supposed to grab it myself. Then she replied stating that well she was on the phone. Then, her coworkers came out. It was a standoffish situation where I was made to feel like a beggar and not a paying customer. Then, I told them sorry it will never happen again because I will not come back to this place. Her coworkers then said, “Let’s report him to the police.” Then, I walked away with my food. If I was not supposed to grab it myself, then I already said my apology, but the team members did not treat a paying customer with respect or provide good customer service. I felt like I was begging for the food that I paid for because of how they interacted with me at this store. The food that I got also tasted old and it was soggy and not up to the standard with other Bonchon locations....

This location out of the 3 I've already been to outranks "San Leandro and Berkeley" which are gimmicks! Bon Chon Arden rocks because 1) the food is always freshly cooked 2) their fries are not hard but just right and that right amount of that delicious sauce on their Soy Garlic wings, and 3) Their Customer Service is always bubbly and warm... if there is a problem "they won't argue you down or hassle you; they will just fix the problem."

The down side to the other Bon Chons mentioned is:

1. Food is always dried out and old.
2. Wings are nearly burnt and take away the soy garlic taste
3. Fries are very dried out and when confronted about it "they try to bargain with you to pay for it because of inventory/ waste costs when they served you old food in the first place.

When I confronted one if the waitresses specifically at the Berkeley branch (in a monotone respectful way) about the fries being dried out she said "I can charge you a lower price" and I had not tasted but 1.

When I started to her that the fries and the wings does not taste like Sacramento Arden branch she stated: "we are not then plus we carry a different vendor than they do"

Yet, they are carrying the name of such great franchise.

When I am away from Sacramento Bon Chon and in the Bay Area and experience this type Asian snobbishness... I thank God that Arden Bon Chon is "NOT" like San Leandro nor Berkeley. Makes me wonder if the rest in the Bay area are the same. I have tried San Francisco and I hope not. Please do not go to the locations mentioned if they can't make fresh food or do fries they advertise which should be n'sync with Arden and not...

I really didn't care for this place.. possibly because I had real high hopes. I felt like the honey chicken seasoning had almost a urine taste to it, the spicy and soy garlic chicken was really good. The buns tasted kind of like a really bland bahn mi sandwich. Not being able to substitute side dishes for an upcharge was another real annoyance because I don't like fries, rice, or pickled raddish. I want to try other things on the menu but I really wasn't a fan. I will admit the chicken was juicy, the batter was tasty. The spicy chicken was quite spicy (which I really like but would be concerned may be too much for others) the soy garlic chicken was really really good. The shumai was kind of bland and honey mustard did not compliment shrimp shumai, just saying it was not good. I did the 3 boneless honey wings but even this was not good as the batter was different and again had that unpleasant urine taste to it. I really wanted to like this place as it is something that would typically be right up my alley. However I can honestly say I won't be racing back to give them a second chance anytime soon. For the money it was quite disappointing. A better experience can be had at firewings, which I suspect is run by the same person because the menu layout was similar and it so was the decor. Dear firewings guy, I realize you can't win em all, but bonchon is not very good, you might want to go back to the drawing board on bonchon. That is just my humble opinion and perhaps I could be wrong, but it...