Siu Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Sparks

I genuinely used to love this place. It was our friends birthday last night and we have been planning this dinner for a couple months now because we've been here before and have loved it (we came here several months ago). The all-you-can eat price is on the expensive side ($39 a person) but totally worth the cuts of meats, especially for our friend's birthday which we wanted to make very special.

We arrive and we are served our drinks right away and given the sheet to pencil out which meats you want. The first 4 dishes (the non premium cuts) come out quickly but they are small so we finish them quickly with four hungry people in our party. After we finish our food we ask for the next order and we wait. After 30 minutes we ask twice if our food is coming out (we want the full all you can eat experience...) and both times the waitresses said "one moment" to never return to give any explanation. 45 minutes later they serve us our extras (kimchi, pickled veggies) which we didn't even know we would get even though all the other tables around us had them. After 1 hour of waiting I walk to the front and ask for the manager. I explain how long we wait and the manager says it takes time to cut the meats. I understood that but did not understand why it took so long for the rice to come out and to receive any explanation, especially when we had told them that is was our friend's birthday. I told him we were ready to pay a la carte for the 4 dishes and 2 beers we had ordered so we could eat somewhere else with better service. He said he apologized and magically after I told him we were about to leave our other items came out in a more timely manner.

To sum it up: -food took way too long to come out -we didn't even know they served extras since it arrived 45 min into our meal -the waitresses seemed clueless, avoidant, and unhelpful; things only started to happen when we asked for the manager which also seemed to be the head chef; this made the entire evening extremely tense and uncomfortable. The waitresses were seemingly insincere. -our 2nd order of rice took 20 minutes to arrive even after asking for it twice -manager was very nice and came out to apologize but that was the only redeeming factor of the evening. The waitresses avoided us until we were almost finished eating only then to ask us if everything was good and to check in with us, which felt so ironic -overall with them knowing it was a birthday celebration and then the only way to get any response was to have the manager come out--it was a disappointing and negative experience. The food is absolutely delicious (they have octopus!), but if you want terrible service, you've found the right place! The meat taking too long is understandable but to not receive any explanation from the waitresses except for avoidance was what created this negativity. Plus rice should not take more than 20 minutes to come out after asking for it twice. It was their attitude and the way they chose to handle the situation that made it so unpleasant. The waitresses after we asked several times where our order was said "one moment" every time and would never came back to tell us a response. Why did it take the manager to elicit a response? It escalated way too far because the waitresses are incompetent at their jobs and also in their abilities to communicate effectively to their patrons.

To top it off, they didn't even offer us ice cream :'(

Overall: amazing food

I’ve literally never had an experience like this, so please bear with me.

I came here with a buddy a couple hours ago.

I wasn’t hungry, so just had a few beers while he went nuts on the AYCE.

I told the waiter upon his seating us that I was not eating anything. Which he acknowledged and giggled at me about.

Despite the weird sewage/old meat smell as you walk in, this seemed like a half decent Korean bbq joint. Service was good and the food looked and smelled edible in general.

After a few beers and my friend getting his fill of Korean bbq, our bill came.

They wanted to charge us for two AYCE’s, despite my telling the waiter I was not eating, and hadn’t eaten anything. Which he had to have noticed as he was serving us over and over again.

Easy enough, they should have taken one AYCE off of the bill. But NO!!!

First, a manager came out and told us that they have to charge per head, and that I never told the waiter I wasn’t eating. We said no, I had fully unused chopsticks and place settings that I pointed out. The manager acknowledged this and said he’d be right back.

He returned and told us that our waiter had seen me eating. I did not touch a single piece of food, at any point in time. I asked for proof from their surveillance cameras. I was told our section was a “blind spot” for their cameras. Really?!

He came back and told us tough luck pretty much. That was their policy, and I was lying.

We refused again.

He then returned again, with an amended bill for what we actually consumed. No apology or explanation for anything. We payed and left.

I’m not blaming any of the wait staff for this. They were totally fine the whole time we were there, up until the end.

It all felt like that poor kid was just running back to the office and having the owner or manager telling him to just charge us either way and see if we’d call their bluff.

I was planning to come back and actually try the food. But my god, why would I ever support a place that puts their workers in a position like that, and tries to basically strong arm people into paying for food they never consumed?

It’s no wonder their ratings have been dropping. If you’re going to serve slightly above mediocre food. At least make sure the customer service and billing...

Edit: This place used to be fantastic, now it's terrible. New owners took over years back, started skimping on the food, slicing the meat so thin that it sticks to the grill, and tried implementing literal robots to bring food to your table. They intentionally make you wait long periods between orders, hoping you'll get full, pay their atrocious prices, and just leave.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favor, go to Ijji4 on West McCarren Blvd, it makes this place seem like a McDonald's by comparison.

This place is incredible. The all-you-can-eat bbq is truly a delicious, remarkable experience, and the price point is on point. If you're open to the idea of preparing your own meal on an open grill in the center of your table, this would be the dining experience for you. Offering varieties of beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, calamari, octopus, vegetables, ect, prepared in Korean, Hawaiian and traditional American spices, there's a flavor to suit everyone, appetizers included. A must-try to visitors or even locals. The owner is extremely personable, and obviously proud of his establishment. The first experience has made me a regular. Five stars...