KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Sterling Heights

The reason for this one star review is Ken the manager and him alone.

I came with my husband and my sibling, and their service dog. When we entered the restaurant we were IMMEDIATELY confronted by Ken asking for a service dog ID card. This does not exist, service dogs are not registered with any sort of governing entity.

From ADA:

"When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task." (See Link Below)

This was very clearly and concisely explained by Chel (service dog handler) and the employees who witnessed the interaction agreed that the explanation was clear.

Ken then asked for us to hold on, and returned to his laptop and other scattered items at the bar and did not communicate with us further. Us, and the employees at the front desk were confused and not really sure what we were waiting for. After five or ten minutes, Ken walked outside. Still no communication with us, we continued to wait for another five to ten minutes before I went to walk outside and talk to him, but he came back in at that moment, ignoring me, and approached Chel. He asked what tasks the service dog performed, Chel answered, and he looked to the hostess and said it was okay to seat us, and then walked back to his laptop/papers/etc. at the bar with no further communication.

For the remainder of our time in the restaurant he avoided us, did not apologize, or offer any kind of compensation for the inconvenience and discrimination.

Lyu was our server while we were there and we discussed with him the situation on our way out, he was appalled and apologized for the situation and gave us contact information to discuss further if they needed more information.

Lyu was phenomenal and a fantastic server, Mayana, was an excellent hostess and tried her best to help us with the situation. The rest of the employees who witnessed the conversation did their best to make sure the rest of our experience was positive and we truly appreciated that.

The food was amazing and we enjoyed eating there, but it definitely soured our experience to be watched and also avoided(?) by Ken who refused to make eye contact and avoided our table when asking other tables how their food and experience was. He never acknowledged the issue, and never offered even so much as an apology.

I hope the issue is resolved before the next time we dine...

At 2:40pm on Friday, February 23rd I was incredibly disappointed in the manager on shift that day. This was my second time at this kpot location and unfortunately I would recommend the Novi and newly opening Ypsilanti Kpot locations due to this experience I had.

Me and my partner arrived at 2:03 pm to have the lunch hotpot + kbbq and proceeded to order plates, wash our hands, get our sauces, and start cooking our food. We finished 2 small trays of kbbq at 2:30 before our hot pot was ready.

In my second spoonful of the hot pot I see a stringy looking thing floating in my bubbling miso soup. At first I thought it’s a piece of hair which is already gross but then see the stringy section is attached to an almond shaped body. Upon further inspection, those stringy pieces were long antenna attached to a fingernail sized abdomen… absolutely revolting.

We call the waiter over to see this and he says he’ll bring it to the back to show the manager. The manager comes to our table but it doesn’t seem like she knows the situation at all. We explain the situation and would like to leave immediately considering finding an INSECT in our food.

She offers that she can give us 50% off our meal with the reasoning that we’ve been here for 40 mins and that she doesn’t know if the bug came in our food from the kitchen or out in the dining area. Regardless of where this bug came from the lack of tact and compassion from this manager was felt. I had to talk to this manager for 10-15 minutes arguing that I don’t think we need to pay for this meal that had an insect in it. She kept saying that the best she can do is 50% off our meal and that usually customers just let them know about any issues they have with the food and that’s it.

Considering that each customer at the restaurant pays a flat rate of $20-35 depending. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t just let us go, they make enough money each hour as is. After she finally went to the back to talk to the owner, she came back QUICKLY to apologize and let us go.

We asked her if this ever happened before and she said it hasn’t and she also stated that she’s been working here since this kpot location opened…. She seemed to be incredibly embarrassed about her behavior, which she should be.

I’m only writing this review(February 24th) because of how in disbelief I am still am at this interaction. I was already disgusted by the establishment considering I found a bug in my miso soup, but this manager’s behavior was on a power trip where I hope she’s reflecting...

I am extremely disappointed in the Sterling Heights restaurant location. If I decide to give them another chance I will definitely visit a different location. We were planning on coming to the Sterling Heights location for my daughter 18th birthday celebration and I called a week in advance to see if I could make reservations because it would be a big party. The person who I spoke with informed me that unfortunately they did not do reservations and I said ok thank you for letting me know but before I hung up I asked follow up questions. And I was told that I could call earlier the day I wanted to come and let them know how many people I had coming and what time we were going to be there and they Definitely would be able to accommodate us, and we would all be seated together and it would be NO PROBLEM. Fast forward to the day before the party I called twice and no answer so I made sure to call when they opened day of the party. I went over everything with the young lady who answered the and she informed me that I needed to speak to her manger Ken and that he was the one that handled everything and gave me his number, called got no answer so I called the restaurant back, then I was told that he didn't get in until 2:00pm but they would make sure he got the message and call me back. When I got the call back from Ken he immediately told me you got the party of 30 we can't accommodate you and that I should have call a week ago so he could send me a contract and I would have had to pay in advance. I informed him that I did call a week ago and that I was following the steps that I was giving he said they shouldn't have told you that so I asked because it was an error on there part could they accommodate my party he FLAT OUT said NO, and the only way he would anything is if I paid for all 30 people right now and I needed to know how many adults and kids. Cause they would be to busy by then and if anyone came late they couldn't get in. So what he was saying to me that my Guaranteed Money for 30 people was not as good enough he was waiting on the possibility. At $30+ a plate, math would have told me to pick the guaranteed. The only pleasant thing about the experience was the 2 hostesses I spoke to when originally trying set everything up. They only get a star because you can't post without one. Her birthday celebration...