Bimbimbox — Restaurant in Texas

TL;DR First Korean restaurant in the area, Acceptable. Clearly targeting the local demographics which most likely isn't familiar with Korean food. Give them a week or so to hash out some details. Will re-evaluate again later, somewhat lenient on rating for now.

So just came from the restaurant for a late lunch (1pm) right after their opening. They serve almost purely bibimbap entrees (Korean Rice bowls) but set up as an a-la-cart style like subway. Thus, come in and choose what carbs, proteins, sauces, and veggies you want. They also have options of your usual fountain drinks & selections of Milk Teas/boba.

For my meal, I got the bibimbap with purple wild rice & tofu, Sprouts, onions, fish cake, and maybe one more thing i forgot. For the sauce, decided on the house special to get a good idea of what they're going for. Since it was opening day, they gave everyone a free milk tea. Opted to get their Black Tiger milk tea along with their house milk tea(haven't tried it yet).

Thoughts: -Food What's very notable and i find unique is the rice. No, not cuz it is purple but because there is a sweetness in the rice itself. You usually dont find that anywhere else so they are doing something right. Unfortunately, the house sauce I got, even tho I asked for an extra blast of it, it wasn't as strong as I am used to. It had a good bean paste flavor but isn't as strong as I would have liked. The tofu was as expected for tofu & they gave a good serving amount of it. the concern I had was there was one piece of the bunch tasted like it was just starting to go bad. the rest was fine tho i'm a bit concerned considering the shop has existed for all of 2 hours. Nothing bad about the rest except for the sprouts & fish cakes: they tasted really good... wasn't watered down or lacking in flavor... definitely recommend grabbing the fish cakes if its your thing. -Milk Tea I haven't tried the free house milk tea yet but my expectations aren't very high: being free and made in a huge batch for the day, i think it would do the shop injustice to critique it. still awesome they gave it for free on opening day. However, i decided to also get a Black Tiger. I have no idea what it was but it tasted like it had something coffee-based. It was ok, somewhat watered down IMO as i was expecting a stronger flavor. I also got their Baby Boba/small pearls in the drink. they seemed to have made them well as they have a decent amount of sweetness in them so that was made good. -Other things of note: There were around 2 employees, at LEAST one, running around talking to and checking in with guest to see how their meal was going. They came by and asked about my drink & i told them it was on the light side. They offered to re-make it for me so that's really nice of them (tho i declined due to laziness and didn't really care about the drink as the entree is more important). The dining area itself was clean and nice. They had a small area for fountain drinks and, overall, a very minimalist mindset. Still very trendy and decent chairs to sit at considering the times. I am hoping they will have more outside seating as it's a great spot to sit outside and enjoy a meal. The bathrooms are well-kept and have a very, VERY interesting sign showing if it is for men or women (suspect of japanese origin).

-Overall thoughts: Considering the area, they are one of the few mostly korean restaurants in the area as i'm not familiar with any others. It seems that, with the lighter flavors, they are targeting the local demographics as this may be their first time seeing non-fusion korean food and is a very easy beginner step to the cuisine. However, i'm very much used to the food so expected stronger flavors. I say give them a couple of weeks to perfect their food and sauces and then we'll see how it goes. For newbies, definitely worth at least a try to get an idea of the...

I have been looking forward to this place opening ever since we drove past it several times. Went to the soft opening today and it was great! Surprisingly orderly for a soft opening, we just had to wait a bit for more bulgogi to be cooked. My husband and I got similar bulgogi bowls except I got gochujang sauce and he got the house yumyum sauce, and we both agree that the gochujang is way better. But both were really good, the veggie options are good. They also have chicken, spicy chicken, and tofu, but realistically I tend to stick to beef so I dunno how those are.

My husband got a house milk tea and I got a passion fruit black tea. The tea is REALLY good, it has a complex flavor unlike a lot of boba places. I want to try the taro coconut milk tea but I just wasn’t feeling milk today.

We’re probably going to come back a lot, we used to go to a place like this in SoCal that was basically the same sort of Chipotle-but-bibimbap set-up and I’m just really into that. I hope they consider adding fried eggs once they’re up and running.

EDIT: lol okay, I went back tonight (the 1st) to try the taro coconut and it was actually awful, it was luke warm and tasted like diluted sweet potato water and didn’t have any obvious ice. If I had to guess, it was made earlier in the day and there had been ice in it, but it melted? My husband got a tiger milk tea and it was really flavorless too, although his at least had ice. Not going to lower my rating since it’s still the soft opening. If we come back later and the tea is good again...

If I had been able to order I would've maybe been given a better score based on the food. This score is literally on customer service by the "district manager" who refused me adequate service and respect. I came in originally to pick up an Uber eats order and quickly decided to try one of the drinks. There was only 1 other person in front of me and he had just started ordering his food. I patiently waited for him to complete the 15 minute transaction. Within 5 minutes of me being there an Asian couple came in and was behind me. I let them know if they were ordering food they could go ahead in the line they had. After the older gentleman was done with his transaction the District manager went straight over to the Asian couple and has yet to acknowledge me or greet me. I said excuse me and he said rudely that he would be right with me. I said that wasn't fair because I was here first . He ignored me and completed that transaction. So I waited another 5-10 minutes just to pick up an order that was already done. Once he finally came to me he assumed I was only there for Uber eats and just handed me the order. Still no greeting or asking me what I was there for. I told him not to do that anymore that it was rude and disrespectful and he told me not to comeback. When I asked for corporate number he stated he was the district manager and stated I still need corporate number. He just walked away on his phone and I left. Did I mention he didn't have on a mask. I am so glad I didn't spend my...