Big Pot & Grill — Restaurant in Town of Buchanan

Went to big pots on Sunday with a party of 3. Two adults and one toddler. Had the worst experience ever. We are never going back. From the minute we walked in to almost 2 hrs of waiting for basic food.

First: We walked in and there was a "please wait to be seated" sign. The 3 waitresses standing behind the counter looked directly at us but did not acknowledge us until almost 10 minutes later. Once we were finally acknowledge the waitress proceeds to inform us that it will be about a 15 minute wait. We said okay that was fine, we will wait. As we were waiting we notice a table that was not occupied. Was cleaned and ready to be used. We figured it was reserved. After waiting for almost 25 minutes a different waitress came and sat us a that empty table that had been empty since we came into the restaurant!! We were so confused. So all that time waiting when we could have been sat down at that empty table and have ordered food or something. Instead the waitress made us wait while she cleaned 2 other tables that she didn't even seat us at.

Second: So after waiting for almost 30 minutes just to be seated at that empty table that we saw when we first came in. Than a different waitress comes and greets us and tried to explain the menu to us. Towards the end she informs us that the big combo meal they offer for the sea food boil they are currently not serving today because they are out of a few ingredients. Confused and frustrated I asked my people if we should go somewhere else because we aren't paying 32.99 a lb for crab legs. Instead of her trying to get us to stay she quickly lets us know that she can cancel our pho order cause it wasn't in yet. She didn't even bother trying to get us to stay. Still confused about the whole menu thing we asked her again about the big combo meal that they weren't serving cause they didn't have crawfish and mussel. We ask if we can replace it with something else. She tried telling us that it would be cheaper or same price if we each get a pound of something from the menu and share it. Keep in mind, the BIG COMBO they offer is now 32.99 for a little bit of everything. She suggest we each order a pound of whatever we want to eat and share. If you seen the menu you will be as frustrated as I am that she would offer such a thing. If we each got a pound of something we like the price will be well over the price of the big combo.

Third: We ordered basic fast food and it took about 40 minutes to get our food. Fried rice, sausage and rice and pho all which were sooooo sweet it taste like we were eating sugar. And on top of 40 minutes of waiting for our food our 2-3 different waitresses NEVER came to check up on us. Not even once. But the table next to us who had a bigger group, was checked on 3-4 times. Our waitresses all who've seen us on multiple times even when our plates empty didn't acknowledge us. We had to go get the check ourselves and tell them we were ready to pay.

Overall it was a very very bad first time for me and my family. I was looking forward to it for 2 weeks but when I got there and had the experience I had it was NOT worth it. Service was horrible, food was gross and was way over priced. We drove from green bay, not a far distances but far enough. We will definitely not reccommend it to anyone.

Tip for the wait staff: Acknowledge your table. ALL your tables. Don't take more tables than you can handle. Work with your customers. If something on the menu is not available offer them something similar to what they want. Make them happy and want to come back. Make them want to bring more people for more business. Explain to people who are waiting that something on the menu is not available for whatever reason. Don't make them wait for almost an hour...

We loved our trip here. Normally when my parents come to town we go for sushi, but our favorite place is closed on Sundays so I finally got to try Big Pot & Grill. I do not regret it at all.

Combined between the four of us, we had the meatball appetizer, a seafood boil (with headless shrimp, crab legs, sausage and potatoes) split between two people, Hmong sausage and chicken fried rice. Everything was absolutely amazing and with the appetizer the boil could have been shared by three instead of two with how much we took home.

For the boil, we decided on the Thai chili flavor and kept it at its lowest heat level of mild. It was perfect, although next time I want to try either the garlic or mixing the garlic and the Thai chili. The shrimp were HUGE (although it's by the pound so the size of the shrimp may vary depending on availability) and the crab legs were perfect and easy to get nice big chunks of meat out of the legs. Make sure you grab the gloves from your supply container because you'll need them to really get into the boil!

Overall, I highly recommend. Our server was also very helpful, explaining the various meats and ingredients in the dishes and even letting us know where we could get the sausages locally to enjoy at home.

UPDATE! For a while we were doing take-out before the ownership changed hands, but today (Jan '22) we dined in... Just as delicious as last time, except even faster! Perfect time to go is between lunch and dinner--no wait for a table and food out in record time!

This time I brought the in-laws and they loved it. Three of us got a boil (headless shrimp, potatoes, corn and sausage) and it was hot and delicious!! I also really like that they now have a burger on the menu so if my husband isn't in the mood for fried rice he's got another option that...

We went there for New year's eve this was our first time and we were not sure what to expect so we went online to check reviews before we made a reservation the food actually tasted good but was under cooked my husband got a different bowl then I did because I am not a fan of clams or oaters I only had the Crab legs by my own preference needless to say he was viliotly I'll after a half hour/ hour of eating he obviously had food poisoning I didn't feel ill until much later he was so sick with vomiting and!! That he went in we were told do it was from under cooked sea food which is better then a parisite that can literally bring you to deaths door so I called there the following day to inform them of the issue and was completely shocked when they immediately tried to blame the vendor and wouldn't own up to the fact they undercooked anything I should have question the fact that they don't give you a plate or anything other than gloves and a plastic bin which we e both used.The only thing the manager asked was what time we were there and did we use the rest room and not wash our hands this was a slap in the face to me I stated of course we washed our hands when we used the rest room but it was after we had eaten we also ate with our gloves on and we both had our own bowl the people next to us shared a bowl and didn't wear there gloves he gave the big run down to avoid the actual situation and wouldn't do anything to address what they had done wrong instead he said he would not do anything unless we have him the information from the hospital stating it was there fault and not the vendor so please beware if you eat here you are risking your health/ life and with all things considered it's...