JBBQ Hot Pot & BBQ — Restaurant in Town of Islip

We've eaten in two of their locations; the one in Bayshore and the one in Smithtown. Between the two, we prefer the Bayshore location more. The service is very good. The staff are polite and attentive. I should never have to worry about getting a staff member's attention for more water or more food. The waiter/waitresses check on us at the perfect times and really make good recommendations on what we should order. We never felt rushed, even though there is a 1-1/2 hr time limit in this restaurants. And we were never nickel & dimed during any of our dining experiences there. Food portions seem to be a little bit larger also, as compared to their Smithtown location. In contrast, we had a bad experience eating at their Smithtown location. We've eaten there a few times and our most recent experience really turned me off to going there again. Our waitress was horrible. Waiting for her to come check on us was an exercise in patience. Finally, whenever she checked in on us, I felt that she was rushing us to make the next order. Then she would ask us how everything is going. And I told her "how would I know how everything is going? I haven't even finished eating what we just cooked." Right after delivering our current order, she would ask us if we want anything else. Then she would place the food opposite me. I'm blind and have a hot stove directly in front of me, so I would have to reach over the hot stove to get the food to give to my wife to cook. She didn't want to go around and deliver the food the proper way. Instead she preferred to take a shortcut and drop the food over a divider separating us from the kitchen area. At the end of our dining experience, my wife wanted to leave the standard tip. I was totally opposed to leaving any kind of tip because of our lousy experience. But she left a tip anyway. After a couple of weeks, we were so incensed about our memory that day, that my wife felt compelled to call the restaurant. As luck would have it, she spoke to one of the owners and explained our experience. The owner was very apologetic to us. She refunded our tip, and to our surprise we found out that the waitress added more money to the tip because I guess it wasn't enough for her. The owner assured us that she would let go of that waitress because there were numerous complaints filed against her. She assured us that our next dining experience would be much more pleasant. We've been eating at the Bayshore location since then. But will probably return to the Smithtown location once in awhile. We are very relieved to know that the owners are very customer service oriented, and are very willing to make things right with their clients, instead of just giving the canned "I'm sorry" reply that other business owners give to their clients who've had bad experiences. Kudos to the owners and we look forward to continue eating in all of their...

My wife, daughter and I went here for New Year's Eve dinner (12/31/2020).. None of us have been to a restaurant like this before so we had no idea what to expect. We were seated rather quickly, when our waitress "Lily" came over with some seasonings and took the time to clearly explain how to order for the Bbq and the Hot pot. So we each ordered our own 3 items for the grill. We all ordered the limited one Angus steak each. Lily was so kind enough to show us the best way to properly cook it. It was perfect. We each ordered 5 more items for our Hot Pots. My wife ordered the original broth, for me it was too plain. My daughter and I chose spicy base. I absolutely enjoyed the flavor, I couldn't wait to add my items to cook into the broth. I added meats vegetables and pasta and let it cook while I briefly grilled some chicken and corn. For the 3 of us it was ALOT OF FOOD.(we did get more chicken for the grill) it was fantastic service(thank you Lily) and we didn't even use the entire 90 minutes time allowance.. Well be back.

Two of us went here for our second visit yesterday 1/17/21. Not as busy as New Years Eve dinner last time, but still a few tables seated here tonight. This time Alvin was our waiter. Alvin also provided us with stellar service like our first visit. He made excellent recommendations based off food we like. Appetizers and food was being brought to the table before we even finished ordering. We started with Chili Wings and Gyoza(Fried dumplings) then Marinated chicken, Ribeye, Angus steak, and vegetables for the grill. The portions were large (See Photo) and felt nice and cold as meat should be stored before cooking. The table grill cooks quick, Meats were done fast, the corn takes a little longer but too long. For my Hot Pot I ordered instant noodles, more Ribeye and chicken with spinach and shitake. I enjoy the (Very) spicy broth and the flavor it incorporates into the food. We indulged in second portions of a couple of things and continued binge eating. We still had more time left and Alvin asked if we were ready for more food. We declined, I'm sure other people can, but there is no way we could eat unlimited food for 90 minutes. We felt safe where we were seated and overall food was great, flavorful and abundant. The service by Alvin was fantastic and food came super quick, I would recommend requesting him if you can.

4/16/21 - some menu changes and no more salad option. Still great food and great experience. Fried rice flavor improved, I like it more now. Jacky was our server with non stop...

Food: 3/5 - So many options but a confusing layout to choose from. We ordered things that never made it to the table. We had to order it again. Operating the pots and was a bit awkward because of where it was on the table (right near eating area.). BBQ was not very tasty. It was basically just a basic food on the grill. The Pot was more flavorful than the BBQ.

Service: 2/5 - Slow to visit the table. not very friendly. It was our first visit and the orientation was not very good. Service was "lethargic". Waitress turned off our grill before we were done. (We weren't there that long.) She should have asked first.

Restaurant: 3/5 - Tables are too small. It was just two of us sitting at a 4 person table and there was almost no free space for anything to be put on the table. The pots are almost where you would eat. There is no room for plates. The plates are TINY. The bathroom door is unnecessarily complicated. The first time you try to go in you have no idea what' s going on with levers and contraptions. Pots turned off and we couldn't figure out why or how to turn them back on. Hitting the power button or high/low didn't work. We had to hunt to down the waitress to help us. The stools to sit on were uncomfortable after awhile.

Cleanliness: 3/5. Not terrible but not great either. The grill gets very dirty.

Value: 3/5 - You get a good amount of food for sure but it's basically $100 for two people after tip and tax. I think you get about 90 minutes of all you can eat. Which is fine.

Parking: 2/5 - There are parking lots for the town that are paid and some free. You have to walk a bit. The parking in front of the place is metered.

Overall: 3/5 - A ton of food that is messy to eat. A confusing layout if you are new to the establishment. There are so many food options that you're basically lost without the menu (which they took from us after we ordered.) I can see this being fun with a crowd of people but honestly the spacing between pots is too tight.

At this price point -- perhaps I'll return, but it...