BIBIBOP Asian Grill — Restaurant in Vernon Hills

I've been to this location three times in the last month and a half and each time, I had a different experience. My most recent visit was around 8:30 last night.

My first visit was early afternoon, during the week, with a group of 12, as we work at a nearby corporation. The young lady that greeted us, the same young lady working last night, immediately seemed annoyed when we came in. My colleague asked if she could briefly run down the ordering process since this was a first time for many of us…to which, she became even more annoyed. She quickly, and I mean QUICKLY, skimmed through the process. In the end, three of my colleagues were charged fees for either additional toppings or meats or sauces because they did not fully understand what was or was not included. Also, there was no mention of additional fees while the orders were being made.

My husband and I went in for lunch on a Friday afternoon, maybe 2 weeks ago. There was a young Asian lady that assisted us. She was amazing. My husband had many questions, as it was his first time and only my second. She took her time answering, and even offered him samples. Great time, great service, great food.

I stopped in last night, for my third visit, around 8:30, with my sons. As we approached the counter, we could see that many of the food containers were either empty or low. I could also see that the staff was mopping, washing dishes, and breaking things down for closing. A young man eventually greeted us. I asked him if everything was still available for ordering, to which, he replied, everything except salmon.

The young lady from my first visit, still annoyed, stepped up to begin taking our orders. She never asked what size, just grabbed a bowl and asked what base. Determined to not let her shift my mood, I continued with my order and stepped to the side so my sons could begin theirs. Once we got down the counter, to add toppings and sauce, after the meat had been added, I noticed the bowls weren’t even a third full and asked the young man, why are they so empty. He gave me a, “what do you mean”, look. At that point, I looked at my sons and said, “let’s go”, and completely abandoned the order and left.

Afterwards, I called and requested the manager on duty to provide feedback. Aubrey answered, and said she was the manager on duty for the evening. I am not certain this is the “always annoyed” young lady, but I believe that it is. After expressing my frustration with the service and the amount of food given, I was told, “you could always ask for more”. With that, I will never be back.

I would also like to add that I worked in food service when I was younger, and completely understand wanting to leave early or on time after closing. However, people should receive the same service an hour before closing that they receive an hour after opening. Also, my husband’s family, is in food service, and runs a successful restaurant not too far from where this one is located, so when I say I understand,...

I went for lunch with my vegetarian granddaughter who is home for the holidays from college at OSU where Bibop is from. I am a meat and potatoes Grandma with a picky disposition so I packed a snack because I typically think Gluten free options can be bland and a textural nightmare...... boy was I wrong! I chose the chef steak bowl with asian noodle, bean sprouts, broCcoli, egg.... And this midwest grandma had to add cheese! The steak was so flavorful Red sauce that came with the bowl was not my favorite but I subbed yummy yum sauce. I was convinced to try a bite of my granddaughter's tofu by the sweet girl behind the register and despite being a carnivore... I wouldnt be upset if we swapped bowls. That being said, you'll have to pry my steak from me , LOL. What set Bibbop apart for me was the example of superb customer service. Patient & all smiles for this confused old lady! The Ohio marketing corporate was also in the restaurant and their social media Morgan enthusiastically offered to take a professional photo of me and my grand daughter which I very much appreciated .... she also had me laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes! Their chef was also there and gave me a complimentary dessert from a local bakery but that was not something I enjoyed at all, it was gummy...... But I do not believe it's a menu item currently. I am happy there are options that my grandaughter loves that I also enjoy so we can spend...

I’ll start with the positive. The food is very good. Fresh, healthy and full of flavor. There is a lot of variety and we loved all the colors and textures in the bowl. However, we certainly won’t be returning. The young Asian girl at the counter should not be in a customer service role. She didn’t greet us, didn’t smile once, never said anything, let alone anything friendly or postive, and when she saw we were trying to look around at the menu and items, offered no help to identify or make suggestions. When I asked about the different options of toppings, she just pointed to a sign and said “it’s right there.” Maybe she was just having a bad day, but you don’t bring it to work and have that attitude towards customers. Really disappointing. I would encourage management to reassess her training and position, or maybe not be in a customer facing spot. That, or she needs to find a better fitting job. Additionally, the complementary miso soup was virtually empty and both garbage bins were overflowing. For reference, this was yesterday, Sunday, mid afternoon. Sorry to have to leave a bad review, but that experience was...