Bonchon Division St — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Update: Owner responded below but I did what they instructed still I didn’t hear back from anyone.

———— Ive had bonchon in east coast and illinois - Bonchon is good! What I didn’t know is that I’d find a Bonchon where the wings at Jewel would taste 100x better at a fraction of a cost!!

I paid $50+ to get 30 wings (half spicy and half soy) delivered to me. Delivery only took a short time. When it got to me, the box was collapsing on the bottom and the wings were sooooo SOGGY! Some pieces didn’t even have proper batter at all! Which is weird because we’ve had delivery and pickup orders before, and the wings are so crunchy even 2 hours later after being in the box closed. So this is just unacceptable.

The wings look like they were just stacked on top of each other then doused with sauce! They split the hot and garlic, but they both look like they were doused with the same brown sauce, I can’t even tell the difference! Usually when i eat the spicy wings they have a different under taste to it and slightly redder hue, but the half and half i received here looked exactly the same and tasted exactly the same except that one hd a spicy kick to it. This whole experience was something i’ve never experienced form a Bonchon chain before!!

The wings were burnt and dry inside. I don’t know if they took already made chicken or if they ran out of wings, but they placed chicken legs in the spicy box. Weirdly the chicken legs were SOOOOO dry inside and some parts were literally PINK MEAT. We had to trash most of the wings and basically all the chicken legs they put in there.

Can you imagine spending $50 on 30 wings, just to discard half? Can’t even complain to get a refund because they were closed when my...

The food was delicious, service was ok but overall experience was cold.

We went on a more chilly day, on division most of the other restaurants had their dining umbrellas out because its a tree lined street and heat lamps due to the weather change.

Bonchon only had table and chairs available but keep the heat lamps and umbrellas in the dining room in eyeyesight of street views. Not sure of the reason why but we went because if a Groupon and drove from Hyde Park. Because of the distance I couldn't carry out because I wanted to taste it fresh and have a real Bonchon experience.

I will say the food was wonderful. We had a 12pc dinner special with half spicy, half soy wings. They starter was some very tasty & crunchy fries that were cooked perfectly.

The wait was not long at all so our chicken, fried rice, cole slaw and picked radishes came out pretty quickly. The chicken was also cooked perfectly with the right amount of crisp on the outside and super moist on the inside. Very flavorful and great sauce. The spicy was no joke for my palette but soo good. I was able to eat 2 pieces with the cole slaw to help with the heat.

I would return but not to this location. Luckily we have one closer in China Town that ill visit.

The food was delicious and worth 7 stars, but the experience with our new normal of dining outdoors due to COVID and trying to support businesses felt like a slap on the hand. I would say don't offer outdoor seating if you don't want to fully commit. Just...

Updated from my original review, this place has unfortunately went downhill quite a ways. The only thing saving it from one star is the food is still decent but even that is not as good as it was at opening.

To start things off, I believe there's been a change in ownership and they've let the bar lapse, so no more alcohol if you're eating in. I think their ice machine may be broken as well, water did not have any ice. Hot fried food and room temperature water isn't great.

There's now only one person up front and maybe two in the back and it shows.

Bathrooms were dirty and one was completely out of toilet paper. The vent fan was in a very loud death rattle as well.

No condiments or napkins anywhere in sight

Food was brought out too quickly and not given time to rest after frying, way too hot, but good for carry out.

Restaurant was out of some basics before Friday dinner rush. When we did get dipping sauce and kimchi, it was in plastic to go containers. Would it really be that much effort to plate it up for dine in?

Food overall is of lower quality than when it opened. I'd much rather pay a bit more to maintain the quality than buy something that cuts corners. It was still ok, but only barely just.

Honestly I don't see this place lasting as is, they do a lot of takeout business and they'd be better served moving to a smaller location that is carry out only and putting the money they save into higher quality...