N P.
Yelp
We were celebrating a birthday & our family was excited to try this restaurant for the 1st time. This review is based on our customer service experience; not a food review (although I will mention the food for all the meat lovers).
We came in early evening; party of 5. We stood in the entry for a bit, kind of looking around to see if anyone would greet us.... A guy walked up to us after a few minutes (no smile, greeting or welcoming gesture of any kind). I said, "Hi, there are 5 of us for dinner". He pointed at a small screen kiosk outside the door and said "Did you check in?" (again, no smile or really emotion of any kind). I said "Oh, no we didn't, sorry, we didn't know we had to do that". He pointed again and said "Go check in". Yeah, ok, guy. We'll do that.
At this point, I'm thinking, ok, not a great start, but maybe he's having a bad day and since we're here to celebrate, I'm going to pretend that didn't just happen. We waited outside for about 10 minutes and our phone let us know our table was ready. Ok, cool.
2 people from our party were walking in from the parking lot while the 3rd waited for them, so 2 of us went inside to let them know our phone had alerted us.
It's the same guy; he's standing behind a podium with several menus on it. And he says "Choose one" (pointing to the menus). Um, ok? I asked how this works (since we've never been here). He said "you choose a menu" and I said well I'm not sure what everyone wants so can we just get all 3 and he says "No, you have to choose one now"... I say ok, well I don't eat meat so I won't be eating, but I guess we'll wait to see which menu everyone wants.
- The starting menu is around $40 and they go up to around $55 (don't quote me on pricing, but it's in the ballpark of those amounts)
Then he tells me "everyone at the table is charged whether or not you eat". And I said "OH, WOW, Really? So I can't just sit with them for dinner?" He said "no". LOL - Ok, so I'll take the cheapest one for myself ($40) and we'll wait for everyone to get inside to decide which menu they want. That's when he tells us "Everyone at the table has to choose THE SAME MENU"... Oh.... Ok. Another rule. Cool.
Mind you - We are the only ones standing in front. They aren't busy or anything.
Everyone gets inside & I explain that we all have to choose THE SAME MENU. Right now. They just settle on the cheapest one since they apparently don't let you take all 3 to the table, read them then decide which one you'd like to use for the table.... Ok. Cool. It's a birthday dinner celebration, I'm not going to argue with them. And yeah, I guess whichever menu they choose, I'll pay that amount to "sit with them".
Mind you - He hasn't smiled or welcomed us ONCE. We get to our table, he walks away before we even reach the seats. Sitting on table is: to-go cups with ice, 2 salads, some dipping sauces & a carafe of water. It takes about 10 minutes for our server to come to the table and when he does he has the same look on his face as the guy who seated us. I swear, he stands at the end of the table and says "Are you ready to order". No, hello.... No, welcome to 356 BBQ.... No, hey guys how are you.... No, hey guys is it your first time dining with us; can I answer any questions for you.... No, hey guys let me explain the sauces and what they are for.... No, how are your salads.... LOL Nothing. Just a straight face - "Are you ready to order"?
We ordered a marinated beef dish, steak, pork belly, veggies, dumplings, etc. We are looking around. Every single employee seems pissed to be there. No smiles to be seen. In fact, most of them had scowls on their faces.
I TAKE THAT BACK - There was ONE guy who smiled at us - the BUSSER. He switched out our grill once & seemed super friendly! Shout out to him!
Like I said at the beginning, this is not a review for their food, if you like meat, I'm sure its good. Everyone at our table seemed to like it. It's different & the whole experience could be really fun (if they were welcoming & friendly). They do come over periodically & swap out the grill so it helps cut down on the smoke (it's still pretty smoky though - Girls- you'll be washing your hair after dinner).
I would give this place NO STARS based on our experience of the staff. I'm not sure why everyone is so pissed off to be there. We eat at a lot of restaurants; I've never been somewhere where they make you feel the opposite of welcomed. And to be charged to simply "sit" at the table when I let him know that I don't eat meat is so crazy. I mean, I get it, people will say they aren't going to eat, then do & try to cheat the system, but that wasn't the case with me at all. They have cameras all the over the place - they know whether or not I ate. (I will say I put 3 pieces of lettuce on my plate & ate 2 of them - totally worth $40 right? haha). Whatever.
Bottom line, if you like meat and you don't mind putting up with sub-par service & shitty attitudes, you should try it! :-) Bon Appetit