BD's Mongolian Grill

Today I didn't bring my lunch to work so I decided to try a restaurant nearby called BD's Mongolian Grill. On paper and on the website, it's a neat concept. You choose your meat, you choose your veggies, your sauce, then they grill everything for you and you put it over white or brown rice. I was actually excited about going, like Great Harvest excited.

When I walked in, there was no one at the hostess stand. I looked over at the bar and one waitress looked at me and walked away. Eventually someone came up and helped me and showed me the lay of the land, which I appreciated. I skipped the meat bar altogether because the little bins filled with raw meat kind of grossed me out. However, they did have TONS of vegetables (maybe 20+ options?) and I filled a small bowl with broccoli, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and edamame. Next I filled two small cups with some stir fry sauces (they had about 15 to choose from). We lined up around a big circular grill where some guys stir fried everything. They were nice enough to section my plate off and use separate tongs so the meat wouldn't touch my food.

Once my food was cooked, they put it on a plate and I took it to the bar so the bartender could box it up for me. She was chatting with some dude the whole time and barely said any words to me except "$8.47." $8.47? Really? I didn't even get meat! Begrudgingly, I paid and walked out of there leaving zero tip. When it comes to tipping for to go meals, I think the rule of thumb is personal preference, and I preferred not to tip her. I SHOULD have tipped the guy who helped me in the beginning! I worked in the restaurant business for three summers, so I know what the industry is like, and I personally think that everyone should work at a restaurant at some point in their lives so they understand how much work it takes. HOWEVER, just because you are a server or a bartender does not ENTITLE you to a tip. You have to work for it. If you're not doing a good job, you're not going to get tipped. Don't get me wrong here, I like to tip people. It makes me happy and it makes them happy, probably making them extra helpful to future customers as well. But people go to restaurants for the service too, not just the food. I remember good or bad service just as well as I remember what I ate. Ok, rant over.

The stir fry was good, but I guarantee that I could have made better. BD's Mongolian Grill does not offer a lot of bang for your buck, so I'm not sure if I'll be returning anytime soon.

Overall Score: B-/B

When all else fails, there's always Great Harvest.