Great skewers! Amazing pan fried dumpling! Attentive and fast service. Very cool interior design to impress your mom. I took my parents here for Father's Day lunch. We were immediately seated and directed to order through the QR code. The noodles and pan fried dumplings were the highlights. Auntie was making fresh dumplings on the spot. Her attention and dedication to the craft really shown through. The dumplings may take a while so I suggest to order these earlier in your meal. read more

Always Cool BBQ - Bars Near Me - Fremont, California

Came here not expecting much but definitely blown away by the taste! It's hard to find authentic bbq skewers that actually taste like China! The skewers were not skimpy at all for the price ! The only thing that we couldn't finish were the chives, wish it was a little less salty but other than that 10/10! The mala in the broth was sooooo good! We can't wait come try the other stuff. Service was great! The menu was on a QR code and you're able to order it right off your phone. The food came out within 10 minutes and all the servers were so helpful! The place is decorated like the China with all the lights and signs. A great place for midnight snacks and next door is a karaoke spot!! read more

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Honestly, I found the food to be average. The beef wrap was the only highlight, being flavorful but lacking in texture and crispness. I enjoyed the sweet cucumbers for their fresh, distinctive flavor, unlike typical chili oil cucumbers. However, the Achoy was soggy and watery, as if it had been blanched, which was disappointing. The meal felt rushed, even though the restaurant wasn't busy when we visited. The ambiance is eye-catching and relaxed, making it a good spot for friends or a date, but I've had better meals elsewhere, and the service was disappointing. I asked the server for a sauce cup, but he misunderstood and brought takeout boxes instead. It seemed like they were subtly encouraging us to leave since the restaurant got busier; he didn't clear the check even though not all our food had arrived. My boyfriend had to ask for the rice, and we waited a long time for our last order as we were almost finished. The price was higher than at other restaurants. read more

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Skewers were great! Especially the squid skewers. It is on the expensive side though. Staff is friendly and overall ambience is catered more torwards drinking and pub style. Would recommend if looking for Chinese style skewers read more

Always Cool BBQ - Squid tentacle and lamb skewers - Bars Near Me - Fremont, California

Excellent flavor. Fresh ingredients. A good quiet environment to enjoy some authentic Hunan and Chongqing food. A must stop for all Chinese food lovers. The service was excellent. Super nice staff. read more

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Really good service. Food is relatively fast. We had Chinese BBQ, it's not bad. Ambiance is modern with fish tanks. Will be visiting again read more

Always Cool BBQ - Bars Near Me - Fremont, California

Food: 4/5 Service: 5/5 Ambiance 4/5 I wanted to visit this Chinese BBQ spot because they have cool neon light decor. Honestly, this space has a HUGEEE menu. I would love to come back to try more of their skewers. XLB: 5/5 - Juicy and Flavorful Enoki: 5/5 - Right up my alley! little on the spicer side but hits the spot Fish Roll Fried Fish Balls: 4.5/5 - Honestly, I've never had fish roe fishballs pre-pared with takoyaki toppings! prettyyy guddd A-Choy: 4/5 - Under-seasoned needs more salt. Oysters: 4/5 - Normal Chicken Skin Skewers: 4/5 - Normal Tendon Skewers: 4/5 - Normal Spicy Beef Noodle Soup: 4/5 - Normal read more

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I would just say bump up the music a tiny bit louder and turn on the air conditioner! It was hot as heck in there, and doesn't help when u have the skewer flames in front of you at the table, and spicy food. A brief description of the items on the menu would be helpful too. Otherwise fast service, large variety of food selection, and delicious items. read more

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Special noodle @Fremont Our 1st time here, huge plate. We enjoy the food & will definitely come back again. read more

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Plenty of parking space outside. Arranged a weekend lunch here with a group of friends -from their interior decor to comfortable seating to delicious food, I can confidently say we will be back! You order through a QR code at your table, and honestly you just want to order everything on their menu. The variety of skewers all came out at once and placed on their skewer platter at the table. Everything was delivered in a timely manner, and the waitress was attentive with refilling our water pitcher. Be careful with the XLB because they're juicy! I bit into mine and all the soup splattered onto my plate and my top a bit. All of our tummies and tastes buds were satisfied! Oh- also thank u so much for providing us some dessert plates and forks for dessert we brought in to share with our group! read more

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第一次來這家BBQ店，整體體驗非常不錯，讓人印象深刻！店裡的烤肉種類很豐富，味道也很地道，特別是肉質新鮮、醃料入味，每一口都很滿足。紅糖糍粑是我意外的驚喜！本來以為會踩雷，因為跟我平時吃的不太一樣，但沒想到口感外酥內糯，甜而不膩，真的很好吃，值得一試！ 店員服務態度也非常好，熱情有禮，會主動幫忙換 讓人感覺很貼心。環境方面也令人滿意，座位寬敞不擁擠，通風做得不錯，吃完烤肉也不會全身油煙味，適合朋友聚會或情侶約會。 整體來說，是一次非常愉快的用餐經歷，性價比也不錯，真的推薦給喜歡吃燒烤的朋友來試試！ read more

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This is our go to for the bbq skewers. Love the spice used and u can ask for less salt. The chow mein are a hit ir miss sometimes. Good- leek pockets and dumpling dishes read more

Great selection! Ample servings! Cool staff! Great location that seemed popular as folks came and went for takeout or to dine in. Great comfortable spot for great food! Picked on a whim and found a gem! read more

Having a get together with some friends when in town. A friend picked this place and it was delicious. They have lots of variety of skewers and side dishes to share. So glad there were 5 of us so we can taste most of the menu. We thought we over ordered but it was good portion size. Their dumplings and beef rolls were delicious. All the food came in a good timely matter and you don't feel like you have been waiting. Love the decor and super trendy. It reminded me when I was in Hong Kong. Toward the end of the night they have open mic karaoke. Seem super fun. Definitely a place for a group of friends. Will definitely come back when in town again. read more

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Easy parking, legit interior and good food. I recommend the cucumber salad, beef kabobs and orleans chicken kabob. They combined their location with special noodle, so you can get stone pot noodles and XLBs too (also rec). Super legit taste. Service is prompt and helpful. read more

Very tasty.This is my first time here and the service is very good.special noodles and we will come back again next time. read more

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First time here and it was GOOD. Great location with big parking lot. The sign js huge so you can't miss it. Very cute decoration here with lots of colorful lights. Extensive food menu. Order food with QR code. We got a lot of stuff and everything taste good. Server Jeff cooked the stone pot noodle right in front of us. Excellent service from Jeff. I highly recommend. read more

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深夜肚子餓時的良伴。 我和我先生最近從國外旅遊回來，調時差的第一天晚上，我上網尋找營業時間晚的餐廳，就看見Always Cool BBQ。在過去兩年中，我們已經來過數次。他們的食物以及服務品質一向很穩定，所以我們就決定來了。 今晚我們最喜歡的幾道菜包括：烤茄子、烤羊肉串、烤豆子與炒A菜，此外肥腸紅燒麵中的肥腸調味也非常好。 我相信他們有兩個Yelp的帳號，一個是Always Cool BBQ，另外一個是四姐Special Noodles。 read more

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Always Cool BBQ is a very fun place, especially if you come in a large group. I've been here a couple of times and both experiences were very different. The first time, I came with a large group and we ordered multiple dishes (family style). It was interesting trying the various options which is a lot!! Then we walked next door to do Karaoke and it was a lot of fun. The second time, I came only with my husband since we had been dreaming about the food since the last time we went but it was a bit different this time. It was too much for two and we didn't get to order too many dishes like the first time. I suggest coming with a group of 4 at least. Also, I believe the menu has changed a bit. Before you could order by the skewers but now you have to purchase 3 minimum which I wasn't a big fan of. To be honest the skewers are the least favorite dish from here. They were very chewy. We had the beef ones. The rest of the other dishes were delicious! My husband's favorite is the Spicy Fried Clams. They have the best ones I've tried. I'm not a huge fan of clams but the ones here are delicious! We also have the Onion Pancakes (they were better the first time we ordered vs the second time). The second time they were very thin band didn't taste like onion pancakes. The combo fried rice was good and my favorite was the String Beans and Eggplant. This dish was delicious! The Red Oil Pork Won Tons are a bit for me. They have the Sichuan sauce that is tingly and it was a it for me. Overall I would totally come back just with more people. It is funner with a large group. read more

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I highly recommend this establishment always cool barbecue they have all kinds of different barbecues from fish to clams you name it they got it this place is a fun place to be you could bring your families and friends they will enjoy themselves behind the atmosphere the coziness and the food not only you would have fun being here at this establishment you'll enjoy their food sitting around with your friends and family enjoying the scenery it's beautiful it's cozy plus their food is on point I got all kinds of food to pick out of to me if you have friends and family you want to impress this is the place it's a touch of class read more

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I'm not sure what it is, but we went in expecting one thing, and it was entirely something else. With 1 door entry to 3 different establishments (Special Noodle, KTV Karaoke, and Always Cool BBQ), it was basically 1 main restaurant holding 3 names. I FEEL like this establishment used to be Yummy Yummy Bao (like in Milpitas) and underwent a name change to Special Noodle, because the items are exactly the same, and then some. Service was unattentive. We were seated, and then never gotten back to except for when orders were coming out. Food was underwhelming. though the menu was very expansive with customizable options of noodle or rice for the specialty dish. While everything came out hot, we were expecting more skewer options like at a traditional skewer bar. But with the combined restaurants, it was more Special Noodle specializing in... noodles. I wish everything came out in order. We didn't receive our carb dish with the lemon chicken (first to come out) we ordered until midway through, so there wasn't anything to eat it with other than by itself. And our onion pancake came out last, which we expected to come out first. We went in with a different expectation, only to come into a restaurant we weren't very satisfied with at the start, and then confirmed our dissatisfaction afterwards at this encounter. Interior is nice, though. This would be more of a family sit-down place for dinner in my eyes than a place to get together with friends for drinks. read more

Wow, what a score in Fremont! Was looking for something random with my daughter and came across this review on Yelp and thought why not? This place has a very cool vibe inside with vibrant signage and fish tanks next to tables that are super relaxing. You order on your phone using the QR code and pay the final bill with your server. They have so many choices of great Chinese "street food" and everything else Chinese wise you would find at Chinese restaurants but more of it. Let me say the Chinese pancakes were TO DIE FOR! Light, flakey, not greasy and multiple layers. The sesame balls were the best I ever had. Light crispy outside, toasted to perfection with a true toasted flavor and the chewy tender inside that makes me want to take a nap after eating them. Like comfort food on steroids. The most interesting item was the street food squid on skewers which were amazing. Don't think soft tender calamari, thing a snappy piece of tentacle you have to chew but it's not rubbery like old squid, it's a refreshing snappy bite with an incredible sauce that has a nice kick but doesn't kick you back from your chair with tears running down your face. Been there and done that plenty in my travels. This place has Chinese BBQ only in the evening but with a menu of this size, you really need to come with 4-8 people (there were only two of us) as they give you portions that easily would allow each person 1-2 pieces of everything and that's where the fun really would explode. This is 5 stars for me but we only tried 4 items and took 1/2 home for left overs. Next time I am bringing my army and hitting the bbq. Definitely check this place out! read more

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I will preface this review, that I think this place could be 5* but is just short of it for me, so it lands at 4.25 stars. I came with my girlfriend to try out these skewers as Fremont has a lack of a good chinese skewers. The style of this restaraunt is pre-cooked skewers, which is generally also my preference. They recently merged with the adjacent restaraunt but it doesn't affect my review. I ordered quite a bit of skewers- at least ~60$ of skewers. For this price, the amount we got was reasonable, it's consistent with other skewer places I've been to. We also ordered 1 appetizer (century egg with pepper) and duck blood spicy soup. The appetizer was a letdown. The chinese translation mentions that it has eggplant, and in fact, the dish is mostly eggplant, but the english menu doesn't say that. We were not a fan of eggplant, so this came as a huge dissapointment to us. I expected the dish to be mostly spicy sauce and century egg, and this was not the case. The owner needs to update this and perform a quality check on the rest of the menu's english translation. I only found this out, because my girlfriend read the chinese menu after we discovered this. The duckblood soup was amazing. I have had many, but this duckblood was very juicy; I can tell the quality is higher, because the iron-y taste isn't present in it. Huge props to them for this! The skewers themselves, quality-wise, were excellent! Their intestine and chicken heart were some of the best that I've had. All their meat was juicy. The chicken bone was crunchy and delicious. However, they didn't have a beef tripe skewer (they only had beef tripe street-food style); this was surprising to me, because every chinese skewer place I've been to has some type of beef tripe skewer. It is a standard and I'm a bit sad to see they left that off the menu. The service is very good. The waiters were all fast, very nice, and packaged our soup for us to go. We didn't have to wait for water/utensils as they were provided. Better service than most skewers places! I think, with an improvement to the selection of meat skewers as well as the fixing of the menu, I could revise this to be 5*. As of right now though, it is still one of the best if not the best skewer place I've had in Fremont. read more

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This place has a very interesting interior. It's different from a lot of places in the area so it is a nice change of pace. The neon signs and fish tanks are great to look at. The waitress was very helpful. Since it was our first time, she gave many recommendations on what to try. The staff also helped pack our leftovers for us and made sure to include the side sauces. Overall, I liked the food. The Orleans chicken skewers were juicy and flavorful. The beef noodle soup wasn't the best I've ever had but I would definitely order it again. The pan fried soup dumplings had a good amount of soup but the dough was a bit too thick at the bottom for me so it absorbed a lot of the oil. The fried tofu was good and even better with the sauce. read more

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This food was absolutely delicious, packed with bold flavors and perfectly cooked ingredients. The skewers were juicy and flavorful, while the noodles were rich, spicy, and incredibly satisfying. read more

Let's start with the positive notes for Always Cool: the interior is trendy and ambience screams a fun late light hangout. The ultimate flaw is the BBQ here is ain't good. Everything is over salty - maybe it's a gambit to try to get you to drink more beer? Also worth noting - out of the 4 orders of skewers we ordered, one of them was overcooked and inedible (just tasted like flavorless charcoal). Service was also a doozy - wait staff didn't even bother to say a word when the food was brought up, much less on explaining which skewer was what. Not sure how this place has so many positive reviews but definitely won't be a place that I'll be revisiting. read more

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This place was great! the Skewers were all flavorful, I especially liked the lamb, bacon wrapped sour cabbage, tofu skin wrapped chives! I also really liked the rice noodles but my friend thinks it's instant hahaha There was also an abundance of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages in their fridges (nothing mixed) to choose from. The decor was a bit... outdated but it's bright and very eye-catching. Price was extremely reasonable. 4 of us ordered a bunch of skewers and only spent about $130. I would definitely come back here again! Better skewers than STIX across the street. read more

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Honestly didn't expect much. I thought it was gonna be a typical skewer place but the non-skewer items were so good. I definitely would come back for the twice cooked pork. However I don't recommend the abalone vermicelli because you get two and it so so so tiny. read more

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Came on a saturday night after watching John Wick 4. Watching that works up an appetite. It was practically full at 930pm but were able to walk in. Nice decorations. Ordering is via QR code. Lamb kebab 5/5 tasty and fatty. Comes in 3s Not tough. Very soft. Beef kebab 5/5 tasty too. Comes in 3s. Not chewy which is good. Malatang 4/5 good variety of ingredients. Spam, fish ball,lamb,tofu,ramen,mushrooms Light mala, more spicy Probably my gripe is that its more on the expensive side, but at least its close and convenient. Parking is easy at night. read more

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Friend Birthday celebration! Nice vibe and awesome food! We love this location. Happy Birthday! read more

Always Cool BBQ - Bars Near Me - Fremont, California

Food is 4 star. My favs are braised pork and fried chicken. I haven't eaten here for weeks because the karaoke was very loud last time! I didn't want to hear it at all, but I had no choice but to listen to a random person's singing if I want my food...That's not enjoyable and it was noise pollution to me ...I'm so glad that no one is using the karaoke today, which gives me some nice and peaceful time to truly enjoy my food. I don't visit this place often because it's pricey. Similar BBQ places have long lines, but not this one. There're always empty tables. Reply to business owner: I'm glad to receive the business owner's reply. It wasn't the karaoke next door. The singer/customer was singing in the restaurant. He's a mid aged man. He was sitting next to the front desk/cashier desk and facing the big screen to sing. I encountered him two times and thought it was the management team hired him. Since I don't like to eat with the loud noise, so I stopped going to your restaurant for weeks. Perhaps other customers appreciate some karaoke background music. I know you care about your business. I have some sincere suggestions that may help your business: - lower the food price and you will definitely get more customers. But I understand maybe you try to run the business with less customers but higher profit. - offer smaller portion options for food. For example, we ordered green beans (not on skewers, but on a plate) yesterday, we didn't even finish half. But I loved how you have a smaller portion option for braised pork! - update your Yelp menu!!! Most businesses have a menu, but I don't see yours. Your website doesn't have a menu either. That's all I could think of at the moment. I wish the best to your business! read more

Always Cool BBQ - Bars Near Me - Fremont, California

Found this spot from tiktok! Another skewer place in the bay area but this one differentiates themselves from the others. My boyfriend and I arrived here in the early evening before it got busy so our food came out i h faster than other skewer places. They have a qr code ordering system which made it super easy. Food: Malatang - for this being the cost of 2 sets of skewers, this is so worth and made us full! It has noodles, corn, other vegetables, tofu skin, meat and fish balls. It was a bit spicy, but so delicious Meat skewers - we ordered squid tentacles, beef, chicken and lamb skewers and surprisingly each meat tasted as if it had a different seasoning or flavor. It was also tender and juicy! Green beans - the green beans were a bit over cooked, but it was nice it came on a plate instead of a skewer. Rice cakes - texture was good but flavor was overpowering. The only thing that I wished that they had was the mantou bread buns. All other skewer places have it. The servers were really nice and even wrapped our leftover food into to go boxes. As for the restaurant, it felt like we were in a neon street food corner. Overall, our experience here was great! We'll definitely be back for more skewers and malatang. read more

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Omg so surprisingly tasty!! My daughter and I came to the Bay Area to go shopping. We got in late but we're hungry. Let's see what we can find. This place had great pics so we made the short drive from our hotel to this very brightly lit building. If you like karaoke they have one side of the building for that. But we were here to eat. There were many interesting Hunan street food dishes to try. We ordered string beans ( very good nice spice level) cajon chicken ( my second favorite of what we ordered) chicken hearts (perfectly cooked and seasoned) lamb skewers ( no gaminess so good) The lamb was the Star but everything was so good. We ordered a little too much for the 2 of us but we finished it all read more

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I've been here twice so this would be the average for my experiences. The first time, my friends and I were looking for a late night meal since we were just leaving from a hangout. There were quite a few of us so we called ahead to see if they were able to accommodate, which yes, just a little wait and we were seated. Parking is plentiful here when it's a bit later, but there's always a spot available easily. It was a bit ago, but I remember the staff being very friendly and accommodating. The ambiance here reminded me of street market vibes and was a good background for the selfies we took with each other, loved the infinite like wall. We were all fed and had a few memorable dishes. The 2 that stood out to me most was Chicken Gizzards kabob and the pineapple fried rice. - Chicken Gizzards: Wasn't overcooked and had a nice bite to it, loved the spicy seasoning that paired very well with all the skewers. - Pineapple fried rice: It was a sweeter savory dish, but it hit the carb spot that I love. Honestly I think the best bite was a piece from a skewer with a bite of rice, gives me all the flavors at once. As for the second time, it was a date night on a weekday that I suddenly had a craving for the pineapple fried rice. There wasn't a wait when we came in, but there was the feeling that I shouldn't have come in. The place felt every different than last time, just the chatter of other tables and it was very bright. Everyone was conversing in Mandarin with the staff and it was their friendly atmosphere. I almost felt bad asking for an extra spoon at one point. I did get more of a response once I switch to Mandarin... but I shouldn't have to? We got a few orders of skewers (chicken heart and lamb), pineapple fried rice, fantastic fried chicken and pork ribs coated with sticky rice. - Skewers: The chicken heart was very tough, definitely felt overcooked to me (I could bounce it). Lamb was very nice, but everything was very heavy on fennel. - Pineapple Fried Rice: I was very excited to try this dish again as I was craving what I had last time. Sadly, the dish was very wet and bland with crunchy veggies; I did appreciate that there was plenty of shrimp. - Fantastic Fried Chicken: This was the best dish of the night. The chicken was nice and crispy with an amazing sauce, was like a sweet mayo and the perfect compliment to the chicken. - Pork Ribs Coated with Sticky Rice: I think this was over steamed? Everything was a wet ball of rice and the sticky rice definitely wasn't very sticky. I almost want to say seasoning was forgotten as well... It was a dish we brought home and my dad enjoyed since he doesn't touch salt/sauces. I did appreciate the waiter bringing us extra sauce when we got everything packed up to-go, the one nice gesture of the meal. They did package our leftovers up for us, that was very nice of them that everything was together neatly and tied up. Final Thoughts: I'm conflicted whether I'd give this place another go after my last experience? I almost want to say it's only good for late night groups and such... I guess it's a 'we'll see situational wise'? read more

Great ambiance, the neon lights have great vibes. I really enjoy the food and the decorations! The fish tank was very soothing while we were eating! we were tempted to eat the fish omg read more

This place is expensive but soooo good. Walking in you feel like you're transported to a night market with all the LED signs. It's right next to a karaoke place and I heard karaoke goers can order skewers to be taken to their room! Their menu options are endless if you look at their site while ordering. I wished I could've tried more food, but my wallet! The skewers here at the big star for me. They have lots of meat options, from beef, chicken skin, intestine, gizzards, lamb, and so on. The seasoning includes a lot of cumin and yummm we all love cumin. We also got their eggplant and fried rice which was flavored really well. We ordered beer but tbh totally overpriced and not worth. I think each person averaged ~$33-40 depending if they drank or not. This was after automated gratuity for our large group! read more

Very eye catching and authentic Chinese bbq. The restaurant is decorated with a bunch of neon lights inside and outside. You order and pay through a QR code and the food arrives decently fast. The skewers were delicious and very spicy (cannot adjust spice level). The lamb skewers had no gaminess at all. They included a few small pieces of fat in the skewer, which was delicious. I highly recommend their meat skewers, spicy rice noodle soup, A choy, and the scallops. The food is on the pricier side but it is very delicious and authentic. read more

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Great grilled fish! Been here 2 times now for it. Also picked up the lamb skewers this time and they were excellent. read more

Always Cool BBQ - Szechuan Grilled Fish - Bars Near Me - Fremont, California

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Always come here because of this fish! Love it.#YYDS The service is always good! But they don't have the BBQ during the lunch time. That's what I want here too! read more

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Everything here is so good! If you like spicy food, here is the place to go! I definitely like the lamb skewers the most. It has more flavor than the beef one for some reasons. I also like the sausage skewers. It brought me back to the street food in China. So delicious! I think they switched up the menu recently. I also tried the lamb dry noodles last time. It was also good, but a little bit salty. I will definitely go back to try their other dishes. read more

Always Cool BBQ - Mao Xue Wang - Bars Near Me - Fremont, California