Been to the north Ave location when it was still there never had calamari before the freshest I ever ate all the food is water fresh very delicious best Asian food I ever had in my life read more

I enjoyed my lunch at Flat Top and find the concept to be quite appealing. It will take a few trips to really experience everything the menu has to offer but it's my sense that, overall, your meal will be worth the price tag. Flattop is somewhat of a medium between a grab and go lunch and sitting down at a full service restaurant. I can't vouch for their dinner menu or experience but I would indeed recommend this venue for lunch. read more

I did enjoy my meal here. It was very good, and I liked that I could make my own stir fry. The process is pretty easy once they walk you through everything. Service was good. My only complaint would be that it was a little dirty in the restaurant for my tastes. The bathroom was pretty bad, but the place needs a good scrubbing. read more

Rate 1-10= 10 I went in for the first time to eat a bowl! Let me Tell you... the luxury to customize your personal bowl is amazing! I'm a picky eater and I was able to enjoy it all! read more

This place is pretty good, good enough that I would visit again. Had a little trouble finding a seat because they were all below vents that were blowing cold air. Finally found a satisfactory seat. Since I am vegan, they have plenty of options, including Veat, and Sofritas. The only issue I have is that these Vegan Proteins are not a separate protein like Salmon and Chicken, so my bowl was fuller than it should have been before I took it to the fryer. So hopefully they will now make Veat and Sofritas and their other proteins something that can be ordered from the fryer so I can fill my bowl with other items read more

Terrible service, the alleged administrator was totally inappropriate. First time at the restaurant and no one explained to us how it worked, my husband gave me a taste of his dish and they charged us double for having tried it. On no side of the menu does it say that the dish is untouchable nor do the waiters explain the conditions. read more

Coworker and I came here for lunch. What I like: pick my protein, pick my veggies, pick a style (noodles, rice, in a taco, etc), pick my sauces all by myself with no judgement on my lack of veggies. You put your marked bowl on the table and the cook takes your creation and it is returned to your table. The warm buttery bread was the best!! If your food comes out dry, you can get more sauce. I had chicken and the portion was more than decent. They serve alcohol. Price is nice as well. What I don't care for: the wait. Going in on a lunch hour along with everyone else will hurt your feelings! If the line to place your food on the table is long, no control whose gets on the grill when. It could take your entire lunch hour like the poor folks next to us who wound up taking it to go after shoveling two mouthfuls in. We happened to catch the tail end so we were lucky and I saw my bowl go on the grill. Still had to wait a decent amount of time but it was purely for cooking the chicken and not the jockeying for grill space. Tables are tight. Overcrowding of people waiting for to go orders spilled throughout the place which makes it uncomfortable for everyone. read more

Avoid. Caution. Run. The only reason I am giving them a 2 is because the server was extremely kind. Otherwise, it was slow and my friend rice (how do you mess up fried rice???) for was possibly the worst think I have consumed this year. Not worth your money, time, or tastebuds. read more

Delicious food! Could use a bit more nuance, but that's from the carry-out experience; if you're at the restaurant, you build your own bowl. Another nice thing: I specified on my carry out how spicy I wanted my meal on a scale of 1 to 10, and -- for interpreting a stranger's instructions --- they did really well. Some spots are too timid even when you request a certain level of heat; Flat Top might have erred a tiny bit on the timid side, but not bad! Thanks, folks. Carry-out orders take a little while, so be patient. They have a few seats for people awaiting their orders. read more

So this place is essentially a Mongolian stir-fry. You order your protein, then you go to the buffet line and pile all you want into a tiny bowl. Then you put in the marinades that you want (and make sure you taste it first). You should put in at least 3 scoops to ensure you get a flavorful dish. The buffet options are carbs like rice or pasta and a bunch of different veggies and some fruits. Overall, it was decent. Service was prompt and friendly. read more

Took my new team to lunch. Arrive before noon otherwise it's bananas. I had no idea they take reservations. Weirdest thing is that our waiter didn't show and we recruited someone else to help us out. Dwight is amAzing and totally deserved the 15%. I would've tipped 20% but the way my company reimbursement process is set up. Either way I'll be returning and I definitely encourage you to eat here if you're in the area. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I love flattop but please cook your chicken! The last three times I've been it's undercooked. The server said "that's how they cook it"... I'm happy to return but I want to be able to eat the chicken!! Roti Bread was wonderful as a usual. Update: I returned and the food was much better. The server I usually have is wonderful and always remembers me. A great spot for a quick be theatre dinner in the loop. read more

The ambiance and cleanliness of this establishment left me in awe as I grabbed my partner and left. Fixing your long uncovered hair before grabbing menus and seating people.. really? Bon Chance !! read more

Went for lunch. The food was cooked well - flavor is kind of up to what you pick for sauces. There's a large section of toppings. I will say piling items into the bowl requires technique (or you can get the limitless bowl). My recommendation is start with light greens and then pile heavier items on top like bamboo to squish them down a bit. Add your main carb last on top (noodle or rice). Only complain was that I stuck the stick for extra egg, but could barely find a piece of egg in my dish. The staff was courteous and very speedy. read more

I love this restaurant.I make sure I eat here atleast once whenever I am visiting family in Chicago. The concept is different yet simple.They give you a bowl and have a large spread of raw ingredients like rice/noodles/veggies/sauces etc.You fill the bowl however much you can and then take it to the grill to be stir-fried where you can choose your style -like you want it a wrap or soup or just stir-fry.And can also ask to add any protein whether meat or tofu etc.And they make it and bring it to the table. The cocktails and appetizers are good too(last time I filled up on veggie quesadillas,which was scrumptious) and food is always more than enough even though I fill my bowl loosely.you can get much more food in that I believe.I love that it's totally customizable.I love the spicy sauces there and they have marked the vegan sauces too.My family and I are vegetarians and appreciate that they have an option where we can ask for our food to be cooked on a separate grill. Love this place.Try it for a different experience and tasty food.you will not be disappointed! read more

Flat Top Grill - Nice cocktail - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

good service, clean , nice ambience, reasonable price great food our server was ver attentive

Meh. This place use to be good years ago but not anymore. We walked in and immediately sighted food dropped on the floor where the toppings are and around the grill area as well. The cleaning bucket near where they have the rice smelled really old and disgusting. I put my food in and when I received my bowl there wasn't any meat in it, they forgot. So by the time the meat was cooked my bowl was cooling down. Food was okay but I think it would have tasted better had the meat been cooked with the sauce and veggies. We left around 10pm and they were cleaning the floors with very strong cleaning chemicals that started making me cough. My friend ordered the brownie ice cream sundae and the brownie taste like an off brand boxed brownie mix and it wasn't even warm. It wasn't moist either like it was sitting around all day. Ice cream wasn't really good and really lacked flavor. Doubt I'll be back anytime soon. We had potstickers that were good and the only thing I liked. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place has a good vibe and a good idea. The execution is another thing. It's a Mongolian BBQ/Stir Fry concept. You pick your protein, fill your bowl with veggies, rice or noodles and a few ladles of sauces. They then take the food and cook it and bring it back to you. We ordered two bowls as well as beef skewers for an appetizers. The appetizers needed more flavor. Very bland. The bowls came back to our table with many items we did NOT put in our bowl! Chicken in the bowl of shrimp., broccoli, corn and noodles- none of which were included in our bowls. Where did these items come from?? There are two possibilities, either they came from someone else's bowl or they were leftover items on the grill. Either way, kind of gross. I must mention, the servers were very kind and the service overall was good. But as much as I'd like to give this place a better review, their quality control (and taste) need to be taken up a notch before we would try this place again. read more

I had to write a review because this is by far the worst tasting food I ever ate. I ordered the supreme fry rice and a create your own stir fry because you know I'm a little picky. But my god, how did they f***ed that up. The food was bland. No flavor at all. For a little visual it look and taste like a bunch of left over food tossed together and bomb stir fry. I was highly disappointed. My total with taxes and fee included was $40. I never felt so hurt about food before. So disappointed. read more

I've never tried their "make your own bowl" thing since I ordered a pre-made Kung Pao chicken bowl through a meal subscription. I really wanted to like it since love kung pao chicken and fried rice. The flavors were just eh. The rice didn't taste fried, the chicken tasted low quality and the bread was very dry like it's been sitting out for a while. The meal was edible but far from great. I would like to come back and try the make your own bowls, it sounds like a creative experience. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Flat Top Grill is a great place to go if you're REALLY hungry and want A LOT of food for an affordable rate. Other than that, I would almost always recommend another restaurant as this location suffers from the same pitfalls most chain restaurants do: decent service, okay food, and just an overall meh experience. I will say, I did enjoy the vast selection of vegetable and protein options in addition to the ability to completely customize my dinner, but, again, I would only really come back if I was in the area and really just wanted a lot of food. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Awesome service, was a Chicago experience that was well worth trying. Found this place just walking around the city. Was recommended by some strangers on the street when I asked what would be a good place to eat. Nice atmosphere and reasonable price. read more

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My bowl was never brought to me. So when I canceled it and asked for my check, the manager said she wouldn't charge me for the bowl and didn't apologize for the terrible service. She sounded as though I should be grateful for not being charged for a service I never had. Unbelievable. read more

I have been a huge fan of Flat Top Grill for years! But the service here is terrible! I'm not sure if Covid had an impact but the service has definitely went down hill! My server was Fabio and he was ok but never came to check on my table! The food didn't taste the same, and was not cooked all the way! Once receiving the check we noticed there were no extra charges for things we never received! You guys need to get it together or close like the rest of the stores! read more

I came here for lunch today. I enjoy myself making different dishes Every time I come here. It gives you choice of many sauces that makes your dish different Every time. No two times are alike trust me. I personally love to play with Thai curry, basil lime and vindaho sauces. Note: they are very spicy and I can say 8/10 are the spice levels. Stir fried all veggies with choice of your protein and egg on the side makes a happy and full lunch. You have all the choice to choose every ingredient. Lastly it's not that highly priced. Reasonable quantity. Try to fill your bowl as much as you can. It all depends on how you manage your bowl space. I love this place. I have come here a couple of times. Highly recommend to try this place. read more

Flat Top Grill - Stir fried veggies and white fish with egg - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is freakin awesome!!!!! We came around noon and the place wasnt very full which was nice. More service time for us. =) Our waiter came around to us and explained how things worked. There is a wooden stick on the table with your table number on it. With a pencil on the table, write your name on the stick, grab a bowl, fill it with food (they have noodles, rice, veggies, meats, seafood, and sauces) and put the wooden stick in it. You can also choose to add bread, egg, shrimp skewer, etc. You can even make your food into a wrap!!!!! So many options here. After they finish stir frying your food, they will bring it to you. If you get stuck on what to pick or what sauce to use, there is usually someone around that can help. They have a lot of staff at this location which I thought was awesome! If you want one bowl the cost is $8.99. For unlimited, you pay a $1 more. We got unlimited of course! But could only fill our bellies with two bowls. If you end up not eating all your food and want to take it home, it will cost another $4.59. So make sure not to waste food! The drinks here were yummie. My server suggested the desert pear drink. It was delicious!! He saw my initial hesitation to order the drink and offered to switch it to something else if I didnt like it. What great service!!!! He came by multiple times to make sure things were going ok. Overall a great experience! I would definitely come back! read more

Let me start by saying this really isn't about the food, but the experience and service. Flat Tops food has always been good. The food line was clean, everything was filled and at a place like this, it's your own fault if you don't like your meal....for the most part. Now, on to my experience. My friend and I went here for lunch this afternoon, it was later in the day, around 2:00pm, so it wasn't overly crowded. The hostess sat us down at a high top and asked us if we have been there before. We have. Our server came, and at first we thought he was nice. He took our drink order and said we could go ahead and start. My friend and I made our bowls, she is gluten free, so she loves places like this. I got the mushu wraps and 2 roti breads. When we went back to our table, our drinks still weren't there... fine, no big deal. A little while later, our server finally brought out our drinks. We knew our food would take longer because hers is cooked in a wok and mine have to be wrapped up into delicious little burritos. A food runner brought our food out and no roti bread. Our drinks were near empty and there was no sign of our server. We continued on, cautiously sipping away expecting our server to show up at any moment to ask how our meal was or to refill our drinks. After about 15 minutes, he finally arrives. I ask for some roti bread as they had forgotten and refills on our drinks. He quickly ran from the table. 5 more minutes go by and the manager brings by the bread. We ask her for our drinks and she said she would have them out right away. Never happened. We were abandoned. Left to deal with a liquid-less lunch. Another 10 minutes go by and our server magically appears, we ask for a third time for our drinks to where he pulls out a pitcher and just fills our now empty cups with water... we didn't have water, we had a lemonade... and he rushes off into oblivion before we could make a sound. At this point we are just annoyed and want to get out of there. Our bowls are empty and our water almost gone. What seemed like forever, our server appears with the check. I give him my card and again, not to be seen for another 15 minutes! Now I would understand if they were busy or if it was during a lunch rush, but it wasn't. There was no excuse for this server to keep playing this disappearing act. Sadly, it ruined it for me. What we thought would be a 30-45 minute lunch turned into an 1:30 minute magic show....that we didn't ask for. What a shame, because like I said earlier, the food is good, but you dear server, sucked! read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The food is good there is a variety of things you can get or add onto your stir fry. BUT when it comes to ordering online, i wouldn't recommend unless you're okay with being skimped out on food for the price being paid. I suggest you dine in or prep the food on your own that way you can actually insure that your to go container is actually filled to the top instead of half empty. read more

If you're in need of something more hearty than a sandwich, but also want to get in your serving of veggies, Flat Top might just be the right spot. Lunch specials are under $10. You pick your own rice/noodles, veggies, and meat and pile your bowl high, leave it at the counter for them to stir-fry. Be sure to put a blue pin in your bowl at the counter to get their delicious roti prata bread. Service is friendly. Wait times are not too bad, never more than 5-10 minutes. Seating is a bit tight but that's just because they have a small space. Great place for lunch. read more

It was awkward being here. The server seated someone in front of us and when he came back, he completely ignored us. We were standing there for a bit until someone came up to seat us. It was just so awkward. How it works here is that thy give you a bowl, a stick, and a piece of paper. The paper gives you different types of protein like chicken, beef, scallop, etc. You pick the protein and stick the paper to your stick. Then you go up to a bar for ingredients to mix your protein with. They have all kinds of vegetables and sauces. It's overwhelming but good options. It gets messy and customers usually spill things because they put so much into their bowl. You take your bowl to the cook and they cook everything for you. They bring your bowl to your table. It's a good concept and I enjoyed it. How your meal tastes really depends on how good of a cook you are and know what's good with what. The only thing I didn't like was the service. I'm guessing it was close to closing time when we came in and everyone just wanted to go home. I would go back to flat top grill but not this location. read more

First time back from a while, loved to see the new-updated- menu. The amazing pokebowl one of my new favorites!! Will be back to try other new things read more

Welcome to the Loop, FTG! On September 21, the brilliant folks at Flat Top will open this gem for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We swung by their complementary practice lunch for a preview, and I was thrilled for several reasons. 1: TWO serving lines, y'all. Because one bummer about the other locations is the amount of time you have to stand in line waiting for people to craft their perfect meal. And then not wanting to hold up the line while you create YOUR perfect meal. I always wave for people to go around me; they never do... With two lines filled to the brim with identical fixins, they're making this whole "quick workday lunch @ FTG" thing a possibility. Good thinking, Loop location. 2: Lotttts of veggies. Enough to make me say, enough already. And many I've never seen at other FTGs. All this plus their brilliant faux meat options (Quorn, seitan, +2 others) plus meat-meats and calamari. 3: More colored stick options. Including one to add eggs to your stir fry--of course! (Oh and if you're new to this, ALWAYS use the roti prata bread stick. Always. 4: Tasty appetizers and desserts. I still find the concept of ordering appetizers at a AYCE place pretty silly, but they're good. The quesadilla appetizer inspired me to branch out from the usual Asian-influenced stir fry I normally create-- now it's all about Mexican-style veggies, Quorn, horseradish tofu + black bean sauce, lots of shredded cheddar with the roti prata bread. Heavenly. And should you save room, the signature brownie with homemade whipped cream is devine. 5: Flavored lemonades & teas. I cannot recommend highly enough the chipotle pineapple lemonade. Just enough bite to highlight how refreshing it is. Other flavors include pomegranate, mango, and desert pear. The grill remains under $9 for lunch, $3 for the flavored drinks. Student discounts plus a free meal on your birthday and for joining their email list. And rumor has it they're going to do breakfast every. day. of. the. week. read more

Flat Top Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I went to the Taste of Chicago this summer to experience what Chicago had to offer among its culinary cuisine. I should have come here first to start my adventure. Maybe that would have been a bad idea as I would have ate at this place every day. Yes looking from the outside at this place you are probably saying that it is a typical Mongolian grill setup but that is where you are wrong. To say this place is the same as a Genghis Grill or any other like place is a dirty falsehood that hurts my ears. A multitude of fresh ingredients and you are in a place with infinite possibilities. This restaurant is basically just a place that happens to cook your food on a flat top. I know some of you are saying no kidding Sherlock you just described all restaurants. If it is your first time here as it was for me I do enjoy that the directions on how to order were written in multiple places on the wall and your menu. Pay attention as this could make a difference between getting some tasty roti bread or not. I made that mistake but the staff was very helpful in bringing some to the table. On this day I thought I knew what I wanted but there is so much on the menu that the decision was a chore in itself. Peer pressure kicked in as the waiter arrived and I went with a bowl with my meat choices being shrimp and Andouille sausage. As if the large selection of protein choices was not enough you still have to choose what will accompany your meat. That's if you decide to go with meat. Another option is that instead of a bowl you can go with soup, roti tacos, or a wrap to put your selection in. Once you drop your food off it is brought to you and then you can start your voyage to enjoying this meal. Great place and if I was not driving I would have sample a selection off their drink menu. Glad that I was put on to Flat Top Grill. Very affordable prices for great food. read more

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Outstanding! I had dinner here Saturday night with out of town friends and their 2 year old. We wanted to be close to Millennium Park so we could walk around and look at everything. I was surprised by how busy they were! At 5pm they said it would be a 45 minute wait. The 2 year old started screaming, so I asked if I could leave my cell phone number with them and we could take him outside for a walk. Less than 30 minutes later I got a call saying our table was ready! (It was perfect timing, since everyone was getting cold). Our server was wonderful! He was really patient with the 2 year old, didn't mind that we were in a rush and being rude (a huge table was seated right before us, so we were in a rush to beat them to the lines). The food was really good. I am normally terrible at picking my own sauce combinations. Not to worry, they had suggestions on the flyer at the table! (Yes, I did carry it with me through the line). So all in all, the hostess was wonderful, the server was great, the food was delicious (and came with helpful suggestions), and the place was loud enough that the 2 year old at our table was not too disruptive. It was a great night out! read more

A fun meal concept. And coming from SF, a $9.99 lunch seemed incredibly cheap, especially when you can really get a giant bowl out of it! They're good at explaining how it works if it's your first time, but it's also useful going with friends who've bene before so they can tell you their own tricks of the trade. Here are some tips: - Stack even more in your main bowl but doing veggies first, then putting the noodles on top. The noodles act as kind of a net that holds everything in place. Then the sauce just soaks into it. - Add PLENTY of sauce. Even if it seems like overkill, your bowl will taste really bland without enough sauce! I did about 4 scoopfuls (between the tomato, thai peanut, and a curry one. It was fantastic). - MIX your sauces! Test it out by adding your combos into the little plastic containers getting it mixed thoroughly by and pouring back and forth between to containers. You can ask someone to help you out with choosing a sauce, and that's what they do to taste it! - GET THE ROTI it's delicious!!! You have to add an extra stick. - The lettuce rolls are a nice option - you just get an extra plate of lettuce and you can wrap some of your into those and eat it in a different style! - MEATS: The Filipino Sausage was fantastic. The beef was really great too. Here's my delicious bowl: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/flat-top-grill-chicago-7?select=5tzzpeSyPYg8-qdvdgCc-w#5tzzpeSyPYg8-qdvdgCc-w read more

Flat Top Grill - My delicious bowl! Sauces: tomato, thai peanut, and a curry one. Sunday lunch, 2014-11-23 - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Can Flat Top ever disappoint? Probably not. I mean, build your own stir fry guys - what else do you need? They have a great selection of proteins (meats + vegetarian seitan or tofu) and a great selection of grains (rice, noodles, etc.) The service isn't the best - but for $9.99 for a filling lunch in downtown Chicago - you cant beat it. This will be a staple in my lunch gams! Love you FTG! read more

Fernando was great! He made us feel right at home with his exceptional service. Our food was delicious! Thank you so much for your kindness.

If bringing children, make sure you ask for the Children's entree! I explained to the server that it was our first time, and asked for Children's menus. They didn't bring those until after they brought us the bowls and explained what we needed to do and took our protein order. At the end of the meal, we got a big surprise when we found out we were charged for the adult entree for our 6 and 10 year old. When we said we asked for the kids meals, they told us well those are the adult bowls. Food was good, but definitely felt scammed. read more

You are the driver of your own destiny... Be prepared to make choices here! If it's your first time, you probably won't have a clue what's going on. I think initially this place started out as a Mongolian BBQ spot, but if you're indecisive like me or have no idea what you're doing you'll end up with a jumble of styles of food. I had originally been to a flat top grill in Old Town before it closed, but it seems like they do things differently at this location. For meats, you no longer pick and choose from the bar area but all of it is handled by the cooks in the back which means you preorder which meats you would like in your bowl. All you have to worry about is the assortment of veggies, rice, noodles, sauces, etc you would like to accompany your selected meats. MAKE SURE TO PILE THAT STUFF AS HIGH AS YOU CAN. GET YOUR MONEYS WORTH. After this you can choose to have it served as a burrito, roti tacos, veggie wraps, and additional assortment of styles. Hard to pin point what kind of food I'd even call this place but maybe Asian Mediterranean fusion? Judging from my one pic I snapped while I was there, I'm still kind of scratching my head at what I had assembled last night. I remember beef, chicken, and sausage with noodles and potatoes an array of veggies and spices/sauces half of it assembled in roti tacos and the other half left as stir fry to consume. For $12, it's probably good for two meals, but some how I consumed all of it in one sitting. I think I was motivated not to have to carry around leftovers to the Sox game. For drinks, they slang some pretty fruity lookin' cocktails as relatively reasonable prices ($8~) and bottles of beer ($6~). I'd probably pass on ordering drinks and just come for the arsenal of food. Come hungry! 'Til next time, cheers! read more

Flat Top Grill - Roti tacos with noodles and a side of stir fry? - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I'm really sad that I need to drop this down, and don't let this be indicative of other Flat Top Grill locations. I still love the idea of filling up a bowl with tons of veggies, meats, and sauces and having a fresh hot bowl of chow customized to your liking. Unfortunately there have been changes implemented here (maybe because it's in the Loop so they have higher traffic) that put it below the bar especially compared to other locations of theirs. Before, you got a little bowl to pile your proteins into, and you were limited only by your ability to stack. It was great because they had a large variety of them so you could mix and match beef, pork, chicken, fish, squid, longganisa... No more here. Now you can only get up to three different ones, and if you want to "double up" on one of them, they'll charge you $4. Oof. They've also removed their hot and sour soup option which was pretty darn tasty and my girlfriend's favorite. And to top it off, our service last night was pretty lacking. You'd think at 8:30pm in the Loop you wouldn't have to be waiting around to get water/get the check/pay the check. I really hope this doesn't extend to other Flat Top locations, but looking on their website it seems that they're showing the same $4 upcharge and lack of soup options. It's a sad day, but for now I'm going to go to the West Loop one and hope for the best. read more