Tracy D.

We went to Gao's BBQ and crab and was super impressed. The restaurant has a small entrance from the front. They have a decent amount of space for dining. There are different specials depending when you go. How it works is you scan the QR code at the table to order your items at which the server will confirm and then bring them out to you. The website will also tell you what is or is not in stock. The server will also come by later to see if you would like to adjust the seasoning level. They have a decent variety of skewers you can order from veggies to seafood and a variety of meats. They also have noodles, rice and other dishes to order from. They make it easy compared to other skewer places where you got to cook yourself. Here the staff cooks the skewers, so all you have to do is dine and enjoy. On the tables the have a small warming box to keep your skewers warm as you dine. We liked the standard seasoning and spice level they had for the skewers. The seasoning had lots of cumin. We also got the Dan Dan noodles which were served cold and had a good kick to the flavor. For us we thought the heat level of the spice was the right level. It also has cilantro, peanuts, cucumbers and spices. We also got a fried rice which was also very enjoyable. The service we got from the staff was top notch. We will be back again in the future.

Fantastic food. Service is good Environment is nice Service was fast no longer waiting

Annie C.

We ordered a bunch of skewers and crab combo dishes. Everything was really flavorful. They also give free kids meals for kids under 12. It included chicken nuggets, fries, yakult and a slice of orange.

James W.

Only from 4pm to 2am from Mondays to Fridays and noon to 2am on weekends. The 4pm-630pm happy hour specials are worth a try, they had Wagyu beef and lamb skewers for half price! Both were cooked to perfection with a hint of wood fired char that gave it a nice kick of flavor. We also tried the garlic fresh crawfish and it hit the spot with corn and potatoes. The inside is quite cozy with great service and they provided us with plastic gloves/bibs for the seafood. Overall, the experience was nice and quite tasty, you order by scanning the QR code on the table. I will have to come back to try the crab and other seafood, It is nice to find a place like this that will be open even until 2am!

Serena W.

Really excellent place, it's a shame the entrance is so hidden!!! If you're coming here for the first time look for kpop hair salon and show mini hot pot and it's located between those two. the quality of all the food here is so above average, we ordered 10+ items and they were all good so it's somewhere you can take friends and not have to worry about them not liking anything they order.

Nelson Y.

Came here with my family on a Saturday night. Friendly service with great ambiance. They have live music in the back. ordered the Northern Cold Noodle + Dandan Noodle and a Grilled tilapia with a few skewers. Service was fast. Food was well seasoned. Definitely recommend.

Evan M.

Great spot with great ambience and live music. Definitely feels like an authentic Chinese late night BBQ spot, and the deals are really good. What really surprised me is that they have $1 beers, and if you spend $20 you can get unlimited $4 Korean cold noodles. It's a full sized portion that would easily cost around $20 elsewhere in the city. The meat sticks were decent and the seafood combo was okay. The lobster didn't seem too fresh or might have been overcooked since the meat was sticking to the shell, but the snow crab legs were fine. What really stood out was the garlic butter sauce, we even ordered extra rice just to eat with it. The seafood combo also comes with a bunch of appetizers, meat sticks, and even a main dish. We got the northern style cold dan dan noodles, which had peanuts, cucumbers, and fried soybeans instead of the usual meat and peanut sauce. It was so good we ended up ordering a second one for the table. The sauce was refreshing, a little sour and savory, and went really well with the heavier meats and seafood. The only issue was the speed of service. It took a while between each round, and we would finish everything and just be sitting there waiting with nothing to eat in between.

Angelo B.

Skewers here were extremely good, and Happy Hour prices are really good. Finally found a place with kebabs as good as we used to get in Toronto. Came on a weekend lunch and it was about half full. The happy hour is now limited to lamb kebabs ($1) and wagyu beef (2). We figured that the lamb ones would be tiny given the price, but they were actually quite large. Meat was really flavorful, although a bit fatty. Can't complain given the price though. Wagyu beef was also good, although I did prefer the lamb. The other dishes were great too. Got a variety of skewers. Also ordered a curry squid dish, which was my least favorite as it was fairly salty. So will likely stick to skewers next time. The boba drinks are huge too, and also priced reasonably. Will definitely return next time I'm in Flushing!

Chun M.

Dinner with Yelp friends is always a fun time! And with communal food like BBQ skewers at Gao's just adds to the fun. Thanks to Sharon T. for cooking up this last minute meetup in Flushing. I had been wanting to try Gao's for a while and we made an early weekend dinner of it. It's just a few doors down from Macy's on Roosevelt Ave with just a doorway that leads down a hallway back into the restaurant. Don't go into the hot pot place in the front. It's funny that the hot pot place's sign covers up Gao's sign, making it kind of like a hidden back-alley illicit speakeasy where you need to say a password into an eye slot in the door. I'm glad that Sam Y. was able to get cel service this far back from the street to access the QR code menu to order because I got nada. And because we came in before 6:30pm, we were able to order happy hour specials like $1 Lamb and $2 Wagyu skewers, which we loaded up on. I don't know how Wagyu the beef was, but they were pretty tender. They could have been from Joe's Wagyu and I wouldn't have cared. Anything that can be poked through with a bamboo stick and thrown across a flame is fair game. String beans, corn on the cob, sliced pork belly, more beef & more lamb. I was the only one to order a grilled Taiwanese sausage. It was big & quite good (did she say that?). The skewers kept coming to be thrown across the votive candle box to keep warm. A big plate of Spicy Shrimp arrived and that kept us busy peeling shells and sucking shrimp heads, while trying to tolerate the chili peppers. A plate of Smashed Pickled Cucumbers that Mike liked kept the heat in check. Then the Snow Crab cluster boil with more shrimp and sausage & potatoes came. It was with the deadly 13 spice sauce and it just piled on the heat. The servers kept refilling the water carafe, but what I really needed was a firehose. Another tasty dish was the Grilled Garlic & Miso Eggplant, which I divvied up. Sharon liked the Dan Dan Noodles, but me, not so much. I'll stick to the meat and grilled stuff. It was a very satisfying meal that I would do again in a second. All the better because it was shared with good friends. Plus it was not too hard on the wallet, which I can really appreciate.

Sam Y.

We made a reservation for an early dinner for 5 people. Not sure if they take reservations on the weekends during the dinner rush. They have Happy Hour specials, so expect the restaurant to fill up during the dinner rush. You order with a QR code, which is specific to your table. If you have any questions, the staff is there to help, though they seem to mostly speak Chinese. They do double check your order after you submit it. There are seasonings, sunflower seeds and napkins on the table. They bring out gloves if you're going to get your hands dirty. We came for the Happy Hour Special, which is daily from Open - 6:30 PM: $1 Lamb Skewers (normally $3.99) and $2 Wagyu Skewers (normally $4.25). They also have a Mon - Thurs Special from 6:30 PM - Close with a $20+ order: $3.99 Yanbian Cold Noodles with unlimited refills. There is also a Monthly(?) Special Dish, which is a discounted dish. For us, it was the Signature Wok-Fried Jumbo Shrimp ($9.99, normally $23.50), which we did order. The Lamb and Wagyu skewers were tender and well worth their pricing. Definitely make it for the Happy Hour Special and load up on these skewers. Besides the specials, we got a variety of skewers to try: -Pork: I wish it was a chunkier cut, but pretty good if you want pork -Bacon Enoki: must try, the right ratio of bacon and enoki -Green Bean: needed some more greens and this grills up nicely *I didn't try the below, as only a couple of us wanted to try these and we didn't want to over-order: -BBQ Corn -Taiwanese Style Sausage -Chicken Gizzard Besides the skewers, we got a variety of dishes: -Signature Wok-Fried Jumbo Shrimp: great portion size for the price. Very flavorful and fresh. It does come shell on, so it can be a bit of a mess to eat (unless you like eating the shell). -Smashed Cucumber: Mostly garlicy, would be nice if it was spicy, though I suppose you can add in the seasoning from the table. -BBQ King Eggplant: Also garlicy, eggplant is cooked well -TieLing Dan Dan Noodle: great bouncy noodles, a little too soupy for my liking, but still decent flavor -Snow Crab Combo with the 13 Spice Blend (Boil): very flavorful. there is a decent variety of seafood in here. the snow crab was just ok though, on the smaller side. Overall, a pretty good skewer spot, especially for the Happy Hour special. Next time, I will mostly get skewers!

Andie E.

For my first review of 2026, I'd like to highlight Gao's BBQ & Crab in Downtown Flushing! This review is long overdue! I went to Gao's about a month ago and have been jonesing to go back! Take advantage of their Happy Hour Specials: Available everyday, from opening until 6:30pm These are the items we had (shared by 2 ppl): - Complimentary Sunflower Seeds - 8 Wagyu Beef Skewers ($2 each...normally $4.25). These were perfection. The meat was so tender and just melted in your mouth. - 8 Xinjiang Lamb Skewers ($1 each...normally $3.75). These skewers were not as meaty as the Wagyu skewers but they were just as delicious. I mean for $1 per skewers, you really can't beat that! - Chef's Special Shrimp ($9.99...normally $25). This was a generous portion of a dozen large prawns. Excellent dish and a must order! Absolutely delicious. But be warned: these come with the shells still on. I actually ate the shells along with the prawns. - Special Cold Noodle $3.99 (avail Mon -Thur, after 6:30pm). Another great dish! This was also a very large portion, and came in a cold soup. So tasty and went well with all our other dishes. *** Don't forget to add the dry spices that are available in the shakers at the table. The dry cumin and spicy seasonings made these skewers come alive. Just delicious. This entire meal came out to just $38 (before tax/tip)....what a bargain! We definitely took advantage of the Happy Hour Specials and the other Specials they offered! Note that they have a huge menu with a nice variety of skewers and seafoods. We "only" tried the above items but Gao's has so much more to offer. I look forward to a return visit to try other dishes and repeat some of the items we already had. Hospitality and customer service were excellent! They really took the time to explain all the specials available, as well as their entire menu options. Great atmosphere! * Free parking in the rear after 6:30pm

Mike S.

We hit this place up for their happy hour special. Currently they offer $1 lamb skewers and $2 Wagyu skewers - load up on these and be happy. We did manage to try other dishes. There was $9.99 special on BBQ Shrimp - they came with the heads on and you need to peel them yourself. Good thing they provide gloves. We got one of the crab boils, but I would probably pass on this. I must say though that the 13 spice blend was the way to go - it was spicy and a good Sichuan peppercorn flavor that I really enjoyed. Don't sleep on the bacon wrapped enoki skewers - they might have been one of my favorite of the night. The Dan Dan noodles were solid - the bowl was large enough the share. I saw they have a $3.99 unlimited cold noodle special weeknights (Mon to Thur) after 6:30pm, but you also need to order $20 additional items. Everything I put in my mouth here was seasoned extremely well and everything served was quality. The service is very attentive - the staff greets you with a cheer as you walk through the door. They also change out your plates often and provide plenty of napkins. On the table there are shakers of delicious seasonings to add even more flavor to your dishes.

Jackson Y.

There seems to be a hotpot on every corner in Flushing. So we decided to shake things up and try a BBQ and seafood boil. We wandered into Gao's BBQ & Crab. Ambience - dimly lit, pub like feel. There was live music tonight. The seating is a little cramped and you have to order off a phone app via a QR code. Food - we ordered: Crab legs cooked in a heavy Cajun type buttery seasoning. It was very flavorful, but overpowered the natural flavor of the snow crab legs. 4/5 Grilled Oysters - fresh grilled oysters with chopped garlic. While definitely fresh, the flavor was meh. 3/5 Skewered meats - essentially the same skewers you would get from the street carts. 4/5 TL/DR: if you are in the mood to hang out with some friends over some live music, meat skewers and crabs, Gao's should be on your list.