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    Joyspot Hotpot & Grill

    4.0 (21 reviews)
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    Sandra S.

    For a soft opening and overall presentation of a new business arriving to Abilene, this was incredibly disappointing and somewhat concerning. The quality of the food was incredibly cheap, lacks consideration for the customer, and proper preparation. The still very frozen meat was placed in plastic buckets for self-service. Meats were thinly sliced and hard to get the meat out of the buckets because they were frozen together. I talked to my friend, who has worked in food service and the restaurant industry for a decade, and they stated in that state, the meat was likely defrosted, cut, and frozen again if they stuck together as much as they did. I hope they're wrong because the fact that they're charging fresh food prices for this cheap quality is a rip-off if not. The meat also had a very odd aftertaste when cooked, which I just hope isn't a sign of something off about the meat beyond maybe freezerburn. The broths tasted like they were prepared ahead of time and not the day of, and some weren't very different in taste like the tonkatsu and bone broth. We tried tomato, tonkatsu, and bone broth in total. All were very underwhelming. Staff is just as confused as we are and didn't seem to know why the setup was arranged as it was. They were definitely not ill-mannered and very clearly wanted to help, but they were underprepared. Almost as if they were hired or just trained yesterday. We were all looking forward to enjoying this place and taking other close family if it was a positive experience, but as of today, I don't think we'll be back until they work out the issues we saw today.

    Pho broth and noodles

    Definitely recommend. The pho broth is really good and you get pho noodles with it. Very clean inside. Service can be hit or miss depending on who you get but it's self serve so not the biggest deal. I liked the combo of hot pot and grill especially for only 5 bucks up charge to do both.

    Renee G.

    We wanted to try this restaurant because it's had an "opening soon" sign for months and wanted to know what this new restaurant offered. We went inside and saw the conveyer belt with the veggies and other assorted items and thought " Wow, this is different! Let's check it out! "We were not acknowledged as we stood waiting for a hostess or at least someone to say "We'll be right with you". I considered walking out but we were finally acknowledged and seated. The hostess was nice but seemed a little flustered and unsure of who our server would be and was unable to explain the concept of the restaurant . The server came to our table and brought a fork wrapped in a napkin and took our drink order. We selected the soup and the grill to get the full experience of the new restaurant. When asking how to proceed with both the soup and grill she told us there is no wrong way. So we ordered our soup base and I grabbed several of the bowls that were rotating around. We then went to the meat bar to select our meats for the grill. It was around a corner so you couldn't see what was available or how the meat was cut. A wide selection of both seafood and meats was available . The seafood didn't seem like it was being kept cool enough to be sitting out and the meats were very thinly sliced and frozen. Had to have been thawed to slice then re-frozen. I looked at other customers to see how they grilled their meat and saw they were using tongs to flip their meat while cooking. When we ordered both the meat and the soup experience that should have been part of our fork setup. I had to look for a spoon to eat the soup and get a ladle for the soup. Our server was hard to find to ask about getting tongs and the rest of the utensils we needed to eat our meal so I asked another server where to get tongs etc. She pointed to a utensil caddy and said to get them there how ever the caddy did not have any tongs on it. I waited until it was refilled and got tongs, a ladle, soup spoons and shears. I didn't know what the shears were for but figured they were there for a reason. The grill had a piece of tin foil on it to cook the meat/seafood. I used a sauce to flavor my meat while cooking. The sauce burned onto the tin foil so I asked for a fresh piece of tin foil. The server finally brought another piece and said that the tin foil was temporary and that whatever was supposed to be used was on back order and when it came in the meats would not stick to the surface the way it does to tin foil. We probably ate $20 worth of food. I don't see how anyone could eat $40 worth of soup and meat here. Without the tip our bill was a little over $80. Ways to improve? Teach your servers how to better explain how a hotpot restaurant works . You could tell neither the hostess or the server had been properly trained on how to explain to customers the concept of a hotpot restaurant. Unless you have been overseas to Vietnam or another asian country where this is common you feel pretty much lost as to what you are supposed to do. It would have been nice if she had recommendations for tasty combinations. When I asked for a recommendation she just said nothing is a wrong combination. Not very informative to me as a customer. The set up for the customer should always include a fork, ladle and spoon and shears. Tongs too if you are using the grill. I wasn't sure what to use the shears for. I ended up using them to cut the veggies smaller for the soup. One of the servers walked by and said she just learned something new. She would never have thought of using the shears for cutting. It was a neat experience but the confusion of everyone from the hostess to the server and staff created a chaotic atmosphere. Since we were there for the "soft" opening I hope the reviews are taken to heart by the owner and staff so they can be better trained in presenting this unique dining experience to the Abilene community . The cost could be adjusted to make it affordable for a family to eat at their establishment. I can't afford to take my family to eat there with it costing $80 without the tip we added for just my husband and I. We probably won't be back. It was different but not worth what we paid to eat there.

    A view of the grill

    The food was amazing, you get 90 minutes for all you can eat. The soups are great, and the staff are extremely nice. There is also a buffet part where you select your own food. The place is also a very well kept, clean place

    We did both grill and hotpot everything is so yummy

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    8 months ago

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    2 years ago

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    9 months ago

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    1 year ago

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    Nguyen T.

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    1 year ago

    The food was fresh and yummy; the service was great, and the ambience was excellent. Highly recommend!

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    Nguyen T.

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    1 year ago

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Great soup! Good selection. Definitely something new and different in Abilene. Def coming back

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    1 year ago

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    Ask the Community - Joyspot Hotpot & Grill

    Review Highlights - Joyspot Hotpot & Grill

    We both choose to get a hot pot and do the grill so that we could try a little bit of everything.

    Mentioned in 4 reviews

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    Joyspot Hotpot & Grill - vietnamese - Updated June 2026

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