Big Bowl Chinese and Thai

Reviews 4

AS

Astrid D

Not bad, but Im not amazed. I worked as a server at Stir Crazy in Northbrook for several years and the first thing I thought reviewing the menu tonight was, "Wow, this is literally a duplicate of the menu practically.." between the mai tais, homemade ginger ales, nutty noodles, make your own stirfry, etc. The only thing I had never seen at Stir Crazy were some peanut summer rolls. We didnt order those, so I cant say good or bad. We ordered the chicken lettuce wraps, crab rangoon and calamari. I personally thought the portions were pretty skimpy. Usually lettuce wraps are a great suggestion to larger groups wanting to share and between six people and two kids, five people got a wrap. The rangoons, you get five for $10? Ehhhh...come on now, guys. They were so-so. Calamari was decent but I got three rings in total. At this point, I was thinking it might be better for us to agree on doing the family meal where you choose 3 apps & 3 entrees considering its $23 a person and you are for SURE exceeding that between those $30 worth of appetizers and $15+ entrees, buuuut of course people didnt want to negotiate. On that note, I ordered the make your own stirfry with the chefs choice veggies/shrimp/yellow coconut curry/Chinese noodles. I think they need more noodle options. Saw my dish, and wow, I was fine with the amount, will obviously need to take some home with this one. First bite, leaned over to my husband and had to say, wow, Im surprised at how lackluster this coconut curry was. It was like what I know coconut curry is, but watered down. Tried my husbands kung pow beef and yes, for sure spicy as it should be but I couldnt understand the lack of veggies for a $17 dish? I DID like the little minced up peanut bits, but otherwise, only green beans in there? Jeez. Was I comparing it to my memories of Stir Crazys kung pao? Absolutely, I had to. And yes, its like five times better and I hardly ever ate that thing during lunch. Oh yes, lets not forget his side dish of +$1.00 fried rice. Again, lackluster, there was SOMETHING missing. As for service, the guy was nice. We were on the patio, which I didnt initially want but it ended up being nice before the skeeters came out. I could tell by the end of our meal he was getting slowed down with the four tables around us along with ours, but he never seemed stressed or hectic and kept a good attitude. I always, always appreciate hearing "Thank you" for dining somewhere because at some places you just dont hear it anymore. Overall, great service but I was thoroughly surprised at the lack of flavors. Bill came to $196 between six adults, two kids. Alright, but again, I doubt Id drive back there just because of what I know now. Its just not up to par and they need to knock down the prices a few dollars here and there to match the taste. Oh! My daughters did love their buttered noodles, so thats something.

PA

Paul Eckert

Two kinds of food places appeal to me: those with excellent food and those with cheap prices. I can live with either one. Both together are great! Having neither is anathema. In Big Bowl, the food is average-to-poor and the price is still sky-high. No inducement at all to ever come back. The menu is a hodge-podge of dishes, and it seems like Im not the first person confused because the menu strongly recommends that you let the chefs choose what goes in your dish. I might consider doing that if the chefs were Thai or even Chinese and were intimately familiar with their national dishes, but all the chefs working behind the stir-fry grill were Mexicans. So I ordered Mongolian beef. Want fried rice instead of white? Add another couple of bucks. In a couple of minutes, out it comes... The few sad pieces of beef in this dish were covered by a sauce that tasted like someone put out their cigarettes in it. Unpleasantly smoky, overtones of been-in-the-fridge-too-long, and evidently finding its final resting place on my dish, the sauce and meat combination didnt match the menu description of "lots of tender all natural beef, shiitake & button mushrooms, green onions." There were certainly button mushrooms a-plenty, but the shiitake? Only the ghost of shiitake past made its appearance here. The only recognizable taste in the entire dish were oniony overtones from the fried onions and the raw scallions. Everything else smelled and tasted like the day after the Great Chicago fire. The blessing in all this is that there wasnt enough of the beef or the fried rice to be overwhelming. In fact, after leaving I went to McDonalds and had a couple of hamburgers because I was still hungry. When I told my first-generation Mexican waiter that there wasnt very much food, he said "Thank you very much, sir." Im guessing he didnt understand me. Big Bowl, big deal. Next time Im eating at Pei Wei.

ST

Steven Frenzer

TERRIBLE SERVICE 18% gratuity. Always went to the Schaumberg location had good service this one did not, took coworkers (6 of us total) to this big bowl. Got seated and waited 10 minutes to be helped by our waiter Lindsey, the waitress took drink orders after we ordered our food and just didnt bring all the drinks... half way through the meal she came back we asked for hot sauce and she never brought it, she asked when we were 3/4 of the way through our meal if we wanted chop sticks or a refill on drinks, (she then realized we didnt have enough drinks and never brought it after realizing) but did bring some soy sauce. When asking for doggie bags she brings them for 3 people in one bag says shell come back with more and doesnt ... our whole lunch service lasted over 1 1/2 hours. THE BILL CAME WITH A 18% GRATUITY ON IT for $H!T SERVICE so i spoke to the manager Tim Atteberry he said just sign the bill and hell take off the gratuity. (so i signed it and made a note to take off the gratuity) Looking at the credit card statement today as the charge finally went though gratuity was NOT taken off and spoke with my credit card company to get the charge removed. Complained as well and after sending two emails. no returned response... im not eating there again or at any letus entertain you place

PA

Pam Devendorf

Big Bowl is a relatively "quick" full service restaurant if you want to catch a movie or local play. My fam and I have visited this restaurant a few times during the year and have never been disappointed with the service, food quality or speed in which it arrives at our table from the kitchen. They have 2 menu options: order off the menu or build your own bowl of veggies and meats at their food bar. We always order off the menu and usually split the dishes between ourselves for variety. When ordering appetizers, they come out in groups of 4 or 6, perfect if you are sharing with a group of 4. I have ordered the lettuce wraps as my main entree and it is very filling and tasty. Kudos to the management of Yummy Bowl, not sure what they do but, every Waitress or Waiter we have ever gotten to wait on our table has always been very upbeat, knowledgeable about the menu and can provide recommendations if required. Overall good consistent service and food ;). P.S. Highly recommend reservations if dining on a weekend night. They have Valet parking but, if you continue driving past the restaurant, youll find a space behind the hotel.