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I have known about The Dolar Shop for a while as it’s walking distance to my apartment but I’ve always had my suspicions just because it was hot pot but a lot pricier and I wasn’t sure if the food would be worth the price. I went last night to celebrate a friend’s recent new job position and apartment and I will say this: it was absolutely worth it. I made reservations through the Yelp app (which I highly recommend doing) and I still had to wait about 30-40 minutes even after I checked. Be prepared to wait because it does get really busy but they have hot tea, water, and snacks like veggie sticks and nuts while you wait. I’ve heard that it can be really easy to over-order because you don’t know how much things cost when you see their big menu book and you don’t know how much comes in one order. Especially for only two people and she doesn’t eat much either we had to be careful so we didn’t have too many leftovers. They have a large sauce bar that does cost an extra $2.99. There are tons of sauces that you can mix and match flavors. They have their own dolar shop sauce that is sweet that they make that is so much better than anything I could make at the bar. I probably will just use that and not do the sauce bar again. You choose your own personal broth from the list of options. We chose the hot and spicy Szechaun in mild which wasn’t too spicy. I liked dipping the meat in there and then dipping it in the dolar shop sace to give it some sweetness to balance out the spice. We also chose the pork leg bone broth which was also good. We liked sipping it on its own and I tried eating the bone that came with the broth but it was too difficult. For the meat we ordered the boneless beef plate ($10) which was so fatty and thin. We also got the wagyu beef plate which is $10 for the first plate and $15 for additional. It was meatier than the boneless beef plate and also a bit sweet. Between the two I liked the boneless beef plate more. We ordered the beef balls ($10) which were so fresh and frozen. You know when you make meatballs from scratch and place them on a plate and try picking them up and they stick to the plate? That’s what happened here and that’s how fresh they are. There are 8 pieces to an order. We also ordered the shiitake mushrooms ($2.99) which were so good and soft. At the end we got free ice cream which was the perfect cooling agent from the hot food. For what we ordered, after tip it was a total of $64. It is on the pricier side for hot pot and you can can certainly find cheaper elsewhere and even cheaper making it yourself at home, but the high quality and freshness of the meat we got was just amazing. Nothing tastes or feels frozen and feels like it was cut and made that day. Even the grapes from the sauce bar tasted really good and fresh! They do have a deal for 30% off from 2pm-5:30pm which is pretty worth in my opinion. This is a place where you come with more people and try a large variety of food and share. The service wasn’t too bad when I went but I could see why it would because it can get really crazy when it gets insanely busy. They do have platters that have different meats and balls and I might go for those next time, and I know for sure there will be a next time.

Liuyishou Hotpot Flushing – Menu with Prices – 136-76 39th Ave, Flushing

Hot pot at Liuyishou was definitely an experience. My friend and I came here on a busy Saturday night and were seated after about a 20 minute wait. We were pretty hungry so ended up ordering way too much. We started the meal with panfried beef rolls which are essentially Chinese pancakes wrapped with thin slices of beef and sauce. They charge an extra $3 or so for the unlimited sauce and fruit/side-dishes bar which I think is worth it. The broths we picked were the original spicy beef soup base and non-spicy pork rib soup base. The beef broth was too spicy for me but the pork broth was really rich and flavorful. The hot pot ingredients we ordered included the beef/lamb platter, fresh tofu, king oyster mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, a-choy, and fish balls. Everything was really fresh, and the meat platter was more than enough for the two of us. Lastly, our waiters were attentive and terrific. This was the best hot pot experience I’ve ever had, and I hope one opens in Chicago soon!

Phá»? K & K Menu with Prices 2533 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley

I absolutely love pho, so I’m really surprised I haven’t visited earlier. All my friends often came here during our freshman year, but I just haven’t gotten the chance to go! I came here today around 5pm on a cloudy, chilly day – perfect weather for a big bowl of hot noodles. As it wasn’t peak hours, my friend and I were immediately seated and given menus. We both ordered the #9, just typical rare beef pho, priced at $10 a bowl not including tax. I was totally not disappointed by the wait time! Both of our orders came probably around 5 minutes after we ordered. However, usually at pho places you’d be given one plate of veggies (the usual fresh bean sprouts, basil, jalapenos, and lemons to add to the pho) for every single bowl of noodles/pho you order. We were instead given one small plate to share between the two of us, of which I wasn’t a huge fan. I do admit that the broth was fantastically good – I drank all of it – and the noodles were great too, but there just wasn’t enough beef for the price fo $10 and the bowl size. A very good standard-sized bowl of pho, but I feel like they made it look bigger than it was with an overflow of broth so that the noodles and beef were floating in it like tiny leaves on a large pond. My verdict? It was great comfort food (and I definitely need it during this second midterm season), but at the price point, distance from campus, and the portion size, I’d much rather go to Saigon Express on Shattuck and use the $11 to buy both a foot-long banh mi (~$4) and a big bowl of pretty good pho (~$7).

Grand Chinese Hot Pot – Menu with Prices – 6967 Victoria Dr, Vancouver

I wish I discovered this restaurant sooner. I am not one to usually go to AYCE hot pot, but from now on, this is where I will go. For $18.98 per person, you can order an unlimited amount of standard hot pot dishes from their menu. I enjoyed the sliced beef, sliced lamb, yam noodles, bean curd, lettuce, watercress, napa cabbage, tripe, and dumplings. Their meats are sliced super thin, although the beef is a little fatty, the quality is very good for AYCE. For the meat, it counts as 1 plate per order (see picture). The dumplings, despite being frozen, were so fresh and tasty, I think this was one of my favourite items here. I think they had pork and chives inside. The vegetables we ordered were all fresh, crisp, and recently washed. Some other items we ordered included meatballs, chicken liver, squid rings, baby octopus, and wontons. Sadly, a few things were sold out that day, so it may be better to dine earlier. The soup base is an additional charge of $8 for a regular size or $10 for a large. For the 3 of us, the regular was enough, and likely 4 could share too. You can get half/half broth, at half the price each. So for example, we got half a side of satay broth for $4 and half of the coriander & 1000 year old egg broth for $4, totaling $8. It’s nice that they don’t charge for half/half. I also really liked the satay broth. The items cooked in there had a lot of satay flavour after cooking. From the selection of sauces, you can choose 2 per person. There isn’t too much selection here, and weirdly, soy sauce is not an option. We just went for satay and their peanut/sesame sauce. They have some popular combinations as well, which I may try next time. The only thing is, service is a little slow. While we were there, there was just 1 waitress handling the entire restaurant. So, if we wanted to put in extra orders or ask for a soup or drink refill, it can take some patience. But I don’t mind at all, seeing as there is a 2 hour limit and hot pot is a slower style of dining anyway. The restaurant is nothing fancy, very minimal, but it is clean. I wish that air circulation was better, though, because my clothes definitely smelled like hot pot afterwards. For the 3 of us, it came to about $25 per person after tax and tip. That’s after splitting the cost of soup. At this price, and considering typical AYCE quality, I will definitely be back!

El Cora Birria | Estilo Tijuana – Menu with Prices – 7900 Fruitridge Rd, Sacramento

MUST TRY! Some people may overlook this place because it’s inside a gas station but give it a chance! You will still be thinking about it the next day and would want to go back for more. I had this 2 weeks ago, I’m still thinking about it and I can’t wait to go back. The menu is pretty small. You can order soft tacos, crunchy tacos, mulitas, quesadillas, or burritos only. Also, you can only choose between beef or goat for the meat. That’s why I’m giving it 4 stars. I was hoping that they would have chicken as an option as well. I’ve only tried the beef but OMG it is delicious. Especially with some grilled onions and serrano peppers. The beef is so juicy and has so much flavor. They cook it in this broth and you can buy the broth on the side and that broth is delicious as well. People usually dip the taco in the broth but I prefer just eating it like a soup. I would go there just to order the broth to eat. People are just starting to discover this place. I remember going to LA and wanting to try a spot similar to this and the line was crazy. About 1.5 hour wait. I wouldn’t be surprised if it starts getting busy with long lines. I hope not though. Also. The cashier, I’m assuming he may be the owner or the son of the owner but he is nice and friendly. He probably gets tired of seeing me and asking if I can have grilled onions and Serrano peppers each time I go. I’m gonna need my fix soon. Lol

Meshack’s Bar-B-Que – Menu with Prices – 240 E Avenue B, Garland

Another highly recommended place that just proves some people have zero idea what good would be even if it hit them in the face. This may have been amazing 20 yrs ago – but today, compared to the high end bbq movement sweeping Texas (Ive eaten at most of the Tx Monthly top 10-15 joints too), this isnt even dickies level que. Some people like the novelty of a take out only shack with no seating. Fine. Some people like The idea of drowning bbq in sauce ( they prob like well done steak Too). Whatever. Im actually ok With the chaos that is the parking lot here. Running out quickly isnt even that bad to me. It keeps the daily product fresh usually and not a case of chopping yesterday’s leftovers into the 2 nd tier dishes like chopped sandwiches and baked potatoes. But when youre charging top dollar for mediocre beef, with none of the overhead other, much better places, have at the same price point – im out. We ordered sliced beef sandwiches, and knew the dining situation before arriving. However eating this sandwich in my truck, or even on the tailgate was impossible. It had an inch of sauce swimming in the foil. So much that BOTH bottom slices of bread were soaked through and just a wet mess. Even if i took this back to the office I would have had to eat it with a knife and fork because that sauce would be everywhere. It wasnt just a little too much. It was a ridiculous amount. But i know why. The sliced beef was DRY. Sure it had a good smoke ring and the bark had a decent flavor, but the pieces i pulled off and shook sauce off of were void of any moisture other than the actual sauce. The sauce wasnt even good. Very thin and watery. I couldnt put my finger on it but it had a sort of vinegary punch that wasnt pleasant at all. I am convinced it was thin and poured in excess to try and soak into, and mask the dry beef. Theres no other legit explanation for doing that. Serving $8 sandwiches on white bread is also a pet peave of mine. Thats what a hustler with a run down bbq trailer does in a strip club parking lot at 1:30 am. Not an established “legendary” bbq restaurant. At least a legit bun would have fended off some of the sauce for a little bit. To top it off, when we finished eating, i had to haul a gallon of bbq sauce in a paper bag off to the gas station trash and hope it didnt spill because there wasnt a trash can anywhere in sight. Not in the parking lot or out front. Which really made me question why there were so many flies around. Seriously- the flies when we ordered were BAD, but they were out in the lot too. Not worth a second trip, or a first one if you have taste buds or wearing nice clothes you dont want sauce on.

Chava’s Mexican Grill – Menu with Prices – 4202 N First Ave, Evansville

I visited Chavas, for the first time, this past weekend. I had seen the place before but, wasnt sure if it was just a hole-in-the-wall place that wasnt really worth checking out or not.Well, once I walked in I was pleasantly surprised with how nice and clean the place was and, the friendliness of the 2 guys working that day.And, the food all looked good and, the food that I ordered tasted amazing! I ordered the 3 tacos special; 3 softshell (or hardshell) tacos, your choice of meat (I ordered 1 beef, 1 chicken and 1 steak) refried beans and rice.It was soooo good! I will definitely be back!Chavas offers Tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, chimis, quesadillas and more!Great place! Great food and great, friendly staff!

Full House Dumpling ???? – Menu with Prices – 6092 Stevenson Blvd, Fremont

After searching endlessly for a good dumpling place to replace my now-closed goto one, I finally decided to try Full House Dumpling. The wait can be a bit long, as it is usually packed for the weekends. The dumplings are well worth the wait however. They’re served in a traditional fashion and comes fresh and steaming hot. I recommend the pork dumplings and the pork with crab. Every dumpling is made just right, stuffed with juicy meat and a bit of broth inside. The thin onion pancakes are also well made, being fried just the right amount. The beef rolls are a bit lackluster with an overpowering beef taste, but I can see how some may enjoy it. Their seafood warm pot compliments the other dishes well, allowing you to reset your taste buds. It is a huge pot however, so I recommend you only ordering it if you have a party of 4 or more. They do offer to-go containers if you don’t finish though. Overall, this place is definitely worth a try.

Buffalo Ranch Wings & Things – Menu with Prices – 4315 E Shields Ave, Fresno

Went with the wifey for boneless wing Monday $0.50 Wings (Min 6 per order / flavor). We got the Medium, Garlic Parm and Spicy Seasoning. Along with an order of Potato Skins. The Potato Skins were AMAZING!!!!!!!!! Will defiantly be getting those again. $6 for 6 Skins with a good amount of potato let on them with cheese (assume its cheddar) bacon and green onions. The boneless wings. They were large in size and cooked good. very crispy outside and tender, juicy inside. The Spice Seasoning, well, still not really sure what it is… Obviously a dry rub. Didn’t notice any “spicy”… The Garlic Parm, well… It was dry garlic and parm on top of a naked wing. The medium, well… Tasted like any generic “hot” wing. Butter and generic hot sauce (flavor wise very similar to the well know brand FRH). I asked them about trying other flavors. They said they did not have a sampler plate (WHY NOT?!?), but I could try the sauce by them selves for free. I tried the three hottest sauces. Hot, well. Seemed identical to the Medium, but with less butter. Making it well, hotter! Suicide, well. This flavor should have been the hot flavor. It was a little grainy, probably from added dry spice (Red Pepper?). I liked this flavor!! Then the Atomic!! Compared to the Suicide, I didn’t find this flavor hotter, just a different flavor. I preferred the flavor of the Atomic over the Suicide. Why 4 stars? The food and service was great! The Boneless Wings, just seemed to be missing something.. Not sure what it was. Will be back to try out the Traditional Wings. While we were eating, they took several to go orders by phone. This seemed to be a popular way for locals to pick up orders. All in all, this is a great little mom and pop wing place in an old Taco Bell building. There is not much in the way of tables (4 total inside). However, they do have free refills. Mondays are $0.50 Boneless Wings and Wednesdays are $0.60 Traditional Wings. They are well worth checking out.

Mighty Wings – Menu with Prices – 2330 Fortune Rd, Kissimmee

Paid for 18 wings and 15 boneless. My friend paid for 22 wings. We Asked for 5 of the boneless to be bbq and 10 mild. AFTER I paid 5 minutes later they tell me they CANNOT split the flavor on the 15 boneless???? I had to pay for 5 more boneless wings extra for them to split it. Petty move by this restaurant. I come here all the time and I don’t see the big deal at all. Just toss the 5 wings in the same sauce as my other wings what’s the issue? ..the girl at the front counter was nice but damn bad customer service from the cook.

Beiteddine Lebanese Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 513 Danforth Ave, Toronto

Excellent service and very accommodating, unfortunately, their kitchen was quite slow on a Tuesday evening and the wait for food took quite a while, the hanger was growing, but luckily they came by with complimentary mezza to save the day. Beetroot hummus was delicious, better than their original hummus. The mouttabal was even better, it was slightly smoky, savoury, something I’ve never tried before – would definitely recommend. The warak enab was fine if you like grape leaves. I ordered the chicken shawarma plate and requested half beef, half chicken, with grilled vegetables on the side. Sadly, that was a bad decision, just choose one meat, you’ll get a better cut. My plate had more beef than chicken (chicken was superior here as the beef was quite tough and dry) and it was very shredded (almost like leftover bits) compared to friends who only ordered one meat and who’s plate came a lot later than ours (perhaps new batch?). It also came with garlic sauce and tahini – the tahini was very watery and disappointing (almost like they had to water it down because they were running out?). All in all, I would give this restaurant another go if I ever crave their mouttabal (because it was that good) and their servers are very nice. The food is quite clean tasting here, it’s not super greasy and salty like some other middle eastern restaurants.

Phu Quy Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 3213 17 Ave SE, Calgary

Order through Skip the dishes and it was horrible. Spring rolls were soggy, Raw Beef Pho was cooked beef(who cooks the beef for Raw Beef Pho? aka the beef was over cooked the broth also taste like chicken). Satay Beef and rice had no flavor at all. pork Vermicelli left a lot to be desired as the Pork was overcooked and kinda tasted like beef. Oh and don’t forget that you have to pay 1.00 per sauce like Hoisin. We ordered 2 Hoisin and only received 1. When I called the location to advise he told me I was lying. He would not listen at all no matter what I said, First time my office ordered will be the Last.

J?s Mini Hot Pot – Menu with Prices – 2174 Pleasant Hill Rd #101, Duluth

This is my go-to place for mini hotpot. The price is very reasonable with the amount of vegetables and meat you get for each order. My most favorite thing about this place is their sauce bar. They have several house special pre-made sauce that were super delicious to dipping. I usually order the sea and land combo with beef and beef bone soup. But recently, I discovered they have snow crab option and it was amazing. The snow crab was fresh and sweet. They came pre-cooked, so you just need to put them in the boiling hotpot so couple minutes to heat them up. They also have fresh fruit smoothies and boba tea. My two favorites are watermelon smoothie and taro milk tea. I love to make my dipping sauce and broth soup super spicy, so these cold drinks are great for cooling me down and make a perfect combo with the hotpot