The Real Chow Baby

Friendly staff and good food. Disappointed that they no longer serve alcohol as they use to have bottomless mimosas during the weekend. Not as busy as it once was. Maybe that is why.

Let me 1^st say, that went to the Howell Mill location and did not know that this location had closed. There was nothing indicating this on website I had a party of 10 people an I quickly called the Ponce location and expressed my concerns. After speaking with manager, he expressed to me that we still had plenty of time to eat and to try to come over to the Ponce location as soon we could. When we arrived, the manager quickly sat us down and introduce us to our server Mark. Mark was very pleasant and skillfull to handle such a large party. Within minutes, the manager provided outstanding service recovery. He kept checking on us and so did our servor. We were very pleased; even after our 1^st encounter with Howell Mill location. Great job Chow Baby!!!

This was my favorite restaurant until Saturday. My friend and I planned to meet there and after getting her child out of the car and walking up there we realized they were closed. There was a work crew inside and one of them motioned to a sign on the door that said they are relocating. Walking back to the car we saw several other groups headed up there and we were able to stop them from walking all the way because they too didn’t know it was closed. The restaurant needs to post on their website or fb page that they aren’t open right now because no one knows. We even looked at store hours before we drove down there that day.
I feel like chow baby howell mill doesn’t care about their customers. They didn’t let the customers know they were going to be closing and now they are relocating to Alpharetta (rumor has it) and abandoning all the local faithful customers.
Chow baby why do you do this to us? What did we ever do to you? It would have been five stars but you didn’t even show up.

I don’t know what’s going on with Chow Baby… but it seems like they are going downhill. The last few times I’ve gone home I’ve made sure to stop by Chow Baby and the experience wasn’t that great.
I went on a Sunday recently and they were out of a lot of ingredients (Kale, Mushrooms, tomatoes, Roti Bread, etc. etc). The wait staff didn’t seem interested in refilling/​cutting up/​preparing more ingredients — so we just had to «deal» with what was left. The ingredient bar was totally nasty and sticky, and it stayed that way the whole hour and a half we were there.
Just a little upkeep and attentiveness would give this place back its shine. For now, it’s fallen off my «whenever I go home I have to eat there» list.

Good concept. Pick your own ingredients and go crazy. My favorite combo so far has been rice and veggies with the red curry sauce, ginger basil sauce and Thai cilantro sauce with chicken, beef, sausage and egg. I know it sounds like a lot and it is! But totally worth for the money you pay.
Lines can be long, parking is valet only so it adds a bit to the total cost and service is just ok. Hence I give them only 4 stars. But no complaints about the food!
It’s a great place to go if you want to eat as much as you want and then go sleep it off for 2 days!

It’s an old stable of business of Howell mill.
Not much to say… get your veggies, meats, rice, bread, and they cook it for you.
Nothing special, nothing bad. I give it 3 stars because I think the quality of meats and veggies could be better.

Friendly staff but the place has gone down a bit over the years. I’m a fan but someone there really needs to take a look at whats going on there
The food: You select your ingredients, sauce, meat, and seasonings, in sort of an assembly line process … so the final output and taste is all on you (if you dont like it… it’s your fault). Unfortunately, they aren’t as as on top of their jobs to keep the assembly area tidy or the ingredient containers full. I’ve even visited on non-​peak times and the assembly line area was a mess. If you’re greedy — its a win because its all you can eat. If you put your food together correctly — its really good
The staff: always friendly and cheerful. No complaints there. They do seem overstaffed at times as you can see staffers just chatting it up… even sitting at tables… with other tables that clearly need to be busted and debris on the floor. Also… have staff to «look at each other» — our last server had a constant flow of sweat on his face — tell that guy to clean up managers. Sweat drips.
The atmosphere: The howell mill location has a ‘nice bar’ or boutique restaurant feel to it but they don’t keep it as clean anymore as when they first opened. Tables are usually waiting to be busted with servers walking around fast like they’re busy and cleaning is someone elses job to do (ever heard of chipping in?). Also it’s very common to see debris on the floor (ie napkins eyc) — just kind of a ‘little dirty’ feel to it sometimes. Also the kitchen smells like dirty mop water sometimes and that smell can permeate the entire area near the back-​kitchen door if you’re near it … they left the door halfway open one day and it was a gross smell.
Areas of improvement
— Place a hand sanitizer at the BEGINNING of the line as well (you have one at the end i guess for the people that accidentally touched meat or to clean their hands from touching the tongs in general. Get one of those sanitizer stands that would be more noticeable to be placed at both sides of the line
— Have a dedicated cleaner working the floor constantly (just a non-​clean feel to the place in the last year or so)
— Make sure the ingredients manager is more on their jobs
— Make sure managers know that managing is more than just smiling and saying hi to customers and overriding cash register inputs — no way they should feel like their job is done if they are walking around a restaurant with debris. Job as manager in a restaurant (i imagine) would be to crack the whip and make sure stuff is getting done (or do it yourself if you have standards and the person is trying their best)
— Dishes and cups dont seem as clean anymore (i know you get those dark red cups to hide dirt and undercleaning — but they actually seem dirty now). Do a full cup switch-​out every 8 – 12 months — those feel like the same cups you had from the beginning years ago — they have that old used look to them — place just feels like its aging (make sure the dishwater is clean — i didnt know if that dirty mop smell was from mopping the floor or if it was the dish-​water)
— Do a full tong switch-​out every 2 hours in the winter where people are sickest (ive seen people sneeze into their hands — wipe their nose, etc — then grab the tongs). The ingredients staff could easily do that without interrupting the flow
— Meat: Holy cross contamination batman. There is no way all that raw meat is saying cool enough (especially at the top during slow hours). Ive personally had to crap my soul out within 30 mins after leaving this place on more than 3 occasions (3 – 5 out of 100 visits isnt too bad though) I’ve narrowed it down to possibly the chefs mixing the food with the vegetables too soon (i saw what appeared to be wait staff cooking in my last visit — there was this girl cooking and she looked totally nervous and discombobulated… sweat and everything (black chick… small natural fro)
I’m still a huge fan — the place just seems to be going down the tubes lately in aesthetics and excellence in presentation. Always have the ethnic that you just opened and the place will stay beautiful.
Im still a big fan and my out of town visitors that i take there love it … its convenient to the office … love the concept and the food

IMO if you’ve gone to one Chow baby, you’ve gone to them all.
I keep it simple when going to the bar to fix my bowls of food. I’ve gone to others with people and they pile so much stuff in the bowls and the foods don’t mesh well together or the food is too spicy.
IMO, its pricey for what it is $ 7 for what is the equivalent of 3 vegetable egg rolls and the all you can eat portion of it is almost $ 20 in itself.
This location could teach the bar staff that its not nice to clear the food bar while people are standing their fixing their bowls, but I guess if they didn’t it would always be messing, cause there is generally a line of people prepping their bowls.
Its all you can eat, so generally my first bowl wipes me out, but I generally go back for a second round. At some of these Chow Baby restaurants, they won’t let you take a to-​go box after your second round. I had no desire to bring one home from this location, but heard someone else in my dining party tell another person that he couldn’t take one at this restaurant since he had gone up to the bar 3 times.
Maybe the other locations have a bar, but this is my first time ever experiencing a bar at one of these restaurant,. so I had the bartender make me a special drink. Something called a Medicine Ball. It was refreshing for a summer evening sitting on the patio, Oh yeah, the covered patio at this location, made this visit earn an extra star.
Valet parking and some limited free parking. At the end of the night, keep in mind this location is within walking distance of the world famous Compound, so if you are here late in the evening, you will be commingling the valet and limited parking with club goers. That being said, someone broke into my daughters car using the free parking spots, so don’t have any valuables in your car if you are going to be self parking.
Does not accept reservations on Saturday nights.

Build your own stir fry. It’s a pretty cool thing if you haven’t tried it yet. You can get creative or follow a recipe they already have posted in the restaurant. I chose the latter and tweaked it with ingredients that I like: bamboo shoots, baby corn, sprouts, and bok choy to name a few. It comes out pretty quickly and you can make unlimited trips: you don’t like or messed up your concoction, you can go back for more. However, if you want to take your bowl home, you have to use it on your first trip. If you go back for seconds/​thirds/​whatever, you can’t bring those home with you (or so they say. Our server let us take our second bowls home and I’m looking forward to eating it for lunch today!)
Some gripes I had with the place: they apparently stopped stocking all their ingredients and didn’t update their recipes. I made a Vacation Bowl that calls for lemongrass, but they apparently don’t sell that anymore. They also didn’t have the bell peppers required for the coconut curry bowl. Also, I was limited to the recipes displayed on the wall because they were completely out of the cards. I wasn’t in a creative mood and wanted to follow a recipe, but it’s hard to when they don’t have many to choose from and are missing advertised ingredients.

Love this location!
Chow Baby is where your inner chef comes out as I would like to say.
You make your own stir-​fry meal pretty much.
Rice/​pasta/​noodles, meat, vegetables, spices, sauces etc!
Great food and friendly staff.
Parking deck is in the back. Park yourself or Valet is available.
98A health inspection as of May 2014

My husband’s the cook in our family, and I wish he had joined me for my first foray into the world of semi-​DIY cooking at The Real Chow Baby. I found the whole setup a bit intimidating. Small bowls, myriad options, jostling with fellow diners to reach the bin of red bell peppers in the back under the sneeze guard, plus lots of different colored sticks to indicate various requests to the good people that actually cook your self-​made concoction. Whew!
About those colored sticks. I have a gluten allergy, and while I found it strange that the white stick for vegetarian is the same one for allergies, I’m happy to report Chow Baby can accommodate GF diners, as I had no issues with my cooked food. How could I? I selected the ingredients, which were cooked expertly — and safely.
Please note: Chow Baby has a separate area to prepare food for people with allergies, so your meal may take a little longer to arrive at the table. Just be patient, and know you’ll have a safe meal to eat.
For me, selecting my own food, memorizing the GF sauces before I hit the line, and trying not to hold up said line is a lot of pressure. I’m the diner that enjoys a leisurely lunch, with food I select from the menu cooked to order and brought to the table.
But for those who know exactly what they want to eat, or know how to cook, or like to overindulge, Chow Baby is a fantastic place for lunch. For just $ 9.99 — plus any adders for bread, shrimp, etc. — you get unlimited access to the DIY line and can eat as much as you want. Or more. Creative types can experiment with various flavor combinations.
Service is a definite plus. Everyone I dealt with, from the hostess to the bartender to our cheerful and helpful server Tony, seemed to genuinely care about my dining experience and answered my many questions with ease. I like the space too — large and inviting, but still sleek and citified.
Unless you can find street parking, the only option is valet. Which isn’t too bad, but does add to the cost of your experience at The Real Chow Baby. (The valet itself is free, but who doesn’t tip the attendant?)

I’m giving it 4 stars even though they deserve less sometimes.
I go to Chow Baby fairly regularly. I have my ‘recipe’ down pat now. I’ve brought a lot of people here with me and their receptions have been hit and miss. Like another reviewer, people who don’t cook and don’t understand what works well together tend to not like it as much.
PRO’S:
— All you can eat — so I never get any appetizers.
— Lots of healthy options. — Large variety.
— Good for groups.
— Inexpensive.
— Good mojitos.
— Great flavors.
–Complimentary valet.
–Friendly staff.
CON’S:
— Upkeep has gone down. Need to have someone CONSTANTLY cleaning up the food prep area. It’s inevitable that you’ll spill. It looks gross when it isn’t immediately cleaned up.
— I try to never go at peak times. The lines are long and it takes so long for the food to come out.
— When I ask the cooks to please use less or no oil — they say «OK» but don’t always hold back.
— It’s to be expected but still gross when something you did NOT put in your bowl shows up in your meal.
–It can get loud.