Flat Top Grill

I visited Flat Top Grill on a Friday night. We made reservations for 8pm, so we were promptly seated upon arrival.
How to order: Once you sit, a waiter will come by to ask about what protein you would like to use in your dish. Then he/​she will return with a stick and a receipt. You then poke the stick through the receipt and put the stick in your bowl, which you take to the bar and begin filling your bowl with as much food as possible. At the very end of the bar, you have the option to customize your meal even more (lettuce wrap, etc.) and finally, you leave it on a table nearby and return to your own table and wait for the cooked food to be brought to you.
Food: Portion sizes were not bad given the price we paid. How delicious your dish is really depends on what you like and if you know what ingredients complement each other. I got chicken and added onions, garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes, topped with the Chicago tomato basil sauce.
Service: Service was fairly fast. Our table was approached a few times because we got mistaken for another table. Other than that, the service is comparable to what you would expect at a casual restaurant.
Overall: Would probably return if I was craving stir-​fry.

Before I dig into my review I think it’s important that we note a few changes: No more unlimited bowls, no more piling of random meats in the food line and a more streamlined process.
Okay, now that being said, I don’t think this is negative. I had more than enough to eat and in fact had to take some of my leftovers with me. The roti bread (add a blue stick to your dish) is delicious and is a great addition to whatever dish you decide to concoct. Take advantage of their rewards program. And with the Internet and pinterest being the way they are, I’m sure there’s a «top 10» list of variations to try with the sauces and veggies. To me, the best part of this place is that it really depends on you. You have to be the creative one and they just cook it.
The service was great, our server was very attentive and everything was fresh. I am a happy customer.

Food was pretty good (but then again you do pick all the ingredients and sauces yourself) but the service and experience was terrible. We were told the wait would be 15 minutes and waited almost 45. Ordered a drink and it never came, despite a reminder to the manager who said ‘I’ll get right on it’. Had no utensils on the table when the food was served, manager brought me a dirty fork — I sent it back and it took him 5 minutes to get a new one (I watched him chatting with the bartender in the meantime.)

They lost a star because I asked for NO meat, and found chicken in my first bowl then steak in the second.
I like the quick service and friendly staff.
The floor in front of the sauces is extremely sticky and I am for sure going to have to wash my shoes.

Went here today, was seated. I had never seen it so empty. When I realized why, we promptly got up and walked out as soon as we saw their new system. They are no longer all you can eat. You pay 12 – 13 for a bowl (lets be real thats expensive for one bowl of chinese food essentially), and 4.00 for a second bowl. Will never eat here again.

I went here years ago and never really liked it enough to return– I guess I’m one of those people that don’t know how to mix the sauces.
I came back because some friends wanted to go there for dinner.
First impression: they need to ventilate this place better to suck out the smell. It’s thick and heavy in there and sticks to you when you leave :/​
I like that they accommodate to people with allergies to CONSUMING food. I have problems even smelling seafood sometimes but I don’t know if it was contributing to my breathing issues in there.
The paratha was deeeelicious! The food is made with fresh ingredients and hot.
I don’t think I’ll come back due to the ventilation issue.

I was asked by someone from Flat Top Grill to give the restaurant another shot. They said I shouldn’t judge the whole of the place based on one server’s performance… and I came back because they are right.
I think it’s important to note that I didn’t let anyone comp my meal, nor did I let them know when I was returning. I wanted the experience to be as real/​normal as possible.
My second visit to Flat Top Grill (this time at lunch time on a weekday) caused me to bump up my rating from two to three stars. Service wasn’t excellent, but it was very good. The server was much better than the one during our original service.
I didn’t try the green bean appetizer again, so I can’t comment on if there was a one time error, or if it is really intended to be that spicy. I also avoided the yellow noodles that I disliked on the the first visit, opting for some white rice instead, which worked well.
I also chose a difference sauce to go with my stir-​fry. The Red Thai Curry was really good. Much better than the «safe» choice I made last time — Sweet and Sour.
I don’t have any allergies, but I saw that they provided a lot of information for those who do (including a list of possible allergies on the menu board, and the corresponding items that needed to be avoided.) I also overhead the waitress at the table next to mine spending some time helping her guests understand how to safely accommodate their needs, including how to indicate that their food shouldn’t be cooked on the shared grill. Thumbs up!
So, yes, I feel better about this place now. Still, it is pretty simple food and a little pricey, and service isn’t excellent (or even good every time). So «A-​Ok,» three stars it is!

Came here for one of my roommates 20^th birthday!
We came with a group of 10 people under a reservation.
Unfortunately, we weren’t taken care of right away so we were a bit confused on how the process worked.
Afterwards though it was super quick and efficient!
It was $ 12.99, after tax $ 14.16 for one bowl with your choice of meat or shrimp.
I really recommend PACKING the bowl as much and high as you can hold to get your money’s worth. I do love that you can add extras like making it into a taco, or lettuce wrap & such.
I do think $ 14.16 for that one bowl was in the pricier side. There’s a Mongolian Grill where they do the same process however it’s unlimited for like $ 10 – 12!
Regardless, the food was okay. Process was easy.
The inside was pretty decently big & roomie but there were a TON of annoying fruit flies flying in my face!!! Like what!!!
Their desserts are YUM!!! And if you text a number you can catch a free one!
Would I come back? Probably not

I have to say I am really impressed … I received a response from Benjamin who was an Opperations Manager at the Evanston Flat Top Grill when we dined in the other day. I was seriously impressed with the response, appreciation and candor that Benjamin wrote me.
Good news is there is a major revamp in motion and Benjamin is in the process of addressing the issues I mentioned along with many other improvements. This was refreshing to hear and honestly grateful since I was truly bummed that we had such a bad experience.
I rarely write a poor review but I have to say I will be giving the Evanston FTG another shot once they get things back in shape.
Thank you Benjamin for some kick butt customer service in not such a great situation.

Very disappointed. Heard great things and decided to head out there on date night. Unique concept, you order meat/​protein and then go in the salad bar style-​line, pick veggies and other things to add in, add a few colored straws based on how you want it prepared (in a wrap, in a burrito, in a soup, etc.). I mixed beef and sausage, got my receipt, gashed it with the stick with my name, picked my additions, and then sauce, and was excited… this was a new experience for me after all. I upped my expectations.
Until my girlfriend and I got our food. Then it went downhill. It was just my veggies/​extra additions in the burrito. A couple bites in I noticed there wasn’t any meat, so I opened it up and confirmed there was no meat. I called ou waitress over to let her know that I had ordered the beef and sausage and it wasn’t added.
Hey I get it, mistakes happen – it was Saturday night just before 7 PM; it was packed, maybe it was short staffed? I saw our waitress running around like a chicken with her head cut off.
But she just shrugged at me. My girlfriend ordered it in the lettuce wrap and she was given the soup format. I tried to prod a little because that wasn’t quite the response I was expecting, and she then gave me an exhausted «well…I can get my manager if you want.»
At that point I just cut my losses and asked for the check, I told her I didn’t want the manager. I’ve been at places where there are customer discrepancies, and the place/​staff does everything they can to make it worse (stalling out time to hope people just drop it and leave, continually saying that «their manager is busy, it will only be a few more minutes, etc). I didn’t want to risk one of those on top of an already sub-​par experience.
I’ll be half-​full, because I’m not one to complain for the sake of doing so. The food was good quality, everything mixed well, the sauce I wanted was nice and spicy, the way I like it and the desert flavored beverage/​mango mist beverage (what my gf ordered) were great. But this was my first, and last, visit to FTG. Bad experience.

Been years since I was last there and know things change. But wow, now they charge $ 4 for the second trip and although increases their seating capacity, didn’t increase the flat top or the bathrooms; so expect to wait.
3 single occupancy bathrooms (1 men’s, 1 women’s and 1 unisex) for over 150 patrons. Waited 10 mins to use a bathroom.
We waited 15 mins to be seated and as we were taken to our table we passed over 15 unoccupied set tables
Loud environment/​atmosphere. I get its in a college town, but don’t go there and expect to have a conversation without raising your voice, or to use the bathroom.
Place could use some sound absorbing material. Bathroom were pleasantly clean and bright.
We were never asked us for a refill of water or for a second cocktail. Dirty dishes from appetizer not removed when main dish arrived.
Tasty & warm naan bread arrived after we were done eating.
As we were in on our way to a concert, we gave our credit cards to the waitress and told her to split the bill; she goofed up the cards and receipts, and never provided a detailed receipt.
Host was running around like he didn’t know where to go or what to do. Most staff seemed like they could use a smile and life in they’re step.
Food was delicious. Potstickers great! Main dish — Almost like I remembered from its original beginnings.
Return — most likely but will be prepared.

Just wow. I failed to read the recent reviews. I wish I had. Would have saved me my money. I couldn’t agree more with these 1 star reviews. Last time I was here, unlimited bowls! Now, $ 4 for another bowl! I say no thank you. That right there lost me. I will never be back here until they go back to what we all loved about it. Looks like they are trying to save money any way they can. Produce isn’t as fresh as I remember it, service is slow. The place is going down hill fast. Such a shame. Goodbye flat tops. Goodbye.

These reviews are harsh, people fail to realize that the changes made are at all FTG locations because of corporate. [Besides that, I e-​mailed Derek Templeton (the manager) about the other negative Unilocal comments. I pasted his response at the bottom].
We had a group of 16, we were first seated at a table in the middle section of FTG. I didn’t like it… so I asked if they can move us to the back because we wanted to surprise a friend and a table their just cleared up. The waiter without hesitation said yes and started cleaning the tables in the back (she called for her waiter squad to help her). Fastforward: we surprised our friend, sat down, a waiter came and explained how the bowl stuff worked and we were on our way. (Note: now you have to give your meat options to the waiter instead of filling up the mini-​bowl like before)
Once we got to the line, the Jalapeños container was empty, so we told the attendant and he filled it up after 2 minutes. We noticed we had to alternate from Line A to Line B to get the sauces (it ran out on one side but not the other).
There are a lot of people on this Unilocal page that are complaining about the small things… my friend describes them as people with «sticks up their butthole». But if you’re just their to chill, enjoy good food, and have a good time with a large group… you won’t mind these small things.
Overall, we all had a great time! This FTG is huge and VERY VERY accomodating for huge groups! They can seriously accommodate a group of 30. I would highly recommend this to anyone with big groups. We all liked our food and had a great time because we basically had our own «party room» for free.
One thing that can mess your food up is if you don’t know how to portion the sauce and double check your stick colors with your friend if you’re colorblind. Sometimes the customers mix up the sticks.
As promised, here is the Derek’s response to my e-​mail:
«Most of the concerns with allergies/​cross contamination issues are from people who are not fully educated on our concept and how everything actually works. If someone has a food allergy, they are encouraged to use a white stick when creating their bowl, which in turn tells our cooks that it need to be cooked in a separate pan and not on the grill next to anything else. We have extensive ingredient listings and also lists that itemize what one may or may not use when their are certain food restrictions.
Our sauces are all covered and it is virtually impossible to get one sauce into another, unless the lid was taken off and purposely poured into another.
The raw meat was removed from the Food line in March, so the issue of any raw meat contamination (which was not truly an issue before, just a perception) has been addressed.
I’m sure you can see in our newer Unilocal reviews that most people are unhappy that we made changes to our Food line to become cleaner, quicker and more sanitary, however, we have gotten many more compliments in the store about how much more sanitary it is than previously.»

Had a great experience, would recommend to others. We had a large group of about 20 people but the store was well accommodating for us and had quick service as well!
We had a large group of people with many various needs (Veggie and meat lovers) and they still did not mess anything up and continued to provide service in a great way.
They only problem we had was the self serving food was not continuously replenished. Many of us didn’t get the sauces we wanted because many of the bottles were already done. Also when I usually go to Flap Top I have had prior service where our server focused on helping us try/​recommend various sauces and flavor but I understand that can be a bit difficult with 20 people.
Overall I would recommend for a big group and we did not have any cleanliness problems as stated in other reviews.

Flat Top used to be such a great experience. You’d go in, try some new crazy culinary concoctions, and then see how they turned out. Now it’s a discredit to this once wonderful restaurant.
Now you can only go up once, or $ 4 more for a second. Don’t even think about making three small dishes to really get a range of flavors– that would be a full charge as if you were a separate customer.
Gone are the sauce ladles, so you either better be great at judging liquid volumes by eye or use the microscopic tasting cups for some consistency. You don’t even get to put in your own meat anymore. You tell the server and they bring you a receipt for your pre-​designated protein.
To be fair, the portion of meat was generous– that did not seem like a money grab, unlike the rest of the changes. Supposedly this is all in place because it reduces wait times for customers. My group of four was there when it was dead early Saturday and the wait times were the same as ever.
Per their card on the table Flat Top is «not a buffet.» That’s fine, but they’re also not worth your time — or money– anymore.

This is one DYI place you can either love or hate. If you don’t know how to cook, then go by their recommendation.
Fresh flavorful food!

Adiós Flat Top, a customer I will be no more!
I used to love this place. Loved making my own custom dish, load with whatever sauces, mix up some meats and get it all grilled into a delicious mess. Well… guess the health inspector caught up with them. Raw meat out, with dirty customers hands meddling in it, no temp control, no idea how many hours the raw meat sat out… only to be put back in fridge and out next day. Recipe for disaster I bet, I hope no one got sick. But the new way with them choosing my meat is total BS. I asked for steak & chicken mix. I got 1 piece of chicken, 3 small pieces of steak. Stop being so darn stingy on the meat, or else I won’t come back… wait you already know how this ends.
The sauces were previously with laddles which you could pour your gooyiness on top to make your own concoction. Now the sauces are in bottles, that are very hard to pour, and only a little pours out. Easier for them to handle end of day, but if they only care about their experience and not mine as a customer, it won’t go well.
We sat outside, knowing that outdoor service is pretty crummy to begin with cause they always forget about you. i asked for a napkin once, twice, 4 times, it came out with the bill, too late for your tip college kid.
In the end, the stir fry tasted nasty, much too burnt (at least ¹⁄₃ was charred black). I swear I can get much better tasting stir fry in a microwave than what I got here. Sadly I wave good bye to this Evanston favorite, a customer no more!

Going to Flat top is super exciting and fun because there is this extensive buffet of ingredients that you can play with. They offer beef, chicken, pork, and white fish, and a variety of alternative proteins and fake meats. There are tons of veggies, legumes, sauces, etc.
I think the experience of choosing your ingredients is fun, but the food in actuality is not worth the money. ⁸⁄₁₀ they will mess up your order, or get someone else’s ingredients into yours. Whenever I ask for no meat, I always end up with a few chunks of beef, chicken, etc. I don’t think that’s okay that they allow people’s dishes to mingle, because some people actually do have food allergies or dietary restrictions. It’s definitely not safe to go here if you do have strict food allergies!
I think if you know how to make good stir fry you should save your money and make your own. Or if you suck at making stir fry like me, and you want better stir fry for the same price or cheaper, go to another restaurant. This is just my honest opinion. Nevertheless, the experience is good, and if you are lucky or skilled you might end up with a yummy dish!
Also, I am just mad that they got rid of the wildcard discount.

When the concept of Flattop was still novel to me, I was obsessed with it, but now that the novelty of «make your own stir fry but we’ll cook it for you!» has worn off a bit, Flattop has become more of a rarity to me. It is a bit pricey for what you’re getting, unless you decide to do unlimited (at lunch). What bothers me is that the prices for lunch and dinner are different but the ingredients offered are exactly the same.
The restaurant itself is pretty clean and large, but they often have trouble with big groups in my past experience.

My biggest qualm with restaurants that «allow» you to create your own dish is the fact that most of us are venturing out in the bone-​chilling cold for a hot meal prepared by somebody other than our microwaves. However, I can get over that, if the service is good. They do have recipe suggestions, however every time that I have wanted to enlist such assistance, I can’t seem to get any help! This is true of almost any Flat Top (I’ve frequented many locations, but this one the most).
The food regularly takes 30 – 45 minutes to arrive to the table, the lines for ingredients are long, and the spillage of sauces across the other sauces is to be expected. There are also always delays in refilling vegetables that have run out. I understand that this is a hot spot for college kids to feast on a fancy-​ish meal, so it is always crowded, but that demand should be met by an upgrade in the quality and/​or quantity of staff.
Negatives aside, the food is fairly good. This of course, depends on the steadiness of your hand in ladling sauces and your intuition about compatible sauce combinations. Their roti bread is definitely delicious and the food is always cooked well (I’ve never had undercooked or burnt food). The sauce and vegetable options are very generous and they have multiple preparations of your food rather than the standard stir fry: such as the wrap and soup options. My dad once accidentally turned his dish into a soup, and the staff allowed him to create another bowl, at no extra charge (the one time that the service was actually good).
Overall, I think the biggest reason why I don’t love this place is because the service is poor and the integrity of the raw ingredients is compromised when vegetables and sauces are strewn about, mixing together, and making my dishes horrible disasters. If the service improved, I would gladly give it another chance.