Wok ‘N’ South: Mongolian BBQ

Excellent place to eat… fresh meat and veggies, great price and all you can eat.
I doesn’t get better than this!!!

This place has steadily declined over the years… The customer service is terrible. The man (owner) from my understanding is lacking personal skills and attentiveness. The lady is friendly and nice, but she alone cannot carry the service here. The cook is the only employee left… he is the only other friendly face here. The variety of food has greatly been downgraded, when you ask for beef during lunch time, we were told, by the owner, there’s no more until dinner, same went for the sauces… of course you can’t keep a business running with only 1 employee!!! The floor was sticky and reminnants of noodles all over the carpet floored area. The far dining area has been taken over by the owner as his personal living space, filled with Tv’s, empty food containers from home, office work all mingled amongst his guests! Sad, because my family and I have been coming here for 13 years, and after today’s visit, we will never be back

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Ventura. The sesame bread is to die for. The staff is nice and will sauté (for the lack of a better word) just how I like it.

Every time I visit my parents, I have to come here and have brought many friends and family here as well. The owners are very nice and the food is easy, fast, and customizable. If I want to be super duper healthy, I can pack bunch of vegetables into my bowl and make it flavorful with the many sauces. Otherwise, I really like the noodles and I like how thinly sliced the meat is. I do wish they had tofu though. My parents really like the sesame bread pouches, which have always been fresh. You also get fried wontons; I don’t care so much for those, but my parents like them.
I will say that the décor could be updated and the restaurant cleaned a bit more, but I am not bothered much.
Overall, it is still one of my favorite places to go in Ventura.

Service: 4
Cleanliness: 2
Food: 3.8
Price: 3.5
The food is good. Love the sesame bread pouches they serve! They always make them fresh so it takes a minute to bring them out.
But this place has gone down drastically in the last years. It’s more dirty than the last time I was here a couple years ago and that’s a bummer because it seems to get worse every time.
Service was friendly.
Cook didn’t look like he was having a good time. Help Wanted sign out front and definitely needed. Like to clean the place, seats, etc…
Guess I’ll have to find a new place.

This is one of if not the favorite place me and my wife like to go for dinner. The food is great but most of all the service is over the top. The owners are so nice and attentive. They should be the model of customer service we absolutely love this place

For years this was another office staple for Birthdays, we’d take a long lunch and travel over from the hospital billing office ready to fill our bowls up.
The preparation is a bit intimidating for beginners, grab a bowl and if I were you I’d either shadow a professional bowl stacker or take a stroll around to eye the pickings first.
One suggestion when placing your meat in the bowl use the tongs to lay it flat at the bottom, this will give you more room for the veggies and then alas my favorite part of the meal the noodles.
The service is good, and if you go first thing when they open they are very attentive and will have your drinks ready at your table as you are putting your bowl together. At lunch you are able to get your leftovers boxed which is a nice touch since normally I have way more than I can consume in one sitting on my plate.
When taking your food to be cooked if the person in front of you has gotten the spicy oils, be warned some of that heat may travel onto your plate.
This is a fun place to go with friends, and if you like Mongolian bbq you will love this.
The décor and restaurant itself is a bit dingy and could use a little elbow grease, but with that said I’ve never had a bad experience here and the owners have always been very nice.

Upon first look this place seems dirty and unorganized, but the food makes up for it. If you are really hungry, the all-​you-​can-​eat is the perfect solution. They have pork, chicken, and beef, I have never had the pork. The chicken and beef are solid, and I prefer the beef. The vegetables don’t look super fresh, but after they are cooked I don’t think you can tell a difference. Oh, and if you like spicy, they have Sriracha sauce on the table. It tastes great with the food.***Also, to address the others’ concerns about poor staffing, I’ve never and a problem. The lady who is always our server is really nice and brings more of the bread pockets whenever we need them. Overall, GREAT food, so-​so atmosphere.

I love this Mongolians! The owners are always very nice greeting you with a smile. The cooks are personable, and cook the food perfectly. It’s clean and I would totally recommend this place. I love coming here with my boyfriend for a quick dinner.

The food here is fantastic. The idea of stirfrying you’re own food is a fantastic one. Here at Mongolian BBQ they do it the best. The food is all you can eat and is great. You can choose pork, beef or chicken and a myriad of vegetables to add. Go here when you’re really hungry. For your food to taste the best get lots of different oils and flavorings in your bowl, otherwise it will taste bland because the meats do not have spice or seasoning on them. Fun place for a group. I would always go here as a kid for family gatherings and birthdays. It’s a fun place with many fond memories. The service here has always been great. They will practically bend over backwards to make sure everything’s great as long as you ask them.

Awesome place to eat. They are now back open for lunch. We drive 40 min just to come here

The positives:
Food is decent and seems fresh
Buffet area well stocked with good variety
Fun to watch the cooks grill your food
The negatives:
Service here is HORRIBLE.
Restaurant area and dishes could be cleaner
I came here with my boyfriend and little sister (who was 10 at the time, there’s a large age gap between us). She had just eaten so she wasn’t hungry. We were hoping to just get two meals to-​go but apparently during dinner the only option is to buy an all you can eat meal and dine in. Weird, but okay. So we ordered two adult meals. I wasn’t that hungry so I only got one small plate even though I had to pay for an all you can eat adult portion, which I was okay with. I ordered my little sister a lemonade since she wasn’t hungry and I didn’t want to be rude.
As I was eating, my little sister pointed to a water chestnut on my plate and asked what it was and if she could taste it. As soon as she touched the water chestnut the owner/​server (she could have been both?) immediately came rushing over and demanded that I pay for another plate since sharing was strictly not allowed. She must’ve been watching the table like a hawk waiting for that to happen. I explained that we weren’t sharing a plate but that she was just merely sampling a water chestnut since she had never had one before.
I thought that would be the end of it, but the server/​owner was unrelenting so I grudgingly offered to pay for a child’s plate. Then she had the audacity to ask her age because she didn’t believe that she was under the appropriate limit and wanted me to purchase an adult plate for her! I was furious at this point. Needless to say I paid for the child’s plate. Between the two of us we ate half a serving of mediocre food for a ridiculous price.
I understand the need to have a no sharing policy when it’s an all you can eat situation, but they certainly take it way too far. I couldn’t believe the accusatory and rude manner in which I was treated. It was an upsetting experience and I will not be returning. Especially when there are so many other excellent places to eat in the area.

My husband and I went for the first time because we were craving Mongolian bbq. This is a mom and pop place. The lady was nice. The food was okay. I had the beef and chicken I did not like the taste. The rice was good, pineapple and broccoli. I wish the oils were labeled better because we had no clue what was what. The noodles were oily hopefully I don’t regret it later lol. The place was a little dirty there was food on the floor I was stepping on a few noodles and onions. They bring you sesame bread and some type of wontons. All in all not sure if we will be back.

My boyfriend and I decided to stop at the Ventura location for lunch. We entered the back entrance and my initial impression was that it was dirty (empty bottles and trash along the sides). Since my boyfriend was a huge fan of this place I decided to pay it no mind. Our plates looked delicious and tasted pretty good. As I’m enjoying my meal I pull out a short hair out of my mouth that clearly did not belong to me. When the waitress returned, who I’m assuming was the owner, I told her about the hair in my food. To my surprise her reaction was to ask if it was my hair. I responded no and even showed her the hair that I pulled out of my mouth. She then offered me another plate but at that point my boyfriend was done with his meal and I had lost my appetite. So I politely declined and asked if we could just not get charged for the plate (I took 2 bites out of my plate before I found the hair) she then responded that we had to pay so I might as well get another plate. I declined again and expressed how I had lost my appetite, she then responded that she didn’t think that the hair was from there and continued to try to argue. After a debate she eventually took the meal off our bill and DID NOT ONCE APOLOGIZE or thank us for our service (since my boyfriend still payed for his meal). I get it that sometimes things happen (such as a hair in our food) but her poor customer service is the reason why we won’t eat there again. BY FAR THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I’VE EVER EXPERIENCED..

Let’s start with the positive! The actual plate of food is good!
This restaurant is understaffed. Apparently to save money. The dining experience is subpar due to the cold wontons served upon seating and only one cold slice of bread served alongside the cold «over fried» wonton. When I go the same type of Mongolian food in my hometown the bread is always warm. No low sodium soy sauce on the tables. There are no extra napkins @ the table. If you need extra napkins aside from the one they give with the silverware. Get up and get it yourself. This seems to be a mom and pop restaurant where the owner is highly concerned with the cost rather than the customer satisfaction. There is a low level sound coming from the cooling vent and No background music. The owner was determined I was getting my meal To go and gave me the eye after I seated myself as if the seat that I choose should be used for more of his customers with larger families. In reality there are plenty of seats with larger tables open throughout the restaurant.
the only thing this place has going for it is the fact the the main dish still tastes good as well as the soup and the woman whom serves here probably the owners wife has a very warm friendly smile — and she appears to still value her customer very much!

Always come here when craving Mongolian BBQ! One of the most tasty places around, a hole in the wall. Never had one complaint, would recommend to anyone wanting to try something new. Can’t beat the price for the quality of food!

Been coming here for years! Love the food! the staff is really nice and attentive. Only come for the lunch special. Don’t always finish my meal and like to take it home to eat later. Mongolian BBQ reheated is yummmm. The dinner is all you can eat with no to go option, bummer.
It’s a great place to come and enjoy tasty food that you can’t find in most parts of Ventura county :)

I like this place. I’m knocking it down a bit mainly because of the taste/​seasoning options — which of course is personal preference — but I’d give them a 3.5 if I could.
The staff is wonderful as far as I can tell. We came in when it wasn’t busy, so that probably makes a big difference. It may have been the owners who were managing our table. They were extremely attentive and quick. The lunch prices are very reasonable. One bowl lunch deal, all you can eat dinner.
The food was okay. The egg noodles weren’t great and the overall taste seemed a bit off. I don’t really like the system of trying to cram everything I want into one bowl. My hands ended up covered in the oil they coat their noodles with. There’s a lot of contamination between the ingredient containers due to food falling off people’s bowls, but it’s also being cooked on the same grill, so either way it will likely be a problem if you have allergies. They only had a half serving of oil-​soaked noodles left when I went, and they didn’t fill them up until after mine was done cooking, so that was kind of a bummer.
At most Mongolian BBQs I do 3 scoops of the BBQ and 2 garlic. I might have to tweak that formula if I go back and see if I can adjust the taste to something I’m happier with. Either way the oiliness was bothersome.
Their soda brands are authentic and perfectly mixed. I include this because at many restaurants, even big chains, the soda tastes watered down, like they have cleaning solutions in them, or like they’re a knock-​off brand. Not the case here. Just what I was craving on a hot day.
Good seating options, including many booths and a sunken dining room. Probably good for groups.

Spent my holiday night in Ventura, visited a high school classmate and had Mongolian BBQ for the first time. You’d think it’d be a great day, but not so much.
Large seating areas and of course I didn’t know what I was doing, so I watched a couple people get their bowl of meat/​veggies, pour the oil/​flavorings and hand it to the guys with the bamboo spatulas moving the food in a pinwheel of precision.
It looked like a buffet, but I didn’t see where I could get another iced tea, so I flagged down one of the servers. The chicken was OK, but the beef (or at least the pieces I was fortunate to get) were grisly.
$ 15.31 for all you can eat dinner, but watch it. Unless you have a cast-​iron, or ironclad digestive system… just watch out. You know what I mean.
A walk from my motel and close to the bar where I was going to a Halloween party, but won’t be back.

This place is oooooo so yummy!!! Love this place! They have a great lunch special, it’s not all you can eat but you can take your leftovers with you. During dinner it is all yoi can eat but you can’t take any home. I would say that’s the only reason i gave one less star, i end up only eating barely one bowl but my bf likes seconds and wishes he could take home leftovers. I think they should offer two different dinner prices. Because it suck paying $ 11 for barely one plate. But if you get multiples i think they could charge a few more bucks and offer multiple plates with a leftover container and it would so be worth it.
Also they offer flatbread, fried wontons and soup as part of your meal! I LOVE the wontons! So delicious!
And i love how they offer all the different meats, veggies and sauces.. .ok now I’m hungry lol!