Mongo Fire Mongolian Grille

I like this place, but I use it as a way to get some serious veggies in my body for a reasonable price. I like Unilocal’s ‘as good as it gets!’ when you do a 5 star, because while the service is lacking compared to normal restaurants. I actually believe the service is as good as it gets for a Mongolian BBQ place if this type.
I appreciate the environment, and that they give you fortune cookies at the end. The food is understood, and if were any different, we’d probably be paying more. So. my reviews is 5 star, as good as it gets, because I want this place to continue.

While the food was good (I guess if it wasn’t, I screwed it up, since I put it together). Normally really like this place, but don’t know if we’ll be back as the waiter we had tonight was rude and judgmental. I ordered extra bread (after finishing off what we had) and he replied, «More?» to which I said yes… not too under his breath, he said, «Jeez!»
Great restaurant service… judge your customers for being hungry.

So, I don’t understand why this place isn’t getting enough hits or higher ratings. I freakin LOVE this place, it is a vegetarians heaven! that being said, it has a lot of meat options for your carnivores as well :)
I go here at least once a week, and can honestly say that I will probably keep going until the end of time. It is all you can eat, but should be considered, all you can stuff in your plate and bowl cause you do pay by the plate, but it is really easy to stuff everything and anything you want, they have a variety of sauces and condiments, vegetables, fried and soft tofu, fish, chicken etc. You basically go through the line, get what you want, and they cook it in front of you. If you are picky about your food being cooked next to meat, you can ask them nicely to cook it separately and they are more than willing. The food is so bomb, its so hard to describe.
Basically, everything and their moms need to come here, and bring your aunts, uncles, boyfriends, and anyone you know bec

Food is fresh and tastes good but the people who work here have NEVER heard of customer service … Actually they barely even speak to you. The restaurant is not what I would call clean either (especially restrooms) I would only do take out next time.

I have come to Mongo Fire several times over the years whilst visiting my sister who lives down the street and I feel I can accurately say how amazing the food is and how unique the experience is.
First thing you should know is that you are going to eat a lot of food. Seriously. A ton. So prepare yourself (mentally and physically) for that.
Secondly thing you should be aware of, although it defies all logic — is that it will only cost you about 10 $/​person for AYCE (All You Can Eat) great food.
In further review, the restaurant has many options for vegans and omnivores alike, stretching several buffet-​style tables long. Your mission, should you choose to accept it — is to compile your selected ingredients on a plate and walking it to the grill; and that is where it gets tricky. Once you are forced to decide between adding 2 heaping piles of mushrooms and one spoon of watercress, or one pile of mushrooms mixed with watercress, carrots, peppers, onions and pineapple all bets are off, nothing is sacred and it’s every veggie for himself.
The gentleman behind the grill was very friendly and had no issue whatsoever with waiting until he was done with the current order (s) [there is a large circular grill he uses to cook all orders] and completely cleaning, and polishing off the grill for us vegans /​vegetarians in the group. Bravo to this gent, to the griller go the spoils. My satisfaction with he customer service manifested itself in the form of me effervescently making it rain in his tip jar.
I can only tip my hat in gratitude as write this review in remembrance of all the vegetables that laid down their life that day like succulent, delicious soldiers marching off to the hot plate. I can only wistfully pine on from NYC that one day we will get (or, I will discover) a place of similar quality and experience.

Disclaimer: I’ve only been here once.
Setup: This is an all-​you-​can-​eat where you walk in, throw ingredients in a bowl, add some sauces based on either several suggested guides or whatever you think is a good idea, and then they cook it on a huge metal surface with swords (seriously).
Recommendations: PAY IN CASH, follow one of the suggested sauce guides with minor variation, and I’d go heavy on veggies rather than proteins (less meat/​tofu, more veggies). Get a very full plate as many of them (especially leafy greens and tomatoes) will cook down to a much smaller pile.
Pros:
* Lots of great, fresh ingredients for a variety of palates
* A remarkable number options in the way of stuff to spice and flavor your food
Cons:
* Be aware that at checkout the default «suggested» tip is WELL above the generally accepted food service minimums (18/​20/​25%). My food was great but really all you should be giving is 15% for a place that’s only doing drink service. Also, I give the guy at the grill $ 1 because that dude was on point.
* The spinach didn’t look great when I was there.
Wishlist:
* A little clearer explanation about how things work for newcomers.
* Would like to see partial coverage of the various sauces (e.g. the top half of the container being covered). I know all that stuff is very stable in an open air environment and gets cooked anyway, but it just seemed a little *too* open.

Very simple, select whatever you want from the wide variety of vegetables, limited selection of meats; (beef, chicken, pork, fish, but I always get the beef) and pile all that in your bowl. You get as much as your bowl will hold (it will cook down) and decide if you want a variety of noodles or the rice.
Next you select your sauce to have it cooked in. Make sure you get plenty in there as it required for the cooking process. Follow a recipe our make your own. Set your bowl on the counter and watch it get cooked.
If you don’t like it then it is more your fault than anyone else’s because you picked the ingredients!

The food was pretty good, the service ok. It was prety empty when we got there so all the attention was at us which was good. I had the chicken and beef mixed with all the veggies you can have. For the price, you get a big portion. Place doesnt feel so clean when you enter but that could be the lighting. Convinient locatiom in north Austin on 183. Would come back.

As a vegetarian I am impressed. You choose your own vegetables, sauces and noodles and they have a big grill they grill it on in front of you. I told them I was a vegetarian and he not only washed down the entire grill but he also scrubbed it twice and made sure there was no residue of meat leftover. I am definitely coming back. Not many places have the respect to do that! Amazing food too :)

I did not enjoy this place at all.
They do have a very large selection of vegetables. Also, the vegetable and sauce bars are kept very clean. These are the only good things I can think to put.
This was our first visit. When we walked in there was no hostess at the desk, so we showed ourselves to the back area where the grill is. About half way through preparing our food the hostess found us and gave us a table and took our drink orders. The food itself was not very good. The grill doesn’t appear to be cleaned regularly. I got lots of char in my plate of cooked food (see photo). The hostess reminded us a few times that our 2 year old daughter’s food could not be taken home because they don’t charge for children her age. That’s fine, I just didn’t need to hear it 3 times, like I’m trying to steal from them. In addition they automatically charged us 15% gratuity for our party, which they do advertise that they’ll do for a party of 5+. Mind you we were a party of 3 adults, a 2 year old that was free and a 6 month old that didn’t eat.

Love everything about this place! Very clean, people are very friendly and the food is amazing!

3 stars because the food is great. It’s too bad that this place probably won’t make it for much longer, they have great food but zero ambiance. It’s like walking into an old run down restaurant in some small town in the middle of no where. Well, the reality is you’re in Austin and there are way too many «fun» places to go that have the same exact food. You have to be on your A game to make it in Austin. Other than that, great grub!

Well, it was clean and the people were nice.
The concept is really interesting. The veggies were very fresh, and the cook didn’t overcook them. Definitely healthy eating here.
But the resultant dish was just bland and uninteresting, even though I had multiple «sauces» put into the stir fry.
The décor is kind of cold and uninviting.

A good rule of thumb is if a restaurant is not busy when it should be then you should listen to your fellow diners.
The concept is great and I went to a similar place years ago that was good but this one is terrible. A chicken vegetable black bean sauce dish was bland at best and had a terrible aftertaste that got worse as it accumulated. Could not finish it. Another dish was a meat variety vegetable with mung bean noodle with a hot garlic sauce and egg that turned out a bland non descript flavor. Was more edible only because it lacked a terrible aftertaste but could not finish that either.
The puffy sesame bread was tasteless, better not to serve it at all. The brown rice was ok but totally plain. The 2 chicken pot stickers they give you were the best part of the whole meal.
Maybe if you perfect the buffet and sauces your own way it would be good, but just following instructions did not produce a tasty dish. It will produce a large portion if you stack your bowl high enough and the hostess was nice and explained everything and our waiter was attentive but that is not enough to make me come back.
I hate writing bad reviews but that was my experience. If I can’t finish a meal because it was that bad then I have to give one star.

Came for lunch on a weekday, and the environment is pretty good. A wide selection of veggies and a fair selection of meats (chicken, pork, beef, fish, sausages). You also get huge array of sauces so you can follow their template or get creative and make your own. Compared to other Mongolian restaurants like this one, the shape and size of the bowls allow you to pack in more food, so definitely big big plus.
One turnoff for me was that the meats were frozen solid in the trays. Maybe it’s better for preservation, but definitely not for my appetite. I’ve been to other places where the meats aren’t frozen. My optimistic side says that its more weight to push down to the bottom of the bowl though. While watching the cooks do their thing was pretty fun, the taste at the end is at best fair.
Instead of noodles I asked for white rice on the side, and the quantity of rice you get is pitiful. Not sure if extra rice would cost extra, but I would definitely do with twice or three times as much easily. Their sesame bread is pretty good though.
Overall, it’s an okay place if Mongolian Grille is in the area. But I wouldn’t go out of my way. While you could get a bit more food out of their bowls, their quality suffered.

Dear Mongolian Grille owners,
Please build a location in Houston. I moved from Austin a few years ago and cannot find a you-​make-​it-​we-​stirfry-​it place that compares to Mongolian Grille. Kublai Khan, Genghis Grill and the like just don’t compare. Mainly I like the flavouring concept that MG uses: recipes that allow you to use sauces and fresh ingredients, rather than having to add actual seasonings (S&P, cayenne peppers, etc.).
Alas…

Not bad…
Pros…
The selection of veggies
Sauces selection while not amazing is pretty good.
Cons
The cooking method… the food comes out dry
The rice they serve is miniscule
The sesame pocket bread is tasteless
One reason I love Mongolian is because of the way they cook. On a big hot griddle… here… it is shared. They don’t make use of the whole are a they have. This I think robs the food of its taste.
The guy working at grill did his best. he was great, patient but in the end I think their process is not up to the mark.
It’s so close that I will sure be back!

We were craving Mongolian food so bad… We decided to go here since we had a coupon. The food in the pictures looked very good. The sign outside said «fresh and healthy» believe me there was nothing FRESH about it. The meats were frozen when we picked it. The rest just smelled funky. The only thing good were the spring wontons and they only give you 2. The waiter was very friendly and thats about it. Do not recommend. I couldn’t even finish it.

I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember (10 years at least), back before the name change to Mongo Fire. The first rule of thumb is to PILE your plate up! It really cooks down. Second rule of thumb: SAUCE it up! The sauce trends to evaporate during the cooking process. If your food tastes bad, it’s your fault. There are recipe guides near the sauce bar but if you go adding sweet sauce with too much garlic or black bean sauce, that’s on you.
The meat is –not– dehydrated, for the idiots who obviously need glasses. It is sliced very thinly and yes it is frozen so it will hold up in the buffet environment. Once cooked, it tastes great. I’ve never gotten sick here and there are hand sanitizer pumps nearby to keep your grubby mitts sanitized.
The waitstaff is odd but this isn’t a kiss-​ass establishment. Go to Estancia if you prefer a kiss-​ass buffet. Our waiter was polite and kept my tea topped off.
Also if you think $ 9 is expensive for all-​you-​can pile on your plate, go back to the ghetto for a cheap taco or something. For two of us the ticket was under $ 25. Not bad for the amount of food. Much cheaper than buffet palace or whatever.

I pass by here twice a day every day and had never stopped in until I was alone on a Saturday night and decided to give it a try. The hostess was very friendly and walked me through the line and showed how it all worked. The restaurant wasn’t very busy for 7pm on a Saturday, but a dozen others showed up at the precise moment as me and there was a bit of a queue to get to the grill.
The veggie ingredients seemed fresh and there were many options. As is usually the case at any Mongolian grill, the meats were frozen and most were cut into little circles – a little unappetizing looking, but once grilled they were fine. The cook time was around 10 minutes. The two chefs didn’t seem to be enjoying their jobs very much. They didn’t smile or say anything and just threw the finished bowls on down the line. I’d been to a place like this in Sioux Falls where the chefs really got into it and got the crowd engaged. Clearly some room for improvement here!
I enjoyed my first dish pretty well, which was mixed with the Spicy Garlicky sauce. The warnings on the heat levels of the hot sauce was rather overblown, I thought. I gave it about ten minutes afterwards and determined that I did indeed want to pay $ 2 and get another dish. This time I tried the teriyaki sauce and was a little underwhelmed.
Even though it was now well after 8pm and there were only 3 other tables of guests, it took a very long time to receive my check. Come to think of it, the service as a whole outside of the initial hostess was pretty sub-​par. I would come back again if I was really hungry, but there are better options nearby.