Bo Lings Chinese Restaurant

Ordered takeout and was waiting forever for the food. It was ok. Not the best. Plaza locale is much better.

The service is great although the food misses I ordered their curry chicken expecting it to be at least a little bit spicy if not super hot when I got it it looked amazing it smelled like curry. Unfortunately it did not taste like any curry I have ever eaten it wasn’t even spicy it’s as if they used a curry flavor and put it on there or it’s incredibly watered down in very disappointed to say I paid 13 dollars for something I could get for 6 at the store.

After a long day hanging out with my kid we start looking for dinner around 7:25pm… The first place we tried down the road had already closed the kitchen. So we walk into Bo Lings… And they seat us right away. There were only a couple other tables and we are asked if we would like a booth. Yes please! My son proceeds to order dinner… Chrysanthemum tea, Vietnamese spring rolls, and jasmine tea smoked duck. I was skeptical… But rolled with it. The waitress was very friendly and accommodating… Everything came out delicious. Right on cue. We enjoyed our dinner and took what we couldn’t eat to go. Success.

Ate on New Year’s Day. No lunch specials so portions were dinner size. Food okay, but nothing special. Parking is tough and service was average. Plenty of other places in Zona Rosa that I would go to before going back here.

I have been going to Bo Lings for about 25 years now and don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of their restaurants, especially the location at 9055 Metcalf. When I come back to Kansas City, I always make a point to come here, munch on some egg drop soup and crab rangoon and other main course treats.
This past Sunday, I decided to stop at this location on the way up to the airport… BIG mistake. The experience I had was an embarrassment to the whole group of Bo Lings restaurants. We showed up for a late lunch, say ~1.30pm. We were seated and after sitting there for about 15 minutes without anyone acknowledging we existed, we got up and went back to the hostess to ask why we hadn’t been seen or given any waters. She seems oblivious and confused that we were even there…
When we finally got a server to come over, we got a nice long speech about how many other things she had to get done (clearly things that were more important than serving us… if you can’t figure out how to serve people, just don’t seat them in your restaurant). We placed our entire order for fear that we would never get out unless we did. The wait began…
While waiting, we noticed the couple next to us get some SUPER burnt dumplings. (WHY ARE YOU SERVING BURNT PRODUCTS?!!) They took a few bites but couldn’t escape the overwhelming burnt flavor and signaled the waiter for help. They explained that they wanted them brought back to which the waiter didn’t seem to know what to do. He ran off over to the bar to get what I would guess was the manager. She looked over the dumplings, the couple had to re-​explain the problem (…not sure why it was hard to tell what was wrong), then the manager did the one of the biggest no-​no in the dining industry — she argued with the customer about the dumplings, asking them if they could just eat the few of them that weren’t completed torched :/​… After a few more minutes of explaining that they would not eat the dumplings (that frankly shouldn’t have made it out of the kitchen), the manager finally took them back to the kitchen.
We received our crab rangoon fairly soon after ordering. They were very well cooked! (yey! ~ five stars for that one…) Shortly after we got our bowls of egg drop soup. They were also great. We asked the server if she could bring us some more crispy wonton chips to complement our soup. She nodded … I assumed that meant we would get some… but no. After waiting and waiting, we finally found someone else to ask and FINALLY got some more wonton chips after our Lo Mein had arrived and most of my party was down to the final few bites of soup.
All in all, this experience was as I described, like watching a train wreck slowly happening. I love the Bo Lings brand and make it a point to go back every time I visit Kansas City but will say that next time I go back, I will drive out of my way to go the the 9055 Metcalf location (or maybe even the Plaza location) and NEVER go back to this location at the Zona Rosa shopping center.
Things to improve on:
— greeting customers well before 15 minutes after they have been seated
— not serving burnt food
— not arguing with customers when they don’t want to eat your burnt food
— training staff and managers how to handle situations where customers have questions or concerns about your food
— training your waiters not to complain to customers about all of their problems
— training your staff to actually follow through on getting things for customers when they say they will go get them.
The pros from this trip:
— Hot, well cooked, fresh crab rangoons
— Bo Lings is great (just not at this location)

This Bo Lings location is poorly managed, with incredibly terrible service, as well as having a lack of quality in their food service. It was once my family’s favorite location, and we would spend $$$$ there each year, as well as recommending it to many friends. I no longer feel that way.
We were celebrating a recent special occasion, were sat at our table and forgotten for 23 minutes. Waiters and waitresses walked past us the whole time and no one would come over. I had to walk to the front and ask about service. I was told they forgot to tell the waiters about our table. Once they did whatever they needed to do on their computer system, a waitress came over. And, that is when the real disaster began. With no oversight, management put a new trainee at our table. She put out appetizer plates, then after waiting another 16 minutes, she brought water and started taking up the plates. We had ordered soup and needed the plates for the wonton crackers and sauce that was brought after the plates were taken away. We had no napkins and no plates or anything for the wontons. At this point, I got up again and discreetly asked to speak with the manager. It was our waitress who was back there and when she did get the manager, I kindly asked her to stay. I explained the different parts of the situation and said I didn’t want the waitress or front desk personnel to feel badly, nor did I want to embarrass my family, but we needed to get some service to salvage our experience there. The manager said she understood and asked me to give my suggestions for how things could be better and help with the training understanding of her employees. We spoke about things like still needing napkins and silverware. The manager brought out napkins and at that moment our soup and entire meal arrived together. We asked for the food to be taken back so we could enjoy our appetizer soup. The manager asked if we wanted it to be kept warm. We said we wanted it rather to be made fresh. She agreed and said she would speak with the chef personally. So, after she left, we then sat there with our soup… and, no spoons. The waitress finally brought some. Still, no one had anything to put the sauce on for the wontons as the plates had been taken. Then, we waited AFTER our soup was done for another 12 minutes for our meal. It came, and we sat there for 4 more minutes for… you guessed it! — forks. And, another 3 minutes for serving spoons. I got up again and asked for those. The waitress brought them …4, then another 2. Then, the serving spoons — 3, then 2. To top off a spectacular dining experience, there is no way the food was made fresh. The Beef Chow Fun was lukewarm with dry noodles; the Pad Thai was warm; the Sesame Chicken was cold; the rice was crispy — so crispy around the edges that some large amounts of the rice were literally impossible to bite. Really. Only the Vegetable Fried Rice and Tofu Family Style was acceptable and as they should be.
For this (un)lovely two hour experience we got to spend near $ 100, spoke with the manager four times and were told sorry with stale almond cookies that were surely processed in some faraway factory three years ago (the oil in them was so rancid even my two dogs wouldn’t eat them.) All this transpired with us being calm, kind, and professional. And, I do appreciate the manager being professional and courteous. I waited 15 more minutes after our party left to speak with her and discuss that paying the full bill was wrong to ask of us for such a disappointing experience. She attempted to speak with the owner, and failing to be able to do so, was only able to give us 20% off our bill… oh, and those hideous almond cookies I mentioned. I appreciated her attempt.
I REALLY don’t like to be negative or leave a poor review. But, this is part of why Unilocal exists. I do want to mention the excellent service of the lady who brought out the food, and the two ladies who cleared the table. They were friendly and competent.
Oh, what is that you ask? What did our fortune cookies say? Hahahaha. Yeah. Those. We didn’t get any.

I wish I could give negative stars for this. The worst most unclean Chinese restaurant would be better. Eating your shoes would be healthier. I wanted to cry because I ignored the Unilocal reviews which was dumb. How is this chain successful? It should be bankrupt. The food was so over seasoned over salted msg’ed. I wanted to send it back and leave or run out of the place screaming. I skipped lunch and should have been able to think it was good based on hunger alone. Egg drop soup was orange pink instead of yellow. The vegetable dumplings were dried out on the outside. I don’t know what kind of lo mein recipe this was, there was limp book Choy, very little water chestnuts shrimp pork and chicken with what seemed like wide over cooked spaghetti noodles. It was over seasoned and gross. Took one bite and was done like the other reviewer. Waste of $.

We were out near Zona Rosa, looking for a place to eat dinner. Our usual favorites were totally full due to the game and race. None of us had been here before but took a leap. Bad call. The place had six other people eating when we went in. Bad sign as the eatery is large. I don’t even feel like wasting my time with this Unilocal so, suffice it to say. it was not a good experience. The hot & sour soup was tepid both in temperature and spice. The dishes all looked alike. Brownish little globs of breaded something or other. We were finishing our drinks and it was a half hour before closing. The staff unceremoniously began sweeping the floor, filling the condiments and banging dishes. So very uncool. They should have just shouted, «get out!» Never again.

After walking thru & experiencing the 2015 Art Fair we thought. …let’s go to Bo Lings for Dinner. We had had two Good dinners there before. Terrible Service, cold & incorrect orders, short staffed, medium level of occupancy, sloppy prepared food …un– edible. Very Sad turn of events …we will never go back. 40.00 bucks for some grease.

This place is disgusting. Nobody in our group was even able to finish their meal. One person only had one bite. Grossed out. We will never return.

This was one of my favorite restaurants and the food is fairly good. They are completely inflexible on menu options though. You cannot get a smaller entrée, fried rice, and an egg roll without separate orders except for lunchtime on a weekday. Since my fiancé likes that variety, we no longer eat here.

Exceptional. The lo mein was the best we’ve ever had. Egg rolls were plump and delicious and the dumplings were superb. Wish we hadn’t gobbled everything so quickly to have gotten a photo. The staff was very helpful and understanding of my son with autism. We will be back.

I like to shop and eat local when I visit KC. I have eaten at this location and the Plaza one. I had their lunch special which comes with an egg drop soup and a crab Rangoon. I told them that I did not want the crab Rangoon. And the waitress asked if I wanted a spring roll instead. That sounded good but she said that would cost extra. No thanks. This is not the first time they tried to up charge me on substitutions. I wish they would be kind enough to substitute items for free. Otherwise, I would give them 5 stars. Service has always been good. The food comes out fresh and quick.

I honestly do not understand the hype over Bo Lings. I’ve been to the Zona location three times now, and each time really hoping it would be better than the last. So far, nothing. Food seems overpriced and nothing different than what you can get at any other Chinese restaurant during their lunch special pricing, but double the price here. Service was mediocre and nothing memorable. Haven’t been back in a very long time.

Today was my 2^nd time going to this restaurant, my first experience was great so I thought I would give it another try. The funny thing is after I went the first time I was impressed and told my stepmom about it. She had apparently already been to the Plaza location and told me EVERY TIME she had been, the food was horrible and service was horrendous. I thought no way, the Plaza location must just be bad because the Zona Boling’s is great!
Well today I found a thick curly black hair in my rice and after showing my server, the management seemed very unconcerned. Working in customer service myself I believe, when one part of the staff messes up the manager should go above and beyond to fix the matter. I guess this is not the belief at Boling’s. The manager did not come apologize nor offer to subtract the meal from our bill. Even though I hadn’t even gotten close to finishing it. They asked me if I wanted more rice… More hairy rice? I think I’ll pass. I’m not so angry with the hair, gross? Yes but I give the benefit of the doubt. My issue is with management not caring enough to mAke it better, which sucks because I was really rooting for this place. Unfortunately I will not be returning to Boling’s for more pubic fried rice.

Bo Lings has suddenly become a Christmas tradition for me while in Kansas City for the holidays. I either eat there on Christmas Eve or the day after Christmas every year. The experience is usually fulfilling. This year, we waited over an hour to be seated and once we were seated, the service was very slow. The food was good, but the experience was negatively impacted by the slow service and unusually long wait. We were told it would be 20 minutes, but it turned out to be an hour. Fingers crossed that next year is more fulfilling

Hate to write this as Bo Ling’s has long been the standard bearer not just for KC Chinese food, but for all of the midwest. But the location at Zona Rosa has gone quickly and sharply down-​hill in the last few months. I don’t know if there was a management change or what, but the service our last two visits has ranged from non-​existent (refills only when requested, no old glassware cleared, no plates!) to actively bad (serving a chicken curry to a life-​long vegetarian.) The food has likewise gone down in quality, but not as noticeably or sharply (mostly due to luke-​warm delivery, so likely just the service.)
Please refresh and retrain your wait staff at Zona Rosa. I love Bo Ling’s, but will be giving the ZR location a long break while they try to figure it out.

Bo Lings is our family’s go-​to Chinese restaurant. We’ve taken Chinese exchange students on several occasions, and they’re more than satisfied, so I’m not going to quibble over authenticity. We’ve been eating at Bo Lings for about twenty years. We’ve eaten at every Bo Lings in Kansas City except, interestingly enough, the Plaza location. I’ll try to correct that oversight since I read that their dim sum is very good. The Zona Rosa location is where we go most often, although I eat solo at the 135^th & Metcalf location since I live south of KC during the week. Even our grandkids, ages 5 – 12, love Bo Lings.
Since I’m the type of eater that moves wildly around a restaurant’s menu over time, I’m not going to gush over any one dish. I’ve eaten most of them at some time. I’ll recommend the eggplant and tomatoes in garlic sauce, tea-​smoked duck, tofu family style and the pad thai with shrimp. I don’t eat the «American Chinese» fare too often — cashew chicken, sweet and sour, beef and broccoli, etc. — but I’m sure it’s very good. We’ll usually order soup, hot and sour or wonton and occasionally the sizzling rice. The Vietnamese spring rolls are excellent, and if I order pot stickers, I have to fight to get one if the grandkids are along.
When we first started going to Bo Lings the 95^th & Quivira location had a back page to the menu that offered «authentic» Hong Kong dishes. I’m sure the lack of demand from the collective KC palate caused Bo Lings to drop those dishes, but I sure wish they’d bring them back.
Bo Lings’ wait staff are veterans. They’re friendly and efficient. One of the long-​time waitresses at Zona Rosa is one of the best in Kansas City, in any type restaurant.
All-​in-​all, for consistently good Chinese food, Bo Lings offers a great combination of quality and price.

Great food! Taken takeout twice now and both times, it’s been awesome…
I ordered the Generals Chicken. It was great! Quality shows in the chicken as it’s not small little pieces of chicken. Perfect balance of sauce and meat and prices are pretty reasonable as well for where they’re located.
This was for takeout only but I’m guessing it’s great even if you dine in as well.

This restaurant is part of like 4 restaurants around Kansas City, it is located close to the airport in the new commercial area named Zona Rosa.
The menu is less «americanize chinese» than PF Chang; I like this restaurant more because of the quality of the ingredients and the preparation of the dishes.
It is a little pricey comparing it to an average chinese restaurant but I think it is worthy because of the reasons I mentioned above.
The service is very friendly and fast.
I wish they would serve DIm Sum as in the other locations but maybe it is because of the difference in customers in the areas.
For take out, they are great… the plastic containers are good quality and the rice comes in those containers without metal so you can put it straight to the microwave.
Every time I go to Kansas, I go to eat here at least two times.