Yes :-) Leio's review (Jun 1st 2007)

I recently went to Hu-Hot for the first time and I have to say that this restaurant provides a unique dining experience. It is not unique in the atmosphere or ambiance, those are quite bland but not bad (it is a chain). What separates Hu-Hot is in the food preparation. For those of you who haven’t been, Hu-Hot is a buffet style Mongolian Restaurant. I know, the word “buffet” does not conjure up good feelings amongst foodies who have experienced a granny’s or golden corral. But Hu-Hot is the most unique buffet I’ve been to. For a fixed price you buy a meal, I paid 11$ for dinner. The buffet consists of a large variety of uncooked noodles, meats, veggies, and sauces, from which you load up as much stuff as you want into a bowl. After you’ve got your food ready, you give the bowl to a grill worker and they throw it on and cook it all up for you. The best part is, if you don’t like the meal you really have no one to blame but yourself and you can of course just go back and make something else.

Yes :-) Janessa's review (Jan 24th 2008)

Hu Hot is so tasty we have driven all the way out from the north side in snowy conditions twice just to eat there! Having previously dined at Mongolian Grill at Division and Francis, I was very impressed with the selection, service, and sauces at Hu Hot. The peanut sauce is their customer favorite for a reason, and I was excited to find pad thai noodles as an option. Last time they even had mahi mahi! Sunday nights seem to be the best time to go. The first time I had shrimp wontons, but there is just too much food on the buffet to warrant an appetizer—especially a $7 one. The desserts looked really good but were too expensive to bother with, since we were already bursting at the seams.

I realize it’s a buffet, but I wish they had a $-per-pound option to take home leftovers/takeout like most buffets do.

Yes :-) Ashley's review (May 7th 2008)

Hu Hot is a great place to eat! Excellent food and variety. Everytime I’ve ever eaten there the service has been terrible but I keep going back for the food!

No :-( barman's review (Jul 16th 2008)

Unique? No. Unusual? No. Unfortunate? Yes.

Mongolian Barbecue is the taco truck of Asian food, U-pick, U-like, no big deal. Hard to be excellent, hard to screw up.

How do you screw up? Hire doofuses who can’t serve anybody even at the level you expect from a Mongolian Barbecue. Use old or crummy ingredients. Have your sauce area look like coyotes went through a week ago. Have dirty dishes, and dirty tables. Oh, and if that doesn’t work, make sure everything is flavor free and expensive.

This is how to render Mongolian barbecue unprofitable.

Snazzy exterior that will need to be redone and well lighted parking. Park here, your car will be safe. Go to Pinocchios or Odohertys or Joes across the street for a meal. Hell, get some microwave popcorn at Blockbuster first. Somebody will open up something worth eating here soon.

barman