Bonchon in San Leandro

Years ago when Bonchon arrived in the Bay Area I had the chance to try their chicken at the South San Francisco location. However, I was not impressed but I may want to give the chicken a second chance.This time in San Leandro I ordered the Bibimbap, and what a mistake. I suggest to customers to never try anything that a restaurant is not known for other than their specialty. So if you come here don’t try their bibimbap, tacos, wraps, japjae, etc.On their menu it is not listed whether you are getting the hot stone bowl or the cold bibimbap. This is a big deal for me because I don’t like the hot stone. It literally stays fire hot beyond the time that you stay there. Plus the waiters do not warn you and there’s no protection between you and the hot pot. You easily can burn yourself. So do not order it if you are with little kids.Now for the food. The bibimbap I got was very Americanized. They used few and very cheap ingredients in it. You don’t even get any banchan (side dishes). For the meat I requested chicken but they don’t serve you dakgui. Instead I got some dry, tough chicken breast meat. Flavor wise it was not good either. The chef placed the little container of sauce on top of the boiling meat which allowed the plastic container to melt on top of the food. I don’t know why this was considered safe.And the thing that I consider the worst was the use of American rice instead of Asian rice. Yup, they definitely used long grain rice. Anyway, not coming back for this item again.The best part this visit was the service. The boys were attentive.If you use the hand dryer in the bathroom, be ready for a deafening experience.

Great food and service! We arrived after 6 pm on a Thursday afternoon and got a table immediately. The server was attentive and gave suggestions on the menu. He also asked us what we thought of the limited time flavor we ordered, which was nice. We got half wings half drums and split the flavors. The spicy one is our favorite! The crisp on the skin is delicious and the meat is so juicy! The bulgogi tacos were good too.We recommend dining in if you want to get the best chicken experience. We usually order to go and the skin is less crispy when eating at home.

I have never been in the restaurant I’ve always order delivery but the food is so good. I always order the fried chicken half soy garlic and half spicy with a side of rice and of course I gotta have a side of pickle radish. The chicken is cooked to perfection Krispy from the outside and lots of flavor on the coating sauce.

Wings/Drumsticks are now party sizes, but the price hasnt changed. So disappointing.Foods yummy. People nice.

A lot of food for the price and the fried chicken here is really good. The fries are solid too. Usually not too busy midweek. Decent beer and soju selection

This has got to be the saddest order of wings. The wing was literally the size of my thumb. It was fried too many times, so it was dry, every single piece, which gave off a bitter taste. Although the sauce was alright. The bitterness of the burnt part overpowered the sauce. And speaking of sauce, each wing was lightly coated with it. Overall, this order was definitely not worth the money they are asking. I rememberd these wings used to be twice as big than the ones i got today and generously coated with their sauce. I think i should stick to a real korean spot from now on. 👎👎

Came here to have a snack and try their Korean chicken. Food was very tasty and the place is very clean. The servers r very friendly and take immediate action if there is something wrong. The only complaint I have is that the radish was a bit bland and overly sweet. They have numerous locations all over the US and world. Maybe Korean fried chicken domination will happen sooner than we expect;0 Next time I am in the area, I would definitely want to try other food from the menu.

The flavors were good. I got 3 flavors. I wish they didnt mess up my regular fries for garlic fries then I feel like they just refried them when I returned them because my new fries still had garlic. Price are on the expensive side but food is good. Wish they woulda have cooked me food a little longer. Wil be back.

Double fried chicken is one of lifes pleasures! :) Bonchons KFC is crispy and moist, not heavily breaded and dry as a lot of fried chicken Ive tried lately. And if you like spicy, the spicy is truly spicy, not overly so though, so dont be discouraged. I like to have both the spicy and soy garlic combination, so we can get the best of both worlds.Weve tried other food here as well, the seasoned fries (get it), the Japchae (meh), and the tacos (just okay). I would stick with the fries and the KFC. The kimchi side is very small for the price so I wouldnt order it again. A Medium portion is good for two people if you want to take some leftovers home.Ive also pre-ordered here for a party and they had it ready for pick up at the appointed time. Parking in this lot can get tricky when during peak time but theres plenty of street parking on Hays St. We will definitely be back here.

This is the worst Bonchon ever. I ordered fried rice without meat and they gave me plain rice. I asked for the veggies as the menu stated and all they add was onions and 2 small pieces of bell peppers - literally 2 pieces. To top it off, It had no flavor other than the onions. Dont offer vegetables if youre only adding onions. Just say onions. Oh, and there were no eggs.The chicken here is smaller sized than any other Bonchon. The wings on the menu are just small party wings and the drumsticks are small too. One piece barely had any meat. The chicken was dry and over cooked and there was no the sauce on it. We had to ask to get more sauce added on.I heard customers coming in to pick up orders and they all had complaints so it was not only me.Ill drive to Newark next time where they are much more consistent and not cheap on their offerings. Or Vons if I cant drive there.