Bonchon Chicken

Hands down the best Korean fried barbecued chicken in the Bay Area! Banchan in San Mateo blew me away — perfectly crispy, juicy chicken with a rich glaze that hits all the right notes. The flavors are bold but balanced, and the sides (especially the pickled radish and kimchi) complement the meal beautifully. Service was fast and friendly, and the place was spotless. I’ve been craving it ever since. Highly recommend for anyone who loves Korean BBQ or just amazing fried chicken.

Earlier this week on Sunday, I was craving some Korean fried Chicken, which I never had before. I did a search on Google and came across Bonchon in San Mateo. The first experience I had, I was not happy with my order because it was not accurate. I ordered an 8 piece, but only received a 4 piece and because it’s through a 3rd party nothing could be done. I decided on Monday I would order this time directly from the restaurant. Everything worked out, and I have to tell you even though my order was not right the first time? This did not take away from the quality of the food. I ordered the drumsticks extra crunch? No sauce, and the first time I ordered with fried rice, both were excellent. The seasoning, it was rich with flavor, and I have absolutely no complaints. The second time on Monday I ordered the same chicken a 4 piece, the corn with the mayonnaise, cheese and red pepper flakes, with a side of steamed rice. Everything was just perfect. I’m not kidding you it’s taking everything in me to control myself from ordering more today, and it’s just Tuesday. It’s just that good! Whoever the chefs are, you can taste the love in their cooking, it’s not just thrown together. There is Love in their food, and know this because my Mom’s food is just the same. Every bite is good. I don’t say these things lightly when it comes to restaurants. There’s not too many that impress me like this. All I can say is keep the love in your food, and don’t change the quality even if you have a million customers, don’t change your food. 5/5 for me, it’s a must try if you love fried chicken or Korean food. I don’t have pictures this time, maybe next time if I can upload I will. The chicken is so crunchy that even when it’s cold it’s still good and crunchy and not soggy. That is when you know food is good, when it gets cold and it’s just as good. Thank you so much for listening.

Ms. V’s Entertainment Reviews

Earlier this week on Sunday, I was craving some Korean fried Chicken, which I never had before. I did a search on Google and came across Bonchon in San Mateo. The first experience I had, I was not happy with my order because it was not accurate. I ordered an 8 piece, but only received a 4 piece and because it’s through a 3rd party nothing could be done. I decided on Monday I would order this time directly from the restaurant. Everything worked out, and I have to tell you even though my order was not right the first time? This did not take away from the quality of the food. I ordered the drumsticks extra crunch? No sauce, and the first time I ordered with fried rice, both were excellent. The seasoning, it was rich with flavor, and I have absolutely no complaints. The second time on Monday I ordered the same chicken a 4 piece, the corn with the mayonnaise, cheese and red pepper flakes, with a side of steamed rice. Everything was just perfect. I’m not kidding you it’s taking everything in me to control myself from ordering more today, and it’s just Tuesday. It’s just that good! Whoever the chefs are, you can taste the love in their cooking, it’s not just thrown together. There is Love in their food, and know this because my Mom’s food is just the same. Every bite is good. I don’t say these things lightly when it comes to restaurants. There’s not too many that impress me like this. All I can say is keep the love in your food, and don’t change the quality even if you have a million customers, don’t change your food. 5/5 for me, it’s a must try if you love fried chicken or Korean food. I don’t have pictures this time, maybe next time if I can upload I will. The chicken is so crunchy that even when it’s cold it’s still good and crunchy and not soggy. That is when you know food is good, when it gets cold and it’s just as good. Thank you so much for listening.

The portion of the food was very small. Bibimbap was cold and had very tiny pieces of scrambled eggs. The food wasn’t bad. It’s just disappointingly under expectations.

Got the half & half. The spicy half was a little too spicy for me. The chicken overall was tasty but some pieces tasted old and stringy. The coating was a bit thick too. It did satisfy my fried chicken craving but it is not even close to the Korean fried chicken I had in Seoul. The people who work there are super friendly though.

Come here to try the chicken. Soju cocktail mango favorites drink is good, first Sip it has strong alcohol taste but the aftertaste is pretty smooth and sweet with the mango favorite. I order a medium combo with 1/2 spicy and half sweet and crunchy. But both taste pretty sweet to me. When I asked I find out they make a mistake so just get a spicy sauce dip on the side. the chicken taste average not sure if I will go back for the chicken but the drink. the service need to be improved.

Good flavors although the chicken was a bit on the dryer side and thinner than expected but did have a good crunchy coating. I liked the soy garlic sauce more than the spicy. I ordered the 10 piece 50/50 ($13.95) and that comes with cole slaw (good and fresh) or pickled radish (no substitutions) which is easily enough for two or a really hungry person. They weren't very hot when served and neither was the steamed rice ($2.25) and they claim it's made to order (up to 30 minutes) but I think mine came out in less than 10. Service was attentive for the most part. Automatic 15% gratuity included for everyone. Draft beers are $5 (Sapporo, Lagunitas IPA, Blue Moon, California Lager) Happy hour $4 drafts (M-F 430-6). There's a couple of TVs.

K Chang

The portion of the food was very small. Bibimbap was cold and had very tiny pieces of scrambled eggs. The food wasn’t bad. It’s just disappointingly under expectations.

Sisi Chen

Got the half & half. The spicy half was a little too spicy for me. The chicken overall was tasty but some pieces tasted old and stringy. The coating was a bit thick too. It did satisfy my fried chicken craving but it is not even close to the Korean fried chicken I had in Seoul. The people who work there are super friendly though.

HAO LIANG

Come here to try the chicken. Soju cocktail mango favorites drink is good, first Sip it has strong alcohol taste but the aftertaste is pretty smooth and sweet with the mango favorite. I order a medium combo with 1/2 spicy and half sweet and crunchy. But both taste pretty sweet to me. When I asked I find out they make a mistake so just get a spicy sauce dip on the side. the chicken taste average not sure if I will go back for the chicken but the drink. the service need to be improved.

Cali Native V

Good flavors although the chicken was a bit on the dryer side and thinner than expected but did have a good crunchy coating. I liked the soy garlic sauce more than the spicy. I ordered the 10 piece 50/50 ($13.95) and that comes with cole slaw (good and fresh) or pickled radish (no substitutions) which is easily enough for two or a really hungry person. They weren't very hot when served and neither was the steamed rice ($2.25) and they claim it's made to order (up to 30 minutes) but I think mine came out in less than 10. Service was attentive for the most part. Automatic 15% gratuity included for everyone. Draft beers are $5 (Sapporo, Lagunitas IPA, Blue Moon, California Lager) Happy hour $4 drafts (M-F 430-6). There's a couple of TVs.

Jinny

Normally Bonchon is great! However, I just ordered Korean Street Corn from Uber Eats and the only thing I got was the corn. It's just corn. There wasn't a good way to provide feedback through Uber, so here it is.

The chicken was fresh and super crispy, but that's about all there was going for it. The sauce was mediocre (and there wasn't much of it on the chicken at that). And the chicken strips were dry. The food is way overpriced considering how forgettable it tasted. Service was okay. They were nice, but I felt rushed at times. It certainly wasn't good enough to warrant an automatic 15% tip (we were a party of 2). No reason to come back. There are tastier options (that offer better value too) in San Mateo.

Got the half and half 50 wings for $65 deal and it came with both wings and drum sticks. The wings were a lot bigger than we expected and breaded/fried very well. In terms of flavour, it was good but nothing really special. There are only two flavours available: soy garlic and spicy. Also ordered the tteokbokki which was okay. Overall, if you want fried chicken for a decent price, this place is a good choice. Note: the 50 for $65 deal does not include radish. Those were ordered on top of the chicken.

I'm updating the review from 5 stars to 3. I normally would give 5 stars to Bonchon as I loved them since the beginning. I'm also glad there is one in San Mateo instead of the Sunnyvale location which is much further. However, I'm taking off 2 stars because the spicy flavor is completely off. It's almost NOT spicy at all. When I get them from Sunnyvale the spicy ones have more red chili specks and tastes much better. There is already a choice for people who doesn't like spicy but for those who choose the spicy flavor, make the wings as spicy as it should have been. I'm also upset that last time I ordered 2 combos where I asked 1 to be half and half and the other to be all spicy, the ones I got are both half and half. The only good thing about this location is that they do prepare food quickly. The picture can show you how the spicy one looks like as you can tell there is barely any sauce on the chicken.

Joanne Ko Zhou

The chicken was fresh and super crispy, but that's about all there was going for it. The sauce was mediocre (and there wasn't much of it on the chicken at that). And the chicken strips were dry. The food is way overpriced considering how forgettable it tasted. Service was okay. They were nice, but I felt rushed at times. It certainly wasn't good enough to warrant an automatic 15% tip (we were a party of 2). No reason to come back. There are tastier options (that offer better value too) in San Mateo.

Tianhui Y

Got the half and half 50 wings for $65 deal and it came with both wings and drum sticks. The wings were a lot bigger than we expected and breaded/fried very well. In terms of flavour, it was good but nothing really special. There are only two flavours available: soy garlic and spicy. Also ordered the tteokbokki which was okay. Overall, if you want fried chicken for a decent price, this place is a good choice. Note: the 50 for $65 deal does not include radish. Those were ordered on top of the chicken.

Ed Yu

I'm updating the review from 5 stars to 3. I normally would give 5 stars to Bonchon as I loved them since the beginning. I'm also glad there is one in San Mateo instead of the Sunnyvale location which is much further. However, I'm taking off 2 stars because the spicy flavor is completely off. It's almost NOT spicy at all. When I get them from Sunnyvale the spicy ones have more red chili specks and tastes much better. There is already a choice for people who doesn't like spicy but for those who choose the spicy flavor, make the wings as spicy as it should have been. I'm also upset that last time I ordered 2 combos where I asked 1 to be half and half and the other to be all spicy, the ones I got are both half and half. The only good thing about this location is that they do prepare food quickly. The picture can show you how the spicy one looks like as you can tell there is barely any sauce on the chicken.

I’m not sure if it’s the inflation but we ordered boneless pieces and we got nuggets. The flavor was good but we felt swindled by the portion size. I don’t remember the pieces being this small at other bonchon places. This came out to $24 with tip.😵

michelle lin

I’m not sure if it’s the inflation but we ordered boneless pieces and we got nuggets. The flavor was good but we felt swindled by the portion size. I don’t remember the pieces being this small at other bonchon places. This came out to $24 with tip.😵

Came in and ordered the mixed drumsticks and wings. Asked for the flavors on the side. Was given a small container of the sauce even though it was a large amount of chicken. Asked the waiter for more sauce and was told no, I even offered to pay for more. Considering the amount of chicken ordered and the sauce provided, his response was unexpected. Very stingy attitude.

I've been going to this chain for over half a decade now and I've slowly seen them slip away in quality, shrinking portion sizes, and jacking up the prices. I paid 33$ for a 20 piece strips in 2022 and its now 55$. I'm not even joking with you that the first time I ordered the strips years ago it was a massive mound of food. Like more than an entire chickens worth of meat. Each strip was like a dinosaur sized slab of meat and fried really well. Then of course they had to reduce the portion sizes which was understandable but still sad. I still liked the flavor and the quality was still decent so I kept coming back. This time i ordered was different. The chicken was pretty poorly fried and tons of uncoated spots on almost every strip. They also stopped using their own branded boxes which were designed to let out extra steam so that if you travel with them at all they don't get a soggy. Now they use the same horrible brown paper boxes that you see at every other place. There was also a horrible black mutation on the inside of one of the strips. Go back to your roots guys, yall are missing the mark. Put some love and care back into this place. I hope you do because I used to be a huge fan.

Mena Azab

Came in and ordered the mixed drumsticks and wings. Asked for the flavors on the side. Was given a small container of the sauce even though it was a large amount of chicken. Asked the waiter for more sauce and was told no, I even offered to pay for more. Considering the amount of chicken ordered and the sauce provided, his response was unexpected. Very stingy attitude.

Felix & Gene

I've been going to this chain for over half a decade now and I've slowly seen them slip away in quality, shrinking portion sizes, and jacking up the prices. I paid 33$ for a 20 piece strips in 2022 and its now 55$. I'm not even joking with you that the first time I ordered the strips years ago it was a massive mound of food. Like more than an entire chickens worth of meat. Each strip was like a dinosaur sized slab of meat and fried really well. Then of course they had to reduce the portion sizes which was understandable but still sad. I still liked the flavor and the quality was still decent so I kept coming back. This time i ordered was different. The chicken was pretty poorly fried and tons of uncoated spots on almost every strip. They also stopped using their own branded boxes which were designed to let out extra steam so that if you travel with them at all they don't get a soggy. Now they use the same horrible brown paper boxes that you see at every other place. There was also a horrible black mutation on the inside of one of the strips. Go back to your roots guys, yall are missing the mark. Put some love and care back into this place. I hope you do because I used to be a huge fan.

This wasn't even close to normal Bon Chon Double fried chicken. We go the chicken strips, it didn't have any breading on it, naked chicken with Korean BBQ sauce, really disappointing. I have been to other Bon Chon and they all double fried thier chicken stripe. They didn't even get our order right. We didn't get our French fries. Terrible representation of Bon Chon. I will never eat at this one ever again.

Bill White

This wasn't even close to normal Bon Chon Double fried chicken. We go the chicken strips, it didn't have any breading on it, naked chicken with Korean BBQ sauce, really disappointing. I have been to other Bon Chon and they all double fried thier chicken stripe. They didn't even get our order right. We didn't get our French fries. Terrible representation of Bon Chon. I will never eat at this one ever again.

Food was tasty and affordable. However a particular worker made the entire experience appealing and distasteful. Me and my friends came yesterday and were politely helped by a totally different worker. She let us know that we could take a seat anywhere and we paid after we finished eating. Today, a different worker took a look at my friends and asked us to order and pay first before getting our food even though we’re eating there. That wasn’t even the worse part. When we had finished eating, I went to use the restroom with my little brother bc he needed to wash his hands while I used the toilet. All of a sudden I hear someone knocking on the door vigorously and had forcefully opened the door while I was mid peeing. That made me feel so uncomfortable and livid. This behavior was Completely inappropriate and unprofessional. My friend who had been waiting outside, said she had used a fork to open the door despite it being locked. Glad to say that I will never visit this location again.

I usually don’t give bad reviews but I was so disappointed by the food here. I paid $20 for house fried rice and waited 20 min for my food. Which is completely fine. But when I got home to open my meal there was barely any food in the box. It was more than half empty! I would never go back here again.

Harshith Mohan Kumar

I usually don’t give bad reviews but I was so disappointed by the food here. I paid $20 for house fried rice and waited 20 min for my food. Which is completely fine. But when I got home to open my meal there was barely any food in the box. It was more than half empty! I would never go back here again.

Kristen Reeder

Food was tasty and affordable. However a particular worker made the entire experience appealing and distasteful. Me and my friends came yesterday and were politely helped by a totally different worker. She let us know that we could take a seat anywhere and we paid after we finished eating. Today, a different worker took a look at my friends and asked us to order and pay first before getting our food even though we’re eating there. That wasn’t even the worse part. When we had finished eating, I went to use the restroom with my little brother bc he needed to wash his hands while I used the toilet. All of a sudden I hear someone knocking on the door vigorously and had forcefully opened the door while I was mid peeing. That made me feel so uncomfortable and livid. This behavior was Completely inappropriate and unprofessional. My friend who had been waiting outside, said she had used a fork to open the door despite it being locked. Glad to say that I will never visit this location again.