Il Mee Buffet Restaurant

Came back for their late night BBQ deal -$ 13.95, 10pm~2am-, and the verdict? Not coming back.
Firstly, some background info: they stop replenishing the regular dinner buffet items sometime before the end of service, while taking some out –last night, a few items were missing, e.g., pumpkin soup, even compared to the already limited selections from the previous visit. Sure, it’s called late night «BBQ» for a reason, but I’d like to find at least of a couple of things at the buffet that I can enjoy.
Several things that ruined the experience:
— Dry rice. It looked and tasted stale and dry, and if it was served anywhere else, I’d return it.
— Tough lettuce. If you’re somewhat familiar with a typical korean BBQ dining experience, you know they have a thing called «ssam» where they use lettuce leaves to make wraps, much like Korean tacos and fresh spring rolls. Well, that’s half the fun for me with korean BBQ and that’s also what I looked forward to here last night, but their lettuce was tough and dry. Needless to say, dry lettuce and dry rice made for an awful foundation for wraps.
— No kimchi. Enough said.
— Pork belly. It could have been the particular cut they had in stock, but it was tough and dry, and it shouldn’t be.
Their beef bulgogi and brisket were tops. I recommend both, and they both seemed popular with other customers last night.
I had a better experience the previous time, but then, there must have been a reason it took me almost 7 months to come back here. I wish them success, but I am not going back. I’d rather pay a few extra dollars for a satisfying dinner elsewhere.

Excellent price after 10pm, korean buffet only for $ 13 all you can eat including korean meat (bulgogi, ribeye, pork belly etc) where they cook them on your table. Some of the food are stale and cold, since it’s late night but i think it’s still worth it to go especially if you’re hungry for a buffet. They’re shrimp is really good too and their sushi!

tldr: Don’t bring people here for a fancy meal but the late night (after 10PM) is good for the price.
I wouldn’t come here for a great meal– their quality is just OK. I have been here a few times for lunch and dinner (and usually on the weekends), but all those times were a while ago when the quality was better. I’d equate their cooked food to that of a Chinese buffet. Is it bad? No. Is it worth the price they’re asking? Well, it depends. Their lunch prices are pretty good (especially during weekdays), but dinner just seems over priced. The sushi on the dinner buffet (supposedly what justifies the price difference) is just alright– there’s variety, but I always feel like they don’t have exactly what I want or they run out of the good stuff.
The unique and, in my opinion, the best part of the restaurant is the moderately-​priced, late-​night, meat special. While it used to be setup in a better fashion, self-​serve raw meat, the order-​and-​they-​bring-​it-​to-​you method isn’t bad. I find that I keep coming back for the late night meal special. I wish they’d drop the price back down a dollar, but at $ 13.95, it’s not bad.
A note on the service: You’ll have pretty good service during lunch, great service during dinner, and relatively little service during the late night special. Just be aware that the service really does vary depending on the time (read: price) of the meal. Ex: during the late night, you’ll essentially have to cook your own meat.

My date and I came here on a weeknight and we immediately got a table. Although the workers here aren’t fluent in English, they are very nice and it is still very easy to communicate with them. The service here is very good. I would recommend people to come here and I would be coming back for sure
Their buffet portion of the food has a sushi bar, salad bar and a bbq selection. This place also has really good all you can eat Korean BBQ. This place is very fairly priced and is great for large groups as well.
However, this place removes the buffet part of the restaurant around 10:30pm so make sure you come before!

I am really not a fan of buffet restaurants so I’m extremely biased with this review. However, I give Il Mee 4 stars because the staff is really easy to communicate with and it’s very easy to make reservations for large groups.
I’m talking a group of 40 people.
They were really accommodating, and even took several forms of payment for the large check and I greatly appreciate that. I would recommend this place highly for anyone looking to eat KBBQ with a lot of people.

The waitress is too impatient and very rude. She dropped off the check and wouldn’t leave our table when we weren’t done eating. It was only 9pm. When we asked if they were closing she said they open until 2am, but she continued to stand right next to our table, staring at us. Goshhh… the service was sucky. On top of that, she asked to be tipped higher than 15 percent AND she counted the money right in front of us!!! HOW RUDE!!! WORST DINNER EVER!!!

The quality has definitely gone way down over the years. It’s one of the cheaper late night offerings, but not worth it leaving unsatisfied. Meat quality isn’t the greatest, and the rice is usually dry.
They leave out the dinner leftovers for late night, but why bother because it’s usually picked at and the stuff that’s old. Service can be spotty. One time, the service was horrendous, food was burnt by the server but still served to our table, and the woman tried to harass us for a 20% tip minimum. If you want a good tip, provide good service.

This used to be my favorite kbbq place, but through the years I’ve found that it’s no longer worth going to.
If you come here for their late-​night BBQ, they leave the dinner buffet food out for a few hours for you to pick at, even though its dried up and lukewarm by the time you might get to it. The quality of meat is no longer as good as it used to be and the service has gotten progressively worse. We had gotten the pork belly and our waitress cooked it at a separate table for us and forgot it so it burned and she gave it to us anyway. We were also grilled for not tipping enough too, even though it was just the right amount for standard, regardless of the service.
I don’t think I’ll come back here again unless I’m drunk and looking for a quick fix. The last few times, the ice cream machine was a good saving grace for a bad meal, but now they hardly refill it and it’s icy and gross.

One of the worse restaurant (Korean/​buffet) I’ve ever been to… Terrible service, extremely rude. The meat is to fatty, not suppose to be that.
Terrible Service:
–They’re not even sure what drink to serve, their respond was «No more»… I was like «so what do you have», the women just left to check what drink she has in stock
–Requested for a bottle of wine, they hand us a wine thats already open/​leftover… we end up getting a beer instead
–Refuse to accept our order, they think we can’t finish it, there ten of us here… we know we can finish it
–Hand us a check while we were eating and told us the cash register is about to close, «Please pay now».
The restaurant was extremely busy, there was a party going on.

I usually don’t go down to Virginia, but my family had a doctors appointment so we decided to stop by Il Mee.
Il Mee is a buffet with sushi, some Korean food, and unlimited meat. Only for $ 20 too! Pretty good deal in my opinion.
However, the quality isn’t quite great. for sushi side of the buffet, you can’t find a single shrimp or eel. it’s all crab (imitation) and some salmon and tuna. even the tuna I had were way too crunchy and I wasn’t able to eat it so I ended up throwing it away.
Korean side of the buffet is pretty good. I recommend the fish. the unlimited meat however, didn’t taste like the normal ones I get at any other Korean restaurant. Disappointed!
Service is pretty decent. They also ask for 15% tip.
Would not return.

I used to love this place. The buffet had a meat bar where you could portion control your meat. They have now replaced the meat bar with stuff to make wraps. You are now forced to pick what meats you want by ordering a small, medium or large portion. There is nothing explaining how much each portion consists of. You also can’t order kalbi for lunch, only dinner. That sucks because I only really eat bulgogi and kalbi. The waitress is not helpful because her English is heavily accented and she speaks quickly and quietly. I had to have her repeat herself three times. Finally I got enough of what she was trying to say so that I could explain it to my husband whenever he returned.
I decide on a large bulgogi. a medium pork belly and brisket, and a small spicy chicken for the man. This totaled a plate of food when everything.
I got sushi from the bar. In the past, nothing has been wrong with it and it’s been quite tasty. Today’s as downright inedible.
There is still a copious amount of meat left when we’re done. I asked for a to go box because I didn’t want to waste food and I’d literally gotten out of the hospital an hour earlier and was still suffering from the effects of anesthesia so needed to get home. She puts the meat in the box and then walks off with the meat. She comes back with the meat and the check — $ 14/​pp for the buffet and then $ 7 extra for the meat we didn’t eat.
Both my husband and I think this is horrible policy. You’re already paying for meat when you tell them you want the buffet. Lastly, if they advertised the sizes then we wouldn’t «waste» the meat. It’s double billing and it’s not right.
We will never return.

I remember when they first opened. Tasty food, fresh food, great service… Not so much anymore. The food at the buffet is always drying up the past couple of times i’ve been here lately. Not my choice – brother loves Korean bbq buffet. The servers who cut up the meat at the table can get pretty bitchy if you touch the heat. I like my meat crispy and well done and they don’t like it if I turn the heat back on after they’ve turned it off when I’m not at the table.
Sushi not so fresh – sits there for a while and they will not make more unless is gone. The meat is pretty tasty, if only I can get it cooked to my liking without someone giving me the evil eye with scissors in hand.

Good food. Excellent service. Great price. Small selection but that’s ok. Meat and chicken were cooked at the table.

I will be honest. About 8 months ago to a year this place was the best. Loved going there, but its gone down hill. I went there around 09÷01÷15 and it was horrible, food was ok, at least the food they brought out and cooked in front of us. The stuff on the buffett was old.
My main concern. The cleanliness of the place was absolutely horrific. Dont know if it’s management or what. There were gnats flying everywhere, landing on the food on my plate. I used the restroom which was not clean, when I went to grab for a paper towel not in the holder where it should be, just sitting on the counter, literally 20 gnats flew off of the paper towel roll for whatever reason they were all on it.
Just a very bad experience the last time I went. Probably will not go again unless i hear its changed.
If anyone goes there and it has changed please review and tell us about it.

I went there with a group of 12 people for buffet. The food wasn’t fresh and tasted weird, files and roaches were everywhere, and the whole place was not clean. Sometimes good service can overcome bad food, but this was not the case here.
Another family member wanted to stop by and say «hi» to us and leave. But then he changed his mind and decided to stay and and eat with us. As soon as he started eating, our server said, «I saw you eating, you said 12 people, not 13». At this point, we just started eating and they could have just added another person on our bill and didn’t have to make it sound like we were trying to cheat?! We then nicely let the manager know that our server’s manners could’ve been better when we were checking out. In response, the manager did not make any remarks about our complaint or the server, but proceeded with the charge with an attitude. I regret that we left 30% tip after all these, because we just didn’t want to be a bunch of a**holes.
Anyway, this unique (?) experience made me leave a comment. Hope this helped!

Came to Il Mee at 10pm with a group of friends for their every day late night special ($ 13.95). Probably the only time to come here for all you can eat korean bbq because otherwise, the normal prices would be too expensive in my opinion.
During the late night special, the menu is restricted to items #1 through #7 which includes mild & spicy chicken, pork belly, brisket, bulgogi, and mild & spicy pork, and excludes their seafood selection. Ordering works through a card system where you write S, M, or L next to the offerings and they will bring out the plates, and order cards are unlimited.
The meat all-​you-​can-​order/​all-​you-​can-​eat part of Il Mee is probably the only part of that is worth it because the rest of the buffet is pretty sub-​par. All the buffet food looks like it’s been left out for a while and is all typical, mediocre buffet food that would be offered at any conventional Asian buffet place. That said, $ 13.95 is a pretty awesome price for all-​you-​can-​eat korean bbq. The meats are decently seasoned and it’s a good place to go with a group of friends for late night bbq. From what I’ve seen, Il Mee is not nearly as crowded during late night bbq as other korean bbq places in Annandale and you can’t beat the price.
TL;DR pro tip: Go during late night (10pm) for $ 13.95 special and stick to the white rice and lettuce with your meat!

I never go to Il Mee when the sun is out, so *this review is just for the late night buffet*
First of all, $ 13.95 a person for all-​you-​can-​eat Korean BBQ is awesome. Don’t be coming here just for the buffet though, because you will probably (most likely) be disappointed. Tip: They don’t restock the normal buffet food after 10PM, so if you don’t come early, there won’t be much food left. However, they do restock the sides like kimchi, pickled veggies, and lettuce, so no worries there!
I usually get the bulgogi, pork belly, brisket, and spicy pork! The spicy pork is definitely my favorite. And although I like the brisket, sometimes the cut of it can be too thick. The meat is okay, but I don’t think I would pay full price for it.
As for the service, I’ve never really had a problem with it here. Based on my past experiences, the waiters usually TRY to make their rounds and cook the food for you. It’s not a good idea for you to expect them to cook everything though — they’re pretty inconsistent.
I’m torn between 3 or 4 stars, but I’ll have to round down because I have a slight issue with the establishment’s sanitation (dishes sometimes are still dirty and the bathroom is gross).
Overall, It’s not the best Korean BBQ I’ve had, but it’s certainly good for its price.

I really like eating here especially when I am hungry because it truly is unlimited.
Pros:
1.) super cheap
2.) I don’t ever feel like I can’t order more meat, the waitresses don’t ever make me feel weird about ordering a ton of meat.
3.) you can just sit and they bring the meat to you.
4.) they serve an assembly of other dishes.
5.) they serve sauces and sides to make lettuce wraps for your Korean BBQ.
Cons:
1.) there are flies that sit on the food, it sometimes makes me lose my appetite.
2.) if you don’t finish your food they make you pay for it! (I think that’s a little bit odd for a buffet. However, it makes sense because I have witnessed people leaving a lot of food at other buffets. It’s a means for the restaurant to ensure they decrease left leftovers ending up in the trash.) I’m not quite positive how much they charge because I always eat everything on my plate.

Il Mee is a solid option for Korean BBQ in terms of price, space, and quantity. They offer a buffet for lunch and dinner. It includes all you can eat from the sushi bar and hot bar and your pick of meats from their menu. They offer more meat options for dinner and the price goes up slightly, but it’s worth it. We went for lunch on the weekend and it was $ 14.95 per person. Very affordable considering the amount of food we got.
I like sushi so I had to try some and they have a variety of options. The sushi didn’t blow me away but it was still good. For the meat, my favorites were the bulgogi, pork belly, and chicken. They bring you as much as you want, but they do charge for leftovers so plan accordingly. AKA don’t let your eyes get bigger than your stomach.
Service isn’t bad for a Korean BBQ place. It’s gets busy so the fact they take reservations is a plus!

We came here on whim and a craving and with a friend who loves the AYCE meat option! Pricing from Sun-​Thurs dinner was a bargain at $ 18.99.
I love their new format of ordering the raw meat via order form. Appears to be a lot more fresh. We had all the beef dishes and the yummy pork belly. Staff was very attentive and we enjoyed several platefuls of meat! Meat was tasty and I enjoyed it without all the marinade.
The buffet had a good selection of food but some items were not labeled so it was hard to make a selection. This was also the case with the sushi area. Since I only eat the vegetarian sushi, it was easy for me to select but hubby and friend had difficulties with their selections.
Overall, we had a nice dining experience and thus wanted to update my review.