For a special night-out dinner, we could not have picked a better place. Not knowing what would be more upscale than where we normally go but not too much more expensive, a good friend of mine suggested that we try Flat Top. I'm glad I took her advice. The service was good and attentive to our needs. The actual build your own stir fry was wonderful and the staff was more than happy to give us suggestions and let us sample the sauces beforehand! I loved their variety on the meats you could choose, and I picked the squid (yum!). I suggest adding cheese if you're not lactose intolerant because it made my dish very tasty! Â You can also get a flatbread that they make for you for free, and it is sooooooo good! There's an option to get unlimited bowls if you want to try a variety of options in small portions. However, the one bowl option is enough to feed me two times!
Review Source:Really good. Such a selection of Asian and Indian foods. Vegan & vegetarian friendly. I think the atmosphere is real laid back and the decor fits the vibe. I think it's really cool that you can create your own bowl with whatever veggies or vegetable/soy protein you want. Try the barbecue tempeh. It's pretty good.
Review Source:I love the naan/roti bread that you can get w/ your entree...
My favorite sauce is the curry & vindaloo sauce!
Fish looked a little sketchy when I was there.....
All the vegetables seemed fresh...
i LOVE the sauce variety.....
Price is great....would definitely come back!
They also offer a student discount...$1off
A regular haunt for lunch. Â I'm usually always happy with my creation. Â Once I made it waaay too spicy and they let me have a 'do over'. Â :-)
LOVE the roti - I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack! Â
I've heard the breakfast at this location is really good (Sat and Sun) but have only been to one up in Chicago for breakfast and enjoyed it a lot.
I recommend lunch vs. dinner because of the price difference.
once you figure out the sauce combination you like, you're golden. i stick with the teriyaki, a ladle of the FTG sauce, and a dash of red hot chili sauce for a little kick.
i get a bit unnerved when ingredients that i didn't put in my bowl make their way into my stir fry. i need to remember to have them cook it in a separate wok.
but this is a great lunch place. it makes me miss all the mongolian bbqs you'll find out west. FTG is perfect if you love stir fry.
I had no clue about this restaurants angle.. I thought it was a burger joint - it isn't.
Here, you take ingredients and create your own stir-fry bowl.
There are many ingredients to choose from - whether you're a meat lover, vegetarian, asian food lover, or just like tasty food.
Explore your creative side, grab a bunch of ingredients and sauces, and they will cook it for you.
Mine came out very good!
I HIGHLY recommend this location for lunch!! Â Best lunch I had - ever - in Bloomington... of course - I MADE IT!
ENJOY!!
Flat Top... sadly, in this town it's one of the better options for Asian food of all types. Not that chain restaurants can't be good, but you get my point.
Anyways, if you get a bad meal here it's pretty much 100% your fault because you choose every single ingredient that goes into your order. Your starchy base, be it rice or noodles, your veggies, your sauces, meats, extras... all are completely customizable and you load everything into the bowl yourself. As long as you know what you like, chances are you'll enjoy the flavors of Flat Top.
Service is usually pretty good, though they can sometimes be a little long between visits to your table when the place gets busy, which it does quite often. Another downside is that sometimes you can be seated a little too close to other patrons. Like, uncomfortably close.
All in all, it's a make-your-own stir fry place that executes the model very well and has a good array of flavors and diet/allergy options available. The seating arrangement could be improved a little, but that might not bother you as much as it bothers me.
All my allergy-free friends, rejoice!!
I just experienced Flat Top Grill for the first time, and was VERY happy with their commitment to allergy-free food. I had heard they catered to allergy-free diners, but I was blown away by not only their dedicated allergen-free grill, but by their color-coding system of which items contain which allergens. They outline sugar, onion, wheat, and more allergies. Such a comprehensive list! You are always running the risk of cross-contamination between misused salad tongs and all of the items lined up on the salad bar (this is a mongolian-style grill where you pick and choose which items you want by placing them in a bowl and handing it to the grill chef), but if you're a little daring, this is an excellent restaurant choice. Being gluten-free, the only trouble I had was not having a great selection of sauces to choose from. I desperately wanted to try the curry sauce (big curry fan here!!), but it was listed as containing an allergen, so I didn't get to try it. So Flat Top Grill - great job! But please work on more sauces for the gluten-free folk, ok??
On a customer service note, I was a little disappointed by a few things: 1. Nowhere did I see a price list for dining, so we walked into this buffet-style diner with no clue how much we were going to spend. Not cool! 2. Every grill I have been to like Flat Top has been all-you-can-eat style, but we were surprised to find a $2 charge on the bill because I got up to get a second bowl (my first was an awful tasting experiment and was only about 1 cup worth of food). It would have been nice for that to be listed somewhere... or maybe the waitress could have shared that fact. 3. The waitress asked if we had been there before, I said no, and then she stumbled and asked us for our drink order. Never did she ever explain the rules/how to go through the bar line or how to place your grill order. 4. While the staff was very attentive to my allergy needs, the hostess did not seem to know much about the allergy menu, other than what was already listed. Please know your stuff. Allergy-free diners NEED to know these things! And you are catering to this crowd... so get on it!
Food was great. Â It was fun picking our own veggies, meats, and sauces. Â Waitress was really good about explaining how it works. Â There are suggestions at the table for mixes of sauces which was helpful for newbies. Â It was really entertaining watching the local experts pile their dishes incredibly high with veggies and meat. Â If I tried, I'm sure that it would have ended up on the floor. Â Which leads me to...
Good thing it was delicious because the food bar area was bordering on disgusting. Â There was food smashed on the floor in a couple of places around the area where you select your stir fry ingredients. Â Several of the containers were empty and many others were really mixed with the ingredients next to it. The sauce area had one slopped into the other all over. Â I understand that it is tough to keep it neat, but I didn't see any workers in the area to clean the floor messes, refill, or try to keep it reasonably clean and tidy. Â Most chinese buffets can keep up reasonaby well, why can't they? Â The grill was so full that I'm not sure how they could tell the start of one person's dish from the other. Â We ended up with ingredients that weren't ours, not just a single stray.
Yes, I would go back. Â But, I would request a separate wok (can request as an 'alergy-free' options) and I would try to go when it is less crowded. Â Food is good, but cleanliness was almost a show stopper for Flat Top for our family.
I miss this place! Compared to other make your own stir fry places, their sauces are very tasty and I like their selection quite a bit.
I used to go and get a student discount, so the price didn't bother me as much as some other reviewers. I always paid the extra  for the unlimited bowl since I like to try lots of different things when I go.  There's different rices, noodles, meats, veggies, and sauces, so you can have several small bowls of different combinations.
The food is usually cooked pretty fast, and the staff is usually very nice and helpful. It's also a great place for picky eaters- there's almost always something for them to eat, and if they don't like it, they can't blame anyone but themselves!
I just can't bring myself to give 5 stars to a place where I make  my own meal though!
It's hard to rate this restaurant without feeling like you're judging yourself as much as the establishment. You start off with choosing rice and/or noodles. Next, you go down the veggie line (including fake meat, which is actually pretty good). Then you have about 15 sauces to choose from and, finally, you choose from beef, chicken, pork, calamari, etc. At the last station, you can choose to add egg, peanuts, wasabi and other sauces. Finally, you decide whether you want your bowl to be transformed into a simple stir-fry, soup, lettuce wraps, or mu-shu.
I can hear you thinking, this sounds like a disaster for someone with food allergies. That could be true, but they try to handle it as best they can. The server will ask ahead of time if anyone has any food allergies. I'm not sure what they do if you answer with the affirmative but I did notice that you can put a stick in your bowl that indicates you have food allergies and they'll cook your food apart from everyone else's. It's a bit pricey and they get you on the small stuff. Pop is about $2.50.
Overall, it's good food - especially if you know what you're doing. If you don't, you can follow some proven-good recipes and some good sauce combos. If it were possible, this would definitely get a 3+ for stars.
$11 for a "make your own stir-fry?" Â If I'm paying $11 for a single bowl of food, it better be some of the best made anything ever made.
Here's my issue: everything I EVER make at this place, even with their suggestions and guidance, tastes bland and flavorless. Â I also hate the concept that ALL of the food is out for anyone to mess it. Â It's gross. Â I hate it.
So, then I order a drink. Â And, what's this? Â $3.50 for a Miller Lite? Â Ok, that's fine. Â A little over priced, but... ok. Â Whatever.
The flat-bread? Â ALWAYS doughy and gross. Â ALWAYS. Â It's baked on the same grill as all the food and made to order.
Recently I've found myself drinking before going, so as to not spend more than I need to to eat and drink. Â And when I get there I just try to make the hottest food I possibly can. Â "Look out, sir, that's spicy," people will say. Â And I reply "I'm paying $11 for a single bowl of food, I'm doing whatever I want." Â Then it ain't that hot.
But, I must keep going, my girlfriend LOVES this place. Â I don't. Â If you like it, that's great. Â But, it's nothing spectacular and I feel it should cost more like... $5.
went there for Sunday brunch . i must say the brunch hours are short. they start lunch at noon, cmon its weekend, extend the brunch hours.
I like the concept of selecting ingredients and eating what i like so this place was perfect. I showed lot of creativity in making my omelet and pan cake, both turned out great and yes the credit goes to me for picking the right ingredients :) the roti paratha adds a great touch to the food. They have wide variety of ingredients and your creativity and ability to order has no limits, so experiment well ;) They also have muffin and fruit counter making it a complete breakfast.
Since everyone custom orders the b.fast, so server really doesn't have a clue about the order. The service was slow but than i don't want anyone distraction when i am hungry and am short on time, hahahha
I have been to Flat Top a couple dozen times...when it first opened, it was great- super fresh food...decent service. Â I was willing to wait for a table. Â
After a performance at the BCPA, we went, as they advertised in the playbill that they are open late and to bring your ticket stub in for a discount.
Granted, it was late, but service was wicked terrible. Â I mean side work is essential and everyone wants to get out at a decent time...but a customer is still a customer.
Ok, so I go back on another night, nearly 7pm. Â Food was UNDERCOOKED. Â I mean really undercooked. Â I don't mind the bits of other people's food in mine...that is what you risk eating at a place with a grill such as this...but undercooked meat doesn't cut it for me, ever. Â And, the staff seemed sort of dingy...no one really knew what was going on. Â I hope they can bring it back...I have gotten 2 free meals via email and their newsletter...didn't redeem either. Â Sorry Flat Top...you've got to do better,
This is the restaurant I ate at the most when I lived in Chicago and the restaurant I miss the most which is saying a lot given the great restaurants in Chicago, so I was ecstatic to find one in Bloomington where I have been working for several months during the week. This location doesn't have the same cozy neighborhood atmosphere and as the Chicago locations, but the concept is still unique and the food excellent every time. Be sure to try the Roti Prata bread (blue stick).
Review Source:I like making my own stuff.
I like to leave my own house and make my own stuff.
Apparently I like to leave my city to make my own stuff.
Same concept as other Flat Top restaurants but this location has top notch customer service above what I have experienced in the Chicago area locations.
I've never left disappointed... just stuffed! Don't let the small bowl sizes deceive you - it is VERY easy to order too much food, especially when it is delivered to your table. Flash your student ID and you save $2. This is a much larger restaurant than the one nearest me in Oak Park, but it still manages to be pretty clean.
Review Source:I love flat top. Â I have had some very bad experiences here, but I'm hoping those were just isolated events. Â Twice I've received completely raw meat that was still cold. Â The first time, i complained and received $40 in gift certificates as well as a comp'd meal. Â The second time, we received a comp'd meal. Â I've gone here At least 20 times and it's almost always great. Â The servers have always been friendly and helpful and the food is what you make so it's hard to complain. Â It's nice that it's so inexpensive for unlimited bowls on your first time and can't seem to make anything quite the way you want it.
Review Source:Excellent place. The first time we went we had issues. I assumed it was because we were a bunch of Jews (all of us wearing a kippah) from Chicago. When we complained to the managment in Chicago they followed up and were very helpful. I have been there now more than once (about 8 times actually) and each time now the staff is beyond friendly and the food is great. I usually get noodles and veggies and have mine cooked apart from others so no pork will get into it and they are set up to do that.
You can choose the type of sauce you want and add it yourself. I usually mix and match and come up with things that are great.
When you get your bowl and fill it you first think "what a puny bowl" but trust me, it makes a huge dinner. I have never left without leftovers.
If you don't mind your food mixing on your plate (and my girlfriend does so she does not care for it) and you like stir fry, you will LOVE this place.
I love Flat Top.
This is where I had my first date with the woman who's now my wife.
A year later, this is also where I proposed to her.
But apart from the sentimental value, Flat Top is a great concept and delicious as well. Â Except for the very pickiest of eaters, everyone can find something to eat here. Â It doesn't matter what anyone's in the mood for, because you can pretty much make all of it here.
It's not the cheapest place in town, but it's one of the best. Â It's also a place that gets better every time you go there - you both learn better how to make your favorite dishes, but also can experiment and try new stuff.
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