REVIEW: The Stone Grill (Duluth, GA)

Hey readers,

When I started food blogging a few years ago, I used to despise the fact that I didn't live in the metro Atlanta area since that was where all of the restaurants I had wanted to try were located, as well as any food-centered events that were taking place. At the time, I was still a student at the University of Georgia (GO DAWGS!) and could only go on food adventures in the city whenever I'd go home every other week or so. I've lived in the Gwinnett area all of my life and used to think it was just the worst place ever since nothing fun ever happened after 9PM. Well, fast forward 7+ years later, I'm glad my parents never moved to the city because now, so many places are opened past midnight (many are open 24/7) and I've been blessed with so many opportunities to eat amazing foods right here in my neighborhood, just a few miles from home and at almost any time of the day. Granted, there are definitely some times where living in the city would cut down my driving time and having to sit in traffic, but I wouldn't trade living in Duluth for anything in the world because if you haven't been by my blog before, I'm essentially the self-proclaimed queen of the Gwinnett dining scene and I'm pretty certain that my fellow food bloggers would tell you the same. Even if I haven't written about it here on my blog specifically, there's a darn good chance that I've dined there at some point in my life. The reason why I'm mentioning all of this is because I'm always on the hunt to try new restaurants that open in the area and say my goodbyes to the ones that didn't quite make it. Since the Pleasant Hill area is typically my playground and essentially resembles the once thriving Buford Highway of the late 1990s/early 2000s, I love staying up-to-date on new additions to the neighborhood and just revisiting local favorites. So, if you ever wanna know which restaurant in Duluth has the best Korean Fried Chicken? Banchan (side dishes)? Tofu Soup? Jajangmyun (black bean noodles)? Dim Sum? and more, just shoot me a message! With the plethora of Korean BBQ restaurants already in Duluth and many more popping up at every corner imaginable, The Stone Grill is one of the newer players to the game (for the time being), having only opened a little over 6 months ago. So knowing my love for all things meat, you know I definitely had to stop by and check it out!

Let's get started:

♥Exterior

♥Interior

♥Menu

♥Banchan

♥Steamed Egg

♥Korean BBQ Cheese Fondue

♥Another View 

♥Spicy Pork Dolsot Bibimbap

♥FOOD (4/5): Starting with the BBQ rib cheese fondue-while I really appreciate the uniqueness of this dish and the bubbling, cheesy goodness, I thought it was a little too pricey for what you're actually getting. At the steep price tag of $32.99, I would have preferred to try several different items from their a la carte menu instead (It's definitely worth trying out though, so don't let the price deter you if that's what you want to try!). The shredded mozzarella cheese covers approximately 3/4th of the metal pan, while the braised ribs covers the remaining 1/4th. As the pan begins to heat up, the cheese starts to bubble, while the frozen veggies on top slowly begin to cook. As the cheese is almost done melting, a server will stop by your table to de-bone the ribs, which then means it's time for your dipping pleasure. The cheese complements the ribs incredibly well and helps tone down the extreme spiciness of the rib's marinade. Even though I had requested the "regular" ribs, they still turned out to be crazy spicy-I felt like my mouth was on fire! So definitely take note of this before you decide to order it since the spicy ribs are probably 10x spicier than the regular ones were. The ribs themselves, while spicier than all hell, were moist, tender and chewy, just how I like them. The addition of the chewy, warm rice cakes were a nice touch as well. While I did enjoy this fondue dish, it wasn't very filling and felt too one-sided in regards to taste for me. Since my guest and I knew we'd get "bored" with ordering just the fondue, we also added an order of the spicy pork dolsot bibimbap, which is essentially bibimbap in a stone/ceramic type of pan, allowing the rice underneath to get crispy and warm. For the $10 lunch time price, this was most definitely worth the money for us! I've had bibimbap at almost every single Korean restaurant in Gwinnett and I'd have to say that theirs is one of the BEST, if not the BEST, I've ever had! The amazing array of freshly made banchan atop of the rice and the perfectly seasoned pork in the center paired wonderfully with the crunchy, sizzling rice and their homemade hot pepper sauce. What's really important to point out is the fact that all of the vegetables were crunchy and fresh, not soggy like I've had at a handful of other places. There's plenty of radish, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts and fernbrake (kosari), which all slowly begin to cook the longer it's on the pan. So while I expected the fondue to be my favorite dish here, I fell head over heels in love with the mouthwatering bibimbap and the steamed egg! And lastly, the banchan was just okay-I would've liked to see more of a variety, especially during lunch time, but they did have the standard potato salad, fish cakes and kimchi radish cubes, so it's nothing to hold a gripe over.

♥SERVICE (2/5): The service we received on the day of our visit was just okay, which was a bit confusing seeing that we were the only customers there for lunch and there were three servers standing around and talking to each other. While the young gentleman who took our order was friendly and rather polite, we didn't see him much after that since one of his co-workers, I assume, took over for him. She wasn't very attentive and we had to constantly get her attention if we needed napkins, drink refills or something else since she seemed pretty deep into whatever she was doing on her phone. She hardly made the effort to check up on us and just had the constant expression of "I don't wanna be here" on her face. It wasn't until after we were done with our meal that our original server had come back from his break. And when he did, he stopped by our table to ask how everything was and if we had enjoyed everything, in addition to bringing by our check. Seeing that there were multiple employees walking around and looking over at our table several times, it was just weird not being acknowledged when we'd have one of those "Where's my server" looks on our faces.

♥DECOR (5/5): Although Stone Grill isn't as large in size as some of the other Korean BBQ spots in town, it's a pretty decent space with open areas and plenty of tables around. I like being able to walk around and get to and from my seat without feeling like I'm stuck in a sardine can trying to just get into my seat. The tables here are circular, which is ideal for family style dining and the use of dark marble tabletops and light brown furnishings and floorings are reminiscent of the color schemes of the Stone Age (w/ various shades of brown). Additionally, it's a much more simple, yet upscale type of vibe as you won't find music blaring at the highest volume or Korean pop videos playing on projectors. Personally, as much as I love Iron Age, that environment can be so aggressive and overwhelming, especially if you want to just catch up with your friends. I'd much rather prefer the type of environment at Stone Grill any day where my eardrums don't feel like they're about to pop at any second. 

Overall, while Stone Grill has become pretty popular (amongst my group of friends at least) for their cheesy rib fondue, they've also got a ton of other menu items like rice and soup dishes that are most certainly worth trying out as well. And they also have an AYCE menu from what I've heard with high quality cuts of meat. So although I've yet to try their AYCE menu, which I already plan to very soon, if the dolsot bibimbap is any indication of what it's going to be like, then I may have just found my new favorite destination for KBBQ in Duluth. So whether you're looking to taste something no other restaurant in the area has offered before such as the cheesy rib fondue or you're looking to get a taste of a familiar dish like the bibimbap for me, then you've got to stop by The Stone Grill soon! Now if they could just work on improving their service, that would be a total win for me!

Have a sweet day,

-Sandy

FTC: I was not paid or compensated for this review. All reviews and opinions expressed are my own.

If you'd like to invite Bella Vivere to your restaurant's media events, tastings or parties, feel free to shoot me an email at bellavivere {at} gmail {dot} com-Thanks!