Sizzling Lunch - Whitlock Farms

New concept of dining style! Order on iPad on table. Tasty food and fun experience!This Sizzling Lunch location opened on Jan 6, 2022. They have 5 locations in California (still expanding), and this is their first location in Georgia. We were there at the end of January and they were still running the grand opening promotion (selected entrees, two for $20).It’s a mix of self and full service restaurant. Employee seats customers; once seated, the employee will explain how ordering works. Customers order all the food and drinks via the iPad mounted on each table, then the food and drinks will be delivered by the employee to the table. Additional food and drinks can be added via the iPad until the customers hit the check out button on the screen. Then customers would need to head to the cashier counter to pay.Most main entrees are around $15. The restaurant name has “Lunch” in it, but this definitely is also a dinner place as well and not just for lunch. Everything is priced reasonably, and they have a decent selection of appetizers and entrees. It makes the meal the most fun if you order one of their sizzling items. The idea is partially pre cooked food ingredients (e.g. rice, food toppings) and partially raw ingredients (e.g. shaved beef) are served on a hot iron plate so customers can finish the cooking/mixing with some sauces available on the table (e.g. Teriyaki) and enjoy the hot meal.A few integration designs that we noticed they didn’t do so well were: The iPads had no built in charger! And they were not plugged in. So I assume each night employees would have to go to each table to ensure all the iPads are plugged in and get fully charged. Otherwise, their dine in ordering system might not work the next day. I have seen many restaurants using this style of ordering system; they would already have the charging cable plugged in and hidden within the mounting arm. This would avoid one repetitive manual step that needs to be performed daily by the employees. Their iPads don’t integrate with a payment system. At the time when we visited, once we clicked on the checkout button on the iPad we still needed to head to the cashier and wait in line to pay. This could be inefficient when the business volume is high. If they can also offer a credit card reader (insert chip reader type), or a QR code to scan on the screen so customers can pay on their mobile phones, it would be a much better experience. We don’t like seeing integration only done halfway.This sizzling concept is quite new here in Georgia. We were there on a Friday around 7pm and we saw a steady amount of business. All the employees we interacted with were very friendly and professional! Hope this place will do well and hope to see them also expand their footprint in Georgia like they are doing in California! I would recommend this place for anyone to try out!

If they still have the $20 for 2 deal, then its worth it for a quick lunch spot. Otherwise I think their normal prices are a little high for the quantity. I thought the service was very good; the first time I came on their grand opening, one of the hosts quickly told us they were booked for the night and gave us coupons to come back next time for a free entree it was fine because then we just went to Tiger K Cupbob next door which is also delicious. The next time I went with a large group and we were able to be seated; it was pretty empty at that time (6:30pm on a weeknight). The food quality is decent but it felt like there wasn't enough meat compared to the rice. They have a variety of sauces and chili powder on the table. I got to try the garlic pepper beef and the kurobuta pork plates, and I liked the kurobuta pork better as it was juicier and more flavorful in my opinion. I really wanted the garlic pepper beef to be super garlicky but I found it and the rice to be lacking flavor. I do like that they came with corn and green onions, and after adding a lot of the garlic sauce I was pretty satisfied. Overall I appreciate that they opened because I don't think there is any similar restaurant in this area so it adds some variety to your lunch or dinner options.

This is another new place In the Gwinnett area at the corner of the busy Pleasant Hill and Satellite Blvd. The concept is different that I would recommend you try. The servers are friendly, knowledgeable and professional. I tried the garlic pepper and rice dish. It's awesome. The serving is big and wonderfully tasty.

I decided to try this place after hearing it was a chain in California. You order on an iPad and the food comes to you. It's all on a sizzle hot plate, so be careful with the plate. We ordered the garlic beef pepper rice and beef udon. I think it was good but my friend and I had to drench it with the sauces on the table. Afterward, you paid at the front. Price is very affordable.

Fresh, quality and good variety. I travel a good distance to even visit this location and am always thoroughly pleased, impressed and stuffed! Staff is friendly informative and always readily available if needed for refills or additional items. Highly recommended and thoroughly enjoyed!