Able Bar & Grill

Went to try the hotpot, but was not what I had expected. The broth was light and not much flavor. No sauce bar, and the only chinese restaurant with no hot oil. Haven’t tried the other menus in this restaurant but the hotpot is a disappointment. Regret driving an hour to this restaurant to try the hotpot.

Authentic Chinese food that was worth the wait! My friend and I trusted the info that said Able opened up at 1 on a Saturday afternoon only to get there and read the sign which said they didn’t open until 1:30. I had a specific dish I wanted to try, so we shot the breeze for a bit and waited. When the door was unlocked, the owner asked us if we’d come to the right place or if we wanted the General Tso’s from the place a few doors down. No, no, we wanted the amazing egg scallion pancake and hot pot… and maybe almost everything else on the menu. Great authentic Chinese street food, just try what speaks to you but don’t leave without trying lamb buns and the egg scallion pancake because that’s what I’m going back to feast on next time!

Very friendly service, for a one man band! But a big group came in disappointed that there is no karaōke! They didn’t stay for the graat hotpot, they missed out!

I can’t believe I only found out about this place recently. I was surprised how cheap and authentic the Chinese street food choices it has. I recommend Egg Scallion Wrap. Hotpot bowls are great too. Lamb kakobs are my favorite.

Having grown up in Beijing and have tasted various street food in the region, I can tell you that this place is legit. To my surprise, my gf and I walked into an empty restaurant on a Sat night. Granted it was over the Holidays and most people were probably out of town. But we didn’t mind. That just means full attention of the chef to assemble our dinner. We ordered the hot pot, the jianbing (egg omelet), and lamb kabobs.
The hot pot was the generic for 2 sample platter with a plate of thinly sliced lamb and plate of beef. Also included are clear noodles, bok choy, lettuce, frozen tofu, and dipping sauce (they’ve got the sauce down). We only dipped everything in the spicy soup and it was amazing. Though next time I’d probably order a-​la-​carte to get more of the dishes I like rather than pre-​selected ones.
The egg omelet tasted just like the ones I used to eat in China. It was crispy, chewy, and had all the right ingredient and sauces smeared in there.
Lastly, the lamb kabobs. I’d say out of the dishes, the kabobs was the weakest of the three. It was still good, but something just seemed a little off compared to the thousands of kabobs I’ve had while across the pond. But never the less, I’d still order them again for a second chance.
The restaurant itself is not a looker by any means, but I could care less as long as the food is good. I’d definitely be visiting this place again the next time I’m in the area!

Husband and I popped on by in the middle of November as part of a birthday party event for our roommate and his girlfriend. She is a BIG hot pot fan, and she was kind enough to ask about shellfish BEFORE I showed up.
Note: Have Allergy to crustaceans but MAYBE not mollusks.
I ordered something like four dishes and my total was around 15 dollars I think — which is a good deal considering how much i ate. Definitely very street food, disposable plates and utensils, but honestly not a bad thing to me (though i would imagine it gets COSTLY).
I even asked again about certain dishes just to be safe, and though there were comments about rudeness from employees on Unilocal (which made me almost change my mind about going), I encountered none of that. I think there may have been someone who didn’t speak much English, but there was someone able to answer my questions in English and the food was GREAT.
And the water thing?
They left jugs on the table (like root beer/​beer jugs you pour from?) to serve ourselves. I mean, obviously tap but whatever.
I think the ONLY negative was the fact that it was empty. I mean, it didn’t affect service or bar my enjoyment so that’s great. But for something that was apparently a karaōke bar as well, it was STRANGELY empty for the night we went (a Friday IIRC).

My husband and I went in on a Tuesday just after 6, wanting to have a unique meal for our first anniversary. The hot pot definitely did not disappoint.
The owner was very pleasant, much more so than most restaurant staff I’ve ever dealt with. He was thorough explaining to us how to eat a hot pot since this was our first time. Oh my gosh though was it good. I’m not sure what is in that sauce that comes with the meal — a little salty, a little bitter — but it made the meal that much better, definitely don’t skip on it.
I asked for a bottle of water and he refused to make me pay 1 $ for it, and gave us tap water for free, which was nice because I saw some people previously complaining about it.
As for the inside I thought the restaurant was pleasantly clean, I liked the cute drawings on tack board. But I’m really not going to be put off by red walls and florescent lighting, if the food is good that’s what matters and here the food was all very very good.
We’re about 2 hours outside raleigh, and when we make the trip back up there we will for sure be dining there again.

when I saw the pics of hot pot I knew I had to go. I lived in Beijing for two years and this was my fav food. I haven’t been able to find this particular food in any other restaurant in NC!
so I got there and no one came to my table to help me. I went around 4:00. we were the only table of people. it wasn’t clear that I needed to mark what I wanted on the paper and take it to the front.
the drink selection is very poor /​such as food wines or beers. the customer service is pretty much non existent– however the food was excellent. many things on the menu were not actually available, the girl said it was too difficult to make vegetable dumplings… which I didn’t understand.
overall, try the hot pot & don’t count on the atmosphere being great — go for the great hot pot & serve yourself!
prices are good.

Went in this place at 1230 am and waitress said they were closed even though they had open sign, Unilocal said they were open and 12 asian people were inside eating. They are racist. If your not asian then they probably wont let you eat there

The worst barbecue I ever had. All meat were burned black, not fresh, and it was so expensive. If it’s in China it will be out of business in a month edit its far below average food quality.

Not your average dinning experience.
Chinese street food. Try everything. Be patient with the staff because the food will be good if you are accustomed to the real deal.

We returned to Able’s recently and unfortunately, we were quite disappointed. The food was ok, but the restaurant overall didn’t seem very clean.

Be warned, if you are looking for a corner of the mall regular-​good-​Chinese-​place experience, you may be disappointed!
What a delightful little place! The emphasis on street food theme, the make-​from-​scratch ethos (which means foods are just a tad slow), the late night hours, and a karaōke in the middle of it all — makes it charming.
Now to the foods. True Chinese street food, and the Cook and James at the front make sure to emphasize it. The Hot pot bowls are a great value and deeply satisfying with a super brothy and spicy soup with loads of veggies and noodles and that chilli-​oil on top. The Kababs are freshly made to order, and fun to eat. The scallion pancake is homestyle, with a curiously crispy pre-​made batter in the middle, loved it.
And all these with big karaōke screen in one side of the place with mostly Chinese music videos, and on the other side a passionate singer on the mick (if its after 9 PM). What not to love?
Now I know sometimes it gets a bit messy, sometimes the tables near you take too long to get cleaned up. But once all the tables get cleaned up promptly all the time, the next thing you know, someone may think that its a good idea to pre-​make the scallion pancakes and serve them warmed instead of painstakingly make it from order. Now tell me, which one do you prefer? :)

Foods are expensive and not that good compared to others.

Might have been a busier than normal night and we had a big party… but the service was lacking and the food was average. While everyone got food and kept getting more food, i was the only one that didn’t get mine until everyone else got their food. I finally got the fried shanghai noodles and it was caked in MSG and was uneatable after getting through it half way… perhaps i should’ve ordered the dumplings or something else but my friends also said that those were average at best…
afterwards, when we went up to pay, the lady told me that we had to tip… after all that i went through, you still wanted me to tip? worse $ 8 i spent on food

I realize this isn’t a 5 star restaurant, but it doesn’t try to be and that’s really refreshing! The owner and chef is amazingly friendly, to the point where I felt like I was part of the family, not just a paying customer! I’ve had authentic Chinese before, and never really liked it, but the food here seems better than what I’ve had before, I think they’ve chosen the most flavorful Chinese dishes to serve. The food here is really good, and cheap too! And the portions are large, so much so that I was told that I might be ordering too much food for one person (now that’s not something you hear often at a restaurant!). I am really looking forward to going back, I want to take some friends with me to show them what «real» Chinese is all about! It’s nice that there are places like this in the area, and that they don’t go the route of being pretentious and charge an arm and a leg. I just hope they can survive, it seems like the location isn’t the best, and the name isn’t really indicative of the awesome cuisine that they serve.

My new favorite local Chinese Food place! If you’re looking for Americanized Chinese food (battered, fried, covered in sweet-​sour sauce), do not go to Able’s. You will be sorely disappointed.
But, if you’re looking for good Chinese food, or feeling like being adventurous and trying something that might be new to you – go to Able’s! Now! (He’s open until 2am.)
We moved to the RTP area about 18 months ago from the SF Bay area and have been hunting for good Chinese food since we got here. Up until finding Able’s, 35 Restaurant was my favorite, but 35 is definitely on the pricier side and the kitchen can be a little inconsistent.
Able’s isn’t necessarily a specific regional cuisine as it is a sampling of Able’s favorite grab-​and-​go street vendor foods from different parts of China – though he does favor the spicier foods, which is more than fine with me!
We went to Able’s in the early afternoon on a Sunday. There were 3 of us, and other than Able and his wait staff, the place was empty. The waitress was very helpful in explaining some of the less familiar things to us, and making sure we would not be getting something too spicy for our tastes. (We had 1 in our group who does not do spicy foods.)
We ordered a single lamb hot pot bowl, which my fiancé and I shared, and I still had leftovers for next day’s lunch – it was spicy, but had the Szechuan peppercorns I love, along with a host of other spices, rice noodles, baby bok choy, bean sprouts, and lots of lamb. We also ordered the lamb buns, zhajiang noodles, pork and cabbage dumplings, lamb kabobs, crispy eggplant dumplings, and spring wraps.
We had lots of leftovers.
In keeping with the street food theme, the food is inexpensive, but by no means cheap – good quality ingredients and food is made to order. Able makes all of the dumplings and buns himself.
Also in keeping with the street food theme, be prepared for paper plates and plastic utensils. I don’t mind using chopsticks, but my dining companions were frustrated by the flimsy plastic cake forks. But that is really the only drawback, and the food more than makes up for the minor inconvenience.

We ordered take out here on Chinese New Year. I know this is pretty lame, because we should’ve had hotpot as the traditional meal. But, we had hotpot the night before, so we were just looking for a quick and easy dinner.
We ordered some kabobs — lamb, beef, and chicken hearts — the spring rolls, and two kinds of dumplings. The dumplings were very good — very fresh and light. The kabobs were tasty but on the dry side. I agree with other reviewers where the pieces of meat were on the small side. The spring rolls were also good, but you don’t really get a choice of meat. It is what it is. I highly recommend, though, getting the spicy version, which adds an extra pop to the flavor. The spring rolls are not fried — they are wraps and made fresh when you order.
I really want to give the place 3.5 stars, but decided to go up as the flavors were good and give me high hopes for hotpot when I go back again.

I feel like this place is very «in» in the Chinese American Triangle community. This is based on speculation of the authenticity of the menu options and feel of the restaurant rather than actual eye witness of the bumping-​ness of the joint on a Thursday night. While the atmosphere is almost nonexistent («street food»), this restaurant does serve some legit authentic Chinese food.
Raves:
1. Try their dumplings. They are incredible. Handmade skin (pi) and filling (xian). They tasted like my mom’s and my mom is an excellent cook. I was slightly disappointed that they only offered dark vinegar as dipping sauce. For a place that serves such superb dumplings, I would expect them to pay a little more attention to sauce options. Some fresh pressed garlic and spicy soy sauce mixtures would have taken their dumplings to the next level.
2. Get the spring (mushu) wrap. You get 4 large wraps for $ 7 — marinated chicken, lettuce, and oyster sauce (?) all bundled in a flour wrap. It was awesome.
Rant:
As Christina G. mentioned, they refuse to serve tap water. We had several dehydrated ladies in our party and we were forced to pay $ 1 for bottled waters that we had to nurse because clearly there was not going to be a refill. Not ok.
In conclusion, I’ll probably come back for their dumplings, but it’ll probably be a take-​out scenario rather than dining in.

What a hidden gem… this is a karaōke bar with Chinese street food. Currently, the menu is from the northeast region of China, though I hear that they change the menu seasonally. It is delicious.
To start, our waiter brought us a sample of a couple of the appetizers — seasoned peanuts and a chinese salad. The salad was carrots, tofu, bean sprouts and green beans and it was a delight. The peanuts were great too… imagine a Carolina boiled peanut gone Asian.
We tried the pork and cabbage dumplings, which were excellent. The sauce is a vinegar soy… they also gave us chili oil. Next up: lamb kebabs. Tender lamb, good and spicy seasoning… divine.
After that we got our hot pot in a bowl, which is hot pot for lazy people who don’t feel like doing the cooking themselves. We ordered the lamb and it was amazing. Enoki mushrooms, bok choy, napa cabbage, cellophane noodles, tofu and lamb… it was a flavor explosion. My favorite part about it was that it was seasoned with sichuan peppercorns, which gives you the most interesting mouth tingle. It was HOT, y’all. And it was good. I sweated out a few poisons and felt somehow purified.
Somewhere in here I decided we needed more kebabs, so I asked for the chicken hearts. I think the staff was surprised to have an American ask for that, but heart is tasty — it’s simply lean muscle, for those that haven’t tried it. They were awesome!
During this fun gastronomic adventure, all the staff were friendly and enthusiastic. I felt a lot more like an unexpected friend who dropped by for a snack than I did a customer. They even gave us some homemade sweet bean pasted stuffed bao (buns) that weren’t on the menu. They were, of course, divine.
Stuffed like monkeys, we toddled off, promising to come back and check out the karaōke. While I have no real complaints, my half joking one is this: Able, put more items on the menu! We need more of this goodness!