Taegukgi Korean BBQ House Reviews

We loved the food here! We got the chicken and the beef and both were very good!! We also ordered a soup on the side and loved it as well. The service was good... Could've been better. But overall, it's a great place to o to for a Korean BBQ and the pricing is also not bad. Absolutely recommend!

I'm usually a fan of Korean bbq. I love charring things over a grill, the smoke in my face and clinging to my hair, the selection of fresh meats at your fingertips. Unfortunately, this is one of the Koran bbq places that does not allow one to stroll up to a bar to pick out one's own meats. I made a reservation for a large group of us. Initially, we were going to go to the one that we all knew and love, but one person in our group recommended this place, instead. Said it was bigger. Said parking was easier. Didn't say it was better, necessarily, so he didn't lie there. The other two points were spot on. The restaurant is large and open. They have TV's scattered about, and one overly large one over the bar. We all started arriving for our reservation within a few minutes of each other. We were maybe a minute behind the first of our group to arrive, but by the time we stepped through the door, my sister was already pissed. Granted, she's got a quick temper, but seriously. Apparently the hostess was rude to them. It was about a billion degrees that day, and the hostess told my family that they'd have to wait outside in the heat. My sister would not budge. Good thing the three of us arrived when we did, as she seated the six of us immediately, instead of making us wait for the remaining five to arrive. We were handed menus (banchan and water were already on the tables), and the hostess scuttled off. None of us had been there before (the one who recommended it hadn't shown up, yet), so we spent a fair amount of time trying to decode the menu and the process. We finally decided on the premium AYCE menu, and our waitress arrived. I will say that she was sweet and friendly, but a bit hard to wave down. It was busy, and they kept her moving. We placed our orders - after she gave us a rundown - and then the food stated arriving. It was good - the meat was fresh, well seasoned and plentiful - but I didn't love the threat of paying for extra meat hanging over our heads. Not that it's usually a problem with my family, but still... They also limit the number of orders of some of the AYCE items, which seems like a fib to me. And of course, those were the items we were most interested in. I love ribs! Anyway, not sure we'll go back. Heck, even as we were waiting for the waitress to get to our table, we were discussing leaving for the other place. About the best thing was the macaron ice cream sandwiches. Say what?!

Plus: AYCE menu and fun to cook your own food at the table. Lot of choices to experience. Minus: Service is somewhat slow for 5pm early dinner with 30% capacity. The rock music is loud for a family setting restaurant. Watch Out: They do charge extra fee if you don't finish your food. The chicken and squid take a long time to cook.

Food was delicious and the meat was very flavourful and tender. Service was great and the wide variety of flavours made it unique.

Tried this place because my college som enjoyed. I'm not sure why.. low quality meat, poor service and the bathroom was dirty. Loud place also, like a bad korean bbq nightmare.

Went on a Sunday about 5 p.m. It was not as busy as I thought it would be. wait staff was attentive. the kimchi was excellent. I thought the meat for the high bocce BBQ could have been a bit fresher looking. Overall 4 out of 5 stars. lots of good parking and indoor and outdoor seating.

The beef fingers had too much grizzle. The price is really not worth the food. I asked the waitress to lower the flame and she decided it was my job and told me how to do it. That is not proper customer service in my opinion. If you have to go here the beef bulgogi was the best dish we tried.

Long wait between services. Don't try the chicken b/c it took forever to cook on the spot. Loud rock-n-roll music at the Korean BBQ. A tag pricy for AYCE (unless you want to load up with 5000 calories of high sodium, high cholesterol feast...)

We had the all you can eat lunch,and the food was very flavorful and good. My sister-in-law was visiting from out of town and she had never had Korean food before. She loved it. She wants to take my brother their next trip back here.

Good for a quick Korean BBQ fix but not so special to go again. The atmosphere is like a tall ceiling like revitalized commercial space. There is some upbeat pop music and few neon signs with open dining concept. The bathrooms were gross and floor was sticky. The smell from a closed off section behind the cash register looked like it could or should have been condemned. I think they need to do a big clean up and consider how management overseas staff responsibilities. Servers were friendly. Options were decent but not to much for veggies.

Good quality meat. Interesting ambiance. Huge TV screens for watching sports. In "Korean Village" location. Good service. Good banchan. Tasty soju!

This is a nice different experience for dining. The reason I am giving a lower score is because the service was not great. Our waiter never brought our rice or cheese, we had to ask another waitress for it and by the time we got it I was done eating. The meat was a little chewy to me.

This Korean restaurant is in our own little Koreatown in San Diego and is right next door to the Zion Korean market. The prices are reasonable and the food is very good. The servers are quick and friendly, they all greet every person who comes through the door. You cook your own meat right at your table and that was fun. There is outdoor covered seating with a drink and desert bar. The place was very clean and a lot of people there at lunch on a friday afternoon. I'm sure that you, your family and friend will really enjoy your lunch or dinners here. Have fun.

A friend and I went there and It was my first time at a Korean BBQ. At the beginning the server asked if was our first time there and I said yes and she went on to explain the option but never told us anything about ordering in half size portion or we were going to be charged for food we did not cook. Well to make the objective and short we were told we had to pay in addition to $23 per person for lunch an additional $20 for the dishes we cooked only half order. We complained and the server said is the rule there and then we asked for the manager and he said we should have being TOLD of the rule but we didn't and after 10 minutes talking he said he would charge us ONLY $5 dollars even though we were not aware of this possible charge. Why don't they put this rule on the menu? Why don't they explain that if you want to try all dishes is best to order them in half order? So after the manager said he was going to charge ONLY $5 extra I said he was about to lose a customer we went to get our check to come back with a change of heart. He said he was not going to charge the $5 dollares and give us a 10% discount card for our next visit. We left the card on the table and we are NEVER coming back to this trap. This is my first negative review ever. Very sad!

Gotta love this Korean BBQ with style, clean, great service, huge selection of meats and sides as well. It is like walking into the club in the evening, it's loud and perfect for a night out with friends. They even have dry-ice beer towers that smoke and light up... it's a conversation piece. Love this place.

Fast service, great all you can eat korean BBQ. I will most definitely recommend this place to any meat lovers or if you are new to this korean BBQ thing. Must try!!

Having lived in Korea this was an excellent restaurant to eat at. My only complaint, and it goes back to living in Korea, is that they give you rice paper (?) to put your meat on when you order the bulgogi. In Korea they give you lettuce and leaves You also have to ask for garlic, peppers and pepper paste to make it more authentic. I guess it's more Americanized so they don't offer it unless asked. Other than that, it was a great dining experience and after two days i'm still full.

My dear friend got pinned Chief Petty Officer for the USN... I took him out to eat here... Great Staff, Good tasting food/meats. The steamed egg pot was nice flavorful and fluffy. We love the trumpet mushrooms and Korean Kalbi Short ribs.

The banchan included kimchi, Korean pancake, fish cake, japchae (Korean noodles), cucumbers, bean sprouts, stewed potatoes. There are eight proteins you can choose from. You are able to order four at a time. We tried: - beef brisket - Taegukgi Pork ribs - Pork Belly - beef belly - Chicken BBQ - Beef bulgogi We would come back for their Tuesday AYCE lunch special. Taegukgi is a step above Roadem BBQ (even though Roadem’s $11.99 AYCE lunch special is convenient). The ambiance and vibe of Taegukgi is much more engaging and fun.

We came here for Dinner with our big family. Fun atmosphere, excellent services, great bar, and best of all, the meats are very tender, fresh, delicious.

Came here with a party of about 15-20 people. We didn't wait very long and the service was good. The food was amazing with wonderful sides. We had to wave down the servers here and there to refill water and some of the sides. But other than that it was great.

I’ve never been to a place like this before and when I was in town stopped by. A friend that leaves in San Diego always raves about this place. So when I came to town for work, we met up for lunch here. The food was delicious! I’ve had Korean bbq before and it was nothing like this. The food was well seasoned and didn’t have lots of fat on the meats. The service was excellent. My only regret is that there isn’t one of these restaurants where I live. I will definitely make this a staple when I travel back to San Diego.

Honestly I was not excited when someone in our group suggested Korean BBQ. Turns out it was one of the best, most fun meals I had while in San Diego! Groups are seated around their own little grill...you can order whatever kind of meat piques your interest on the menu..4 at a time..squid, chicken, beef..you name it, and then you yourself cook it on the little grill. Each meat I tried was delicious and well seasoned and it was so much fun to cook...the meal included lots of little side dishes set out on the table for us to try...kimchi (which I never had before but ended up loving), noodles, potatoes, all kinds of things. Rice was plentiful and served in little steam pots. Wait staff was attentive and made sure to keep coming back to see if we wanted more meat. This is truly a great place to eat with a bunch of friends or even a date! Would recommend to anyone!

I was not disappointed to celebrate my birthday in this restaurant and I am satisfied that my kids enjoyed their first time in an authentic Korean BBQ place. We have never seen our eldest picky eater eat so much like she did that day; She even ate the pickled daikon banchan. The side dishes were all just delicious and the meats were even better. We only had 2 orders of 4 kinds of meat and we had to throw in the flag, we were just stuffed. We tried 3 servings of Bulgogi, 1 thin and 1 regular pork belly, 2 chicken bbq and 1 squid. The Bulgogi is the best; the other meats will not disappoint either. The service was also good; all the servers were attentive to our needs and they would change the grill top every order since it gets charred with the Bulgogi sauce. They charge for meat leftovers so make sure you only order what you can eat and you cannot bring any leftovers either. This is stated in the fine print down the bottom of the menu. This place just brought me back to my days in Korea 18 years ago, it was a good visit.

Generous portions, all you can eat buffet, clean service, fun times, easy parking. You can book a private room for private events.

Thank you Aiden for helping my family have an enjoyable experience on our visit, you were super helpful with my wife’s grandma. Not to mention you went over and beyond to help my mother in law and mum, just to find a fork even though there was a limited number during a busy period. Lastly even though it was busy, the kitchen staff, as well as the floor staff made sure we didn’t have to wait too long for all our orders. I’ll definitely be back in the future, and yes I’ll be bringing in more family members to try your food.

Great layout at this restaurant makes it perfect for solo trips or family gatherings. Great beer selection and a very, no-nonsense menu. Staff is quick to change your grill and get you your orders. We will definitely be back!

Having been to Korea this is by far the most authentic experience I have found since then! The food was amazing! The only downfall is we were a group of 4 and they placed a 2 hour time limit, I can understand why, however we felt rushed since we wanted to enjoy the drinks and food and we did pay a premium for this. I know we can't stay all day but imposing a time limit was definitely odd. We would certainly return again regardless!

Don't let the exterior fool you, once you enter the restaurant it looks immaculate. Lots of these silver exhaust hoods dropping down from the high ceilings making this restaurant look very industrious. The service is great and quick. Food is delicious too. We had the $23 regular buffet and it was very good! Will definitely return again - but maybe if the exchange rate is a bit better.

If it was just the food, I'd give it 2 stars..........but, the service was good. We had 20 people and had a private room reserved. Upon arrival, they tried to sit us by the front door..............said they did not have enough staff to handle a private room. Finally came through after much discussion. I have eaten Korean food many times and always loved it. Not this time. I thought the meats were flavorless............and the sides were lame............sorry, but if this hadn't been a business meeting/dinner, I would never have come.

Mother's day gathering of 14 people. Liked the least: our grill would not stay hot enough to cook and wait staff needed to be more attentive (not rude). We had to ask for meats - an all-you-can-eat! All-you-can-eat price $23.99 - 2 hour limit. Nice atmosphere.

Just a nice and pleasant restaurant, great food basic ambiance. I was very surpirsed of taste and flavours

We came here for dinner the other night. We have never had Korean BBQ, which is great if you like to cook your own meat and then eat it at your table. We were not big fans of this. That being said it was still a cool experience that you should do at least once. So you pay a flat rate of $26 per person and you get unlimited meat. This is a deal if you think you can eat $26 worth of meat, for the rest of us maybe not such a great deal. I kept trying but I just couldn't eat that much. The raw meat comes out on plates which you throw on a grill in the middle of your table. This is pretty entertaining, but I do that at home. I go out to eat to avoid doing that at home. So you cook it and then you place it on plates and eat it. It was fun. The atmosphere was good and the staff was really nice. Everyone around us was having a great time, we did too. This is definitely not a place you would take a vegetarian.

We had a tough day sporting through San Diego and were really hungry in the evening. Therefore we were looking for buffets and found this place via google. I can encourage everyone to try it. We had not only a lot of fun due to the awesome concept but felt really welcomed and relaxed thanks to the awesome and friendly staff. We both enjoyed the food and had a really great time. Price is reasonable, we payed 62$ with a 20% tip. 5/5 -> we definitely come again!

I've been here a handful of times and I haven't been disappointed yet. I've been to at least 2 other AYCE Korean BBQ places up and down Convoy and this is my favorite. The meat is always fresh and any meat that is marinated is always well seasoned. Banchan arrives on the table either as you're being seated or immediately after (in my experience), rice and/or rice paper offered as you're eating. Pitchers of water and cups at the table and ready for you. Great staff each time I've been in, always friendly and personable. Give the macaron ice cream sandwiches a try if you're up for dessert... yummy!

We were a party of 8 and were told we had 2 hours ''all you can eat'' BBQ. The table was already full with cold items which were to accompany the main dishes which you cooked yourself on the BBQ. It was hard to find room to put all the meat, drinks and cold items on the table. This made it difficult to enjoy the experience. The meat wasn't that good and was quite tough especially the beef. Overall not my kind of dining experience

I've eaten here twice now and I must concede that it's pretty great. Taegukgi offers AYCE KBBQ. You choose between a regular and a premium menu. I don't remember the difference but we didn't miss it. We got more than enough enjoyment out of their regular offering. What stood out to me was the tongue. Wow was that tender and delicious. We had three orders of it. Their namesake, the Taegukgi, was also amazing. It's a pork rib where the meat has been cut away so that it resembles a flag (Taegukgi is the Korean flag). We also had bulgogi, brisket, and pork belly, to name a few. (Actually, I just don't fully remember). Everything was great. Plenty of banchan as expected. Just be careful not to fill up on it! A little secret: I LOVE gyeran jjim (the steamed egg dish). We actually forgot to order it until the end when we asked about getting some doenjang jjigae. Most other KBBQ joints I've experienced just bring it out automatically. In a way, I like that you have to order it, especially since you can order as much as you want! One slight negative: We were offered dessert and it wasn't clear that it wasn't part of the AYCE. Not a huge deal. We enjoyed the macaron ice cream sandwiches. Finally, I should also mention that, being in the San Diego area, their draft beer selection is very respectable.

We went for dinner and orders the premium selection. We had a variety of 8 side dishes and all the meat we could eat. Their red bean stew was delicious as well! Everyone is friendly and you're greeted with a "hello" as soon as you walk in. Every table has a grill and vent. The staff is efficient and they change the grills often to prevent smoke. I love this place!!!

This place is located right next to the Zion Market on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. It's huge, offers outdoor seating. We should have done that but no one was outside so we sat inside. Since everyone is cooking at their table the inside area can get smokey. My hair and clothes smelled of smoke when we left. The food was great! Unfortunately we went here on Easter Sunday so it was pricier than normal, $27.99 per person. Ouch! Of course then you feel like you need to eat $30 worth of food. So I say, bring your appetite! You get a choice of up to 4 meats, they initially bring little sides, salad etc. There's other sides you can order off the menu like soups and stuff, rice. I wasn't that hungry but I did pretty good lol! If you order too much meat and have lots left over they say they charge additional $5. Good service. The bbq pork belly was the best :)

Delicious Korean BBQ in a festive family atmosphere. If you do not have reservations, expect to wait an hour or even 2 hours on peak times especially during the weekends. LOVE the food choices. We enjoyed our dinner in August 2016 that we went back next time I was back in town in September.

We went there so hungry and came out so full and happy. Their service was great. Food was excellent. (Reminded me of Brazilian all-u-can-eat restaurant but much more inexpensive) . If u drink alcohol with your meal , that will add up $$ . Cook your own meat by yourself added fun/entertainment. Some meat are marinated spicy (korean ), but we loved them all

Great side dishes and meats. Service was fast and friendly. Refills of anything you want arrived promptly. What's not to like.

Love this place! Love the all you can eat yakiniku and the service! This restaurant is always so busy but the staff here are always so friendly and so accommodating.

The food is very good. We also ordered the beer tower, which you can order by the liter. It has dry ice and a light that changes colors! Also if you like sweet liquor try the Soju it's delicious.

This is our first time eating Korean BBQ here in Kearny Mesa. On a Wednesday night, $27.99USD/pp for the basic bbq...no senior discounts. As soon as we sat down, all the side dishes like beansprouts, glass noodles, kim chee, salad, fish cakes, and etc were all there. We started to order the meats and our server said only allowed to order 4 meat dishes at a time. So, we ordered the beef large and small intestine which came with only 1 of each on a plate so for the 3 of us is really not enough first round. Our server quickly came after we ordered the 4 meats and almost finished it, and took our 2nd order of another 4 meats. The quality of the meats were just okay....the bulgogi beef was nicely marinated but there were no kalbi ribs at all and this is a Korean bbq! I was disappointed. We had squid and octopus and again only one piece for each order. The hot rice was very good quality but when we asked for the spinach, they said they were out. The macaroni salad had raisins in it and tasted okay. The best dish we had, imho, was the kim chee and the bulgogi beef and beef belly while everything else was so so. The service was excellent with different people changing our grill very frequently due to burning. 3 of us including tips was $105USD...not cheap but not too expensive either but I would not return because the selection was limited and i wish they offered seafood pancakes, kalbi ribs,and veggies at this price level.

We went to this restaurant on Thanksgiving dinner since our selected option didn’t respect our reservation. All of our our group that was 13 persons had a great dinner, we enjoyed most of the dishes and specially de beef bulgogi and the ribs.