Cho Sun Ok Restaurant

The Korean food here is probably the most authentic as you can possibly find in the city. Despite the reviews on the bad service, chaotic ambience, and the feeling of being rushed throughout your dining experience, these are one of the places where you kind of have to embrace the chaos. There's always a long line out the door, but it's so worth it!Their bonchon were top tier, soondubu jjigae was jam packed with flavor, and galbi was yummmy.

Today's food is pretty good. We came in around noon. No waiting lines. We got seated immediately. Then the staff handed a full table of side dishes. It's pretty impressive. This is the beauty of Korean food. They always provide side dish with free of charge.Brisket, pan fried pancake, and fried rice are all good. Service is amazing. The lady took a good care of our table. On average $40 per person. I'm very satisfied with the meal today. I'd love come back again.

YukGaeJang + Mal Mandu + Bulgogi = game over, drive home safely Awesome place, best Korean Ive had in Chi, staff can be a bit sassy, but it sort of fits with the vibe in the busy dining room

People may say the service is rude, but I feel it's just part of what this restaurant is, a traditional Korean food night stand. The food is very reasonably priced and absolutely delicious.

The 차돌박이 (chadolbaki) is delicious and filling, and the fried rice afterwards is great for takeout. The 반찬 (banchan) selection is tasty and not too salty. Bathroom is clean and the service is efficient. Would 100% come again.

Get here before 4:30 and you should be fine to get a seat. BYOB & service is fast. Don't expect to spend a ton of time here because a line does form outside. Great options & one of the better kbbq spots somewhat near the city. The OjingUh Bokeum was a highlight - so tender and flavorful. We didn't ask for more banchan but upon reflection as I'm in a food coma, wish I did! The pickled daikon and the potato salad with apples were the showstoppers. TLDR - go early, come hungry, and go with a group so you can order multiple things.

Family favorite. Trust me when I say it's worth bringing anyone you really care about here as long as you are prepared for a little bit of a wait if it's during prime meal times. Also you might walk out smelling a little bit like the amazing barbecue if you decide to cook at the table. At least nine side dishes come out (complements of the house) with every meal and my favorites are the water kimchi, the bean sprouts, and the seaweed. The elders always order the Kalbi a.k.a. braised marinated short ribs. We order the grilled beef slices and cook on the table top. They come with whole garlic cloves and the traditional method is to turn the beef slices ONLY ONCE. You'll know the ones who know how to cook it and the ones who don't by watching their cook method. If you see them pushing it around a lot you know their mama didn't teach them. When you order the Kalbi, order the cold buckwheat noodles. The texture of the noodles are unlike anything else; if done right the noodles are chewy. The broth is difficult to describe but it's a flavorful beef broth base and you add some vinegar for Tang and some yellow mustard for kick. Don't skip these two. They are the things that bring out the flavor beautifully. The other thing that's delicious is called sullong tang and it said beef broth based hot soup.Their service is always attentive even when things are really busy but they don't hover. We also take food home -- meaning we make a side takeout order bc it saves us a trip.

I really wanted to like this place but the overall feeling I left this place with was "chaotic."I arrived ~5pm on a weekday and waited ~25min outside. You can't leave your name on a list, you simply wait outside with everyone in the line until you get to the front. Sometimes the employee would ask if you're a party of 2 so it may be better to come as a small group. We ordered the following:#1 ChaDol-Gui - This was standard, but I was expecting a bit more meat for what we paid. I also wished they had more than just sesame oil and salt as a dipping sauce. At the end of the meal, they'll add rice and some banchan to the pot to make kimchi fried rice. I was looking forward to this but was very disappointed. It was very bland and possibly the worst kimchi fried rice I've had. Bulgogi - We didn't ordered this from the "tabletop cooking" section since 2 more portions of meat would've been too much for us so we ordered from the "meat and fish" section thinking it was just one portion of raw meat. This came pre-cooked (our mistake lol). The flavor was average/standard to me. I've had better bulgogi elsewhere so I would skip this next time.Steamed Dumplings - I've had a lot of dumplings in my childhood and I don't mean this meanly but I've had better dumplings from the supermarket. These were just mediocre and I would not order again. Seafood pancake - Not what I expected. Most seafood pancakes I've had in the past had a variety of seafood like shrimp, octopus, and squid. This pancake appeared to only have some minced squid. I think these pancakes are average at best. Would skip next time too. Japchae - Pricey for what it is but this was the best japchae I have ever had. Would order this again but not sure if the price is right for this dish. I've had kbbq many times but this experience was the most chaotic. It seemed like there were just two employees working for all the tables. They were both whizzing around and periodically stopping at our table to drop off food. If you need something, YOU have to get their attention and sometimes try multiple times. We sat by the kitchen/bar entrance so they kept bumping into my friend that sat in that corner. The experience felt a bit rushed. We started cooking our meat but an employee would come by and dump more meat on our grill (with the partially cooked ones) and try to cook it. Maybe we were too slow and they wanted us to finish sooner? If you need something, you can't just wait, you have to get their attention. Ordering the food was fine. I was a little surprised by the order the food came out in. We got the meat very early and didn't get our appetizers like the seafood pancake and dumplings until the end. It also took a while for us to get the check and to pay for the check. I came here due to good reviews on Yelp and on TikTok, but I think this place is over hyped. I haven't tried many Korean restaurants in Chicago yet, but I really think there is a better one elsewhere. If you really want to visit this place, I recommend coming at a time when there is no wait.

11/16/23 - I met my buddy here for lunch this afternoon. After the Yelp Elite Event I had a craving for Bibimop, unfortunately they didn't have bibimop. My friend doesn't eat very much meat so Korean BBque was not an option for him. Neither one of us is very versed in Korean cuisine but I'm really digging the different flavors that Korean food offer. It seems like they really are creative in blending different spices & textures especially w/things like the bibimop which I absolutely love it. That being did this is quaint little corner restaurant that serve a variety of different dishes. Like most Korean restaurants they serve an assortment of small Banchan dishes with the meal. We both ordered separately starting with/shared appetizer dishes of tofu seasoned with/onions, red peppers, green onions, sesame seeds, marinated onions in a fish sauce tasty snack. We also ordered pot sticker pan fried nice and crunchy. We then ordered separate dishes, he got some type of noodle dish w/clear noodle that o don't care for (didn't try them). I ordered a plate of beef bulgogi that was super tender & tasty. I would like to go back again w/someone that is versed in the Korean cuisine as neither of us was very knowledgeable about the dishes we ordered. Still the meal was very good w/good service I have eaten at a Korean barbecue before w/the little cooking pans below an overhead exhaust but unfortunately we didn't go that route due to my buddy not really eating meat. They do have this option here w/a variety of options that I would like to explore in the future

I can't lie this place was really hyped up before I went but honestly I found it to be averagely good. So, maybe not a life-changing experience, but definitely still worth a visit!I went with three other friends for an early dinner on a wednesday. There is a bit of a rustic feel with lots of wood elements in the decor. It hadn't gotten very full yet, so we got particularly excellent service from the staff. We ordered the steamed mandu, with chadol gui and bulgogi for the meats. There were plenty of delicious appetizers to go around. After we finished, the server made a fried rice in the pot with all of the leftover meat and grease, adding some vegetables as well, and it was really good! The rice was perfectly crusted at the bottom too. I thought everything was yummy, and it certainly was worth the price, especially with us having no wait. I'm glad I went!