Kogi BBQ

An amazing experience!The second you walk into the door, the aroma of grilled meats and lively laughter greets you. The selection of items to grill and the sides are impressive. The staff could not be more courteous.Would highly recommend for your next night out with friends and family. The spicy Korean pork is my favorite.Very busy though!

My partner and I were looking for a new restaurant to throw in to our rotation, and this was our first time having KBBQ together. I think it goes without saying, but we will absolutely never be back and I'll let my friends know to avoid the place.We arrived at 8pm on a Monday. We were seated after just a few minutes because they weren't super busy, and the server was taking our order within just a few more minutes. Table was clean and the sauces and silverware were laid out nicely.I was a little bummed that they didn't have lettuce (only chopped romaine) as I love making lettuce wraps, but I was understanding! Just a heads up to others that enjoy the same.We ended up ordering 3 meats and 3 sides to start.Cheese corn: usually one of my favorites at KBBQ... this one was just hot corn with some shredded colby jack cheese on top :/ Normally, I'm used to cold corn smothered in mayo and mozzarella, super creamy and meant to heat up on your grill. Whatever, maybe that's just how they do it- just always a bit disappointing when your usual favorite is a flop.Kimchi: I am a cabbage kimchi freak. I LOVE kimchi and have never had a bad batch. The kimchi they sent out was mainly the hard stemmy parts of the cabbage that were practically inedible. BUT that isn't the worst part! This kimchi was not fermented at allllll. It's like they literally just smothered some cabbage stems in the mixture and sent it out.Steamed egg: was yummy. No complaints. It's an egg that's steamed, it'd be hard to mess that up. There was a server dude, head fully shaved wearing a cap, who gave me a nasty look at one point while just giving us rice. I was like what did I do to you?! Lmfao. He came over to change our grill in the middle of us cooking- literally just came over, grabbed it, didn't give us a single glance or utter a single word as we pathetically scrambled to get an entire serving of beef off the grill after we realized his void, blank stare told us we needed to. This was funny, I was literally laughing, because there was a table of 3 girls behind us who he started taking the orders of just a little bit later and he was all laughs and smiles! So it wasn't just a bad night. Definitely giving the benefit of the doubt and hoping the nasty attitude wasn't because of my partner and I both being male.We had forgotten to order drinks, so when the server came by with our meat we did that. A Dr. Pepper and a Diet Pepsi. Placed at 8:20 (kept track because we were timing our chicken cooking). We didn't get our drinks until 8:40. That's just crazy. Again, this was a Monday and they weren't super busy- there was a table of 6 beside us who had servers at their table CONSTANTLY. They were getting checked up on, placing more orders, getting consistent drink refills, while we sat and wondered when we could even get a chance to ask for some napkins.At one point another server came to take over, and this guy was super pleasant. Up until this point I figured maybe the kitchen was just caught up but was still annoyed about the drinks, considering we didn't have any for the first half of our meal. My boyfriend reminded him about the rice that hadn't come yet (you would think steamed egg would take longer), ordered another soda, and napkins. Well, would you believe me if I told you he came RIGHT back with all 3 in less than 5 minutes? I almost couldn't believe my eyes. This proved to me that they weren't just backed up.At this point my boyfriend ordered more meat, but after another 20 minutes of watching the table beside us be waited on and us being left realizing we were forgotten about, we just asked for the check. We genuinely couldn't stand being there a minute longer.Bulgogi beef was good, but standard. Not bad but I've had better. Spicy pork should just be called marinated pork. BBQ chicken was good quality. Garlicky finger ribs were my favorite, but it was a small plate and since our last order of meat never came, I was left wishing I would have had the chance to eat more than 3 quarter sized pieces. Probably would've bumped this to a 2 star in all honesty.I have worked in food service for years, so while I have understanding and leniency, I also hold places to a basic standard. Our waiter was showing a coworker something on his phone that they were laughing over, meanwhile we waited for almost half an hour at our table for a bowl of plain white rice.So if what you're looking for is the bare minimum for top dollar, and you want to be ignored for the favor of bigger tables who offer bigger tips, this is your place. My partner and I debated tipping at all, but I guess technically the service and food could have been worse. Luckily though, we won't be coming back to find that out the hard way. Just go to Manna BBQ, you'll be happy you did :)

I had KBBQ last night at another restaurant and was craving KBBQ again, so we decided to give Kogi a try. Kogi is located in Kearny Mesa, a neighborhood in San Diego known for having lots of yummy Asian restaurants. Kogi caught my eye because of their late night special AYCE deal, $28.99/person daily after 9pm. They also have two other AYCE options, which offer more meat selections. We opted for the $28.99/person x 4 people. This option has limited meat selection but we ordered two orders of everything, and cheese corn, pancake, steamed egg, and soybean stew with brisket for sides. I think that the meats are not well marinated honestly. The spicy meats, like spicy pork belly, have the spicy look but not actually spicy & quite bland. Having tried another KBBQ spot while being out in SD, there are better options for KBBQ & for similar, affordable AYCE prices.

This place was recommended by someone online. I was not disappointed. It reminds me of a lot of the places I used to frequent in K-town in LA when I worked there. The meat quality is great for AYCE. They were super fast with their service which is actually rare in a AYCE place. And the price is amazing for how much restaurants are charging nowadays. We opted for the premium menu which was $43pp because I love beef tongue and short ribs. But honestly, the thing we ordered the most was actually the prime brisket because the quality of that meat was superb. We probably could've just ordered the regular menu which is $35 and be just as satisfied. The only thing I wished they had on their prime menu is the regular short rib, not just the LA galbi. Also just be warned, there's always a wait.

A great place for late-night happy hour, but you can tell that the workers are absolutely miserable by the end of the night. They close pretty late (either at 12 AM or 1 AM) but advertise that they close at 11:15 PM or 12 AM because the last call for ordering is 15-20 minutes before that.Expect to come out stinking of meat because their vents are broken, and there is absolutely no ventilation when I went on a Thursday night. It looked hotboxed, and I was choking on fumes by the time my party sat down.Management seems to not care about good customer service or training because our first server was rude, rushing us and treating us as if we were stupid if they were out of an item, like we're supposed to know, and our second server (sadly the nicer one and probably newer) started a grease fire with our grill and almost burnt the place down lol.If you're fine with bad service and okay prices, this is the place to be! Late-night happy hour is $28.99 with an 18% gratuity. Feel free to do the math.

I love coming here for happy hour! After 9 every day, it's cheaper! And the meat is such good quality! The only thing I have to say is I've come here on separate occasions and asked for sliced garlic on the side and they kept forgetting. It's okay though. They're super busy. I'd still come back tho!

Been coming here since freshman year of college (2013) when my now husband introduced it to me. Over a decade later and still on list to go to whenever friends are in town. Bomb corn cheese and kimchi fried rice. My favorite steamed egg is here!!! So good I get cravings every other month. They have great service and are very fast with orders. Always see large groups celebrating their birthdays or occasions with drinks. Overall very fun vibe and always a good time here, leaving with happy fully bellies!

Kogi is a busy spot. Fast service, fair pricing and lots of options. Our group of four all went the premium route. Lots of meat cuts to choose from though only a few marinated. The marinated options were group favorites - beef bulgogi and spicy pork. Most of the other meats were a bit lacking in flavor. The sauces & banchan helped but I would have hoped for more flavor from the proteins. Many side items were great and once ordered arrived quickly at the table. Favorites were kimchi, kimchi fried rice, daikon radish and cheese corn. Was fun and satisfying but plan on washing clothes when you get home.

Came on a Friday night with coworkers, and it was supeeerr busy. Parking lot is difficult, you have to weave through alleyways or other businesses and walk a bit. The wait was 40 minutes for 5 of us.Entering, the vibe was buzzy, inviting, and warm. We were comfortable in our area, had enough space to face each other with a meat grill in the center and a vent over us for steam to flow through. Service was great, they were very attentive and nice about cleaning out our grill. AYCE is $32 but happy hour is $29 after 9. Definitely recommend trying the beef belly and brisket, there's great marbling. you can order galbi, but only two orders each round. Sauces were very good, some banchan were hit or miss (steamed egg and salad meh, but love the kimchi pancake and cheese corn)!! Great spot to bring your friends and hang out in. I can see why it's busy!!

Great choice of meat, nice ambience, my fav Sculpin. Pretty decent service. Had a regular BBQ for two.