Yori Q Korean Grill & Bar

Went to Yori Q for the first time with some work mates. The plus side of our experience… very friendly waitress, prompt service and a clean dining room. We ordered appetizers and lunchboxes. The food was delicious and given only 2 out of 5 of us had ever had Korean food it was delicious enough for us to want to try more Korean food. The food was just the amount of spice and flavor. Our appetizers were the Pork-​buns and the highly recommended Corn Jeon. It was all delicious. But, here’s the reason for the 3 stars instead of 5. It was the unrelenting music that was being played in the dining room.
The music played during service was very loud and frenetic rap music. I don’t have anything against rap music, in fact i love some rap music… in a night club. However I do find very loud and heart-​pounding, glass shaking music to be unappetizing and mood spoiling when you are trying to have a conversation and enjoy eating a nice meal. We equally all felt like we had to eat quickly and shout as the music did nothing to add to the dining experience. Some of us will probably go again but the dining experience with the added loud music was definitely off-​putting.

Love the food here. The crab pot is really nice.

A small but elegant restaurant. I believe Corn Jeon, Bulgogi, plus Dolsot Bibimbap would be a fairly great meal for 2 – 3 people. (A little bit too much for 2, but not enough for 3 cuz it is so delicious!)
Maybe try dduk hot pot next time.

I’d visited this place years ago before it was called «Yori». The downside is that it doesn’t seem like the new owners have done anything to improve the physical restaraunt. The upside is that the food doesn’t seem to care and still decides to taste good.
As others have noted, get the corn jeon, even though it’s clearly a zillion calories.
I’m removing two stars because the area where we were seated was extremely cold (drafty windows and maybe they were also keeping the heat low). It was pretty uncomfortably cold. But I’m adding a star back because the staff was very friendly and enthusiastic about serving us even though the place was empty and it was late.
I’d like to go back, and eat some more.

I’m going to start out by saying that I know absolutely nothing about Korean food. I came here because my husband and I wanted to try out a new restaurant and, based on the menu and pictures, this place seemed cool. We loved it! We particularly enjoyed the oduk kochi and the chap cake with green tea ice cream. I recommend sansachun to drink (it’s a berry rice wine, sweeter than grape wine). We’ll definitely eat here again!

Let’s set the expectation: Does Yori Q claim to be redefining the Korean food scene and pioneering new methods and flavors? Nah. Do they charge you an arm and a leg for everything on the menu, and make pretty, precious food? Nope. But are they a stuffy old Ma-​and-​Pop shop? Nope, not that either.
Here’s my take on what’s going on. They’re young and they’re excited. They’re showing respect to the old school, but still bringing things out a la bento and they’re eager to please. I had tremendously attentive service, a nice convo with the manager, and it was a pretty affordable affair. Not sure what there is to dislike there?
We came in and sat down (full waiter situation) and wanted a late lunch. I got a little beef bulgogi, and chose the tofu soup to go with it (you get a few choices). The soup was mellow and silky, not quite a soodubu jigae, because it was sans cabbage, but more like a sipping broth with copious amounts of soft tofu.
The bulgogi was good, and for the price, I thought the portion was fair. Of course it came with a few traditional sides — kimchi, cabbage salad, shredded potato — and it was a nice all around dish. I saw the bibimbap as well, and it looked to be plenty hearty and probably worth the few extra bucks.
The service was kind and our server was very willing to please. Water was filled frequently, and they brought the food out quickly. Everything was quick, and we were treated to a simple meal at a reasonable price. Nothing to complain about!

I usually order a bulgogi plate the first time I visit a Korean restaurant, which serves as a basis for comparison. The bulgogi here is bad. Mine came out watery. Bulgogi is supposed to be grilled meat, it should never be watery! It’s served on top of a layer of onions, but no round cabbage. Worst bulgogi I’ve had in C-​U. Spoon House does it better, as do Arirang and Woori Jib. There’s another place called Yori Q in West Lafayette (unrelated, as far as I can tell) that is also much better.

not sure if I shall try the 3^rd time. Ordered the beef hotpot ($ 29) and ramen ricecake hotpot ($ 16) add cheese (+$ 3) the second time.
The beef hotpot was ok, but overly seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. I remember I had to drinks tons of water afterwards. Second time went for a cheaper choice bearing in mind that sometimes price does not justify quality. However the ricecake hotpot was terrible… excessively spicy, sweet, and was undercooked. ramen and ricecake shall be softer imo.
Service was good and I heard many good words about this place. Not sure if I’ll try again. Still wanna give a shot though.

I’ve been here at least 4 times only because it was delicious at first — I liked their donkatsu and kimchi stew. Delicious combination!
The last time I went, the donkatsu sauce changed completely and does not taste anything like any donkatsu sauce that I’ve tasted. Disappointed and won’t be coming here for donkatsu.
On the bright side, their corn jeon is delicious. Also, their seulong tang is delicious.
My cousin got the ramen last time and I think they put cheese in the ramen. He said it was okay — probably not recommended.
I would recommend this place for certain dishes and hopefully the recipe does not change.

This is my new favorite place! I would always drag my boyfriend here and he would never complain (he fell in love as well). We are still working on trying everything on the menu. We love the Corn Jeon the most and that’s what make us come back to this place! Always great service! :)

This is a good get-​together place for friends. Food is generally good. I especially like the corn jeon and the bulgogi mini-​burgers. Hot pots are good, too.

This is my third review on this retaurant, and this time I really can’t say anything other than this.
You must visit this restaurant and order all-​you-​can-​eat-​grill.
I’m pretty sure that you’ll rate this review as ‘useful’ after the first dish.

Best Korean restaurant in champaign urbana hands down. They’ve raised the prices recently but the food is definitely worth it. A must get is the corn jeon, or gamja jungal (I think that’s what it is called). They recently decreased the portion size of the dolsot bimbamp which is slightly dissapointing but oh well. Bubble tea here is also one of the best I’ve had but not sure if it is worth $ 5. Gonna try kbbq on Wednesday.

Checked out Yori Q for late lunch/​dinner and ordered the bibimbap.
The good:
For $ 10, there was plenty of food considering I got multiple banchan side dishes and a soup. Everything tasted great and, most importantly, the service was amazing. I was there for maybe 45 minutes and I was asked if I needed anything at least 6 times.
The bad:
While everything was great, the bibimbap left more to desire in regards to the bulgogi. It was one of those instances where I felt like I took 3 bites of meat and the rest was rice and veggies. But it was only $ 10, so can’t complain too much.
Overall, Yori Q is a great Korean food option in the area and I’ll definitely be back eventually.

Went here today for lunch after hearing a lot of good reviews. To say the least, most of the food was quite good with the exception of a few things.
The spicy pork bulgogi was coated quite well with a standard gochujang (spicy sauce) with marinade. The meat itself is a decent cut that comes sparingly with fat portions. Overall it was a pleasant taste, however, I still think K-​Bowl wins in the meat category, hands-​down. 4-​star here. I tried the ojinguh bokkeum (spicy stir fried squid) and found it to be slightly better, as the squid was cooked to just the right texture, as well as the sauce being more flavorful. 4.5-stars for the squid.
As for kimchi jjigae, this was perhaps the most disappointing part of the meal, and may have been a fluke considering I’ve heard mostly good things about their soups. The soup tasted over-​stewed and most of the normal «kick» of the flavor was boiled out… 2-​star here.
As for the remainder dishes, the sides were OK at best. Fish cake, macaroni, and assorted tempura, which was fried way too long. The corn jeon (pan-​fried korean corn pancake) starter was quite good, perhaps the highlight of the meal — overall a rather sweet and rich taste with a nice soft texture. 1-​star for the sides but 4.5-stars for the corn jeon.
Overall, if only taste and preparation was accounted for I would give it a 3.5÷5, but for the cost ($ 11 – 14 for soup and meat with sides) it certainly deserves a 4-​star.
Update ⁹⁄₂₃:
Ordered the same lunch combo but with soon tofu jjigae, which was much better. Sides were perfect this time as well. Definitely good enough for a ⁵⁄₅ this time.

Excellent food, friendly and knowledgeable service, fair prices. I don’t get to Champaign often, but I wouldn’t hesitate to come back to Yori Q.
This was the first time I tried Korean food. Lucy was our server and she was awesome. Very helpful in making suggestions for lunch and she patiently explained what everything was to four old guys. The food came out quickly and everything was piping (do people still say that?) hot. The soup, served in a stone bowl, was still boiling.
Highly recommended.

Came in for lunch, a week after they opened. I was seated right away and the waiter was super friendly! He suggested going for a bento box over their «fusion» fare because they hadn’t perfected it yet… but assured me that the authentic korean fare was spot on. I ordered the bulgogi bento box and boy was he right! It was excellent! I inhaled everything in a matter of minutes… Not sure what everything was (bulgogi, tempura, rice, a macaroni type of salad and then these gelatinous type of things) but it was great! I also ordered the kimchi soup and that was great too but it took me a while to finish because it was almost too spicy for me. Everything came out to $ 11. A welcome addition to Champaign! Thank goodness they replaced Kamakura… that place definitely needed to go!

I went every Korean/​Asian restaurant near U of I and Yori Q have the best bulgogi on campus. Service is very nice and friendly.

Giving Yori Q a ⁴⁄₅ rating with a caveat to be explained later. Suffice it to say with one exception, the food was excellent and I’ll definitely be returning often to eat here. Review is based upon taste, service, and value metrics.
First taste. We ordered a boodae jungol, corn pahjun, egg jjim, and some spicy dahk bbq stuff.
I’m going to go ahead and mention the «exception» mentioned earlier. Anything on their menu which is a hot plate or whatever, with spicy bulgogi, pork or chicken… I would stay away from all of those items. Our dahk bbq hot dish thing was an abomination. The chicken was not cleaned, so we were eating huge pieces of fat, unrendered skin. And on top of that, they cooked the chicken, but they did not get rid of the grisly cooked chicken blood. It should be a standard practice to clean the chicken, and once its cooked to skim off any grisly cooked blood so that the customer isn’t eating that. But every mouthful of it is either fat and skin, paired with a goopy, and grisly cooked chicken blood consistency. It was basically inedible. I’ll go ahead and throw in the value aspect of these dishes as well. At the 14 dollar price point, everything in that section of the menu is the biggest rip off. Portion size did not at all justify the price point, paired with the horrible blandness, fat, unrendered skin, and grisly chicken blood… if I could give a ⁰⁄₅ on the basis of this dish alone I would. But the fact of the matter is, everything in that submenu of hot dishes is a complete rip off, and until they double the portion sizes of all of those dishes, and remedy their preparation issues, I would stay far away from all of those items.
NOW, with that horrible exception out of the way… the good news is, the corn pahjun, egg jjim, and all of the ban chan they gave us was absolutely perfect and excellent. The Corn pahjun, where it looked WAY overdressed and oversauced, it was actually quite balanced. A little more acid in the sauce would have been nice, but it was delicious nonetheless. The egg jjim was more or less a test of execution of a classic ban chan, which they did well. It was delicious and well prepared. The boodae jungol was also quite excellent. I think my defacto standard for boodae jungol is at san soo gab san in Chicago. And on the basis of taste, Yori Q’s interpretation of it was right on par. It was just enough spicy. They did put a bunch of «cheap meat» in it like spam, and hotdogs, and didn’t put any premium meat in it, like chadulbaegee, and put VERY LITTLE samgyepsahl, so it didn’t really meet expectations as far as ingredients both in protein and veggies, but it at least tasted good.
So aside from the exception that is that dahk bbq, (which should get a –50 out of 5), I will give the rest of the meal a ⁵⁄₅. Very delicious.
Service. Service was great. A guy named Andrew was our server. He was excellent, warranting a giant tip. If you go to Yori Q, request that Andrew be your server, he was excellent, knowledgeable, and friendly. He will no doubt make your dining experience improve on his demeanor, and excellence as a server alone. In general the food was ordered, and came out in a short time. Our server was attentive, refilling our drinks and ban chan, and being receptive to our comments on the food. ⁵⁄₅ easily on service.
Some things they could have done better with our boodae jungol is to cut the ramen noodles, and provided a better array of veggies, and premium meats in it. The extremely long ramen noodles made it impossible to serve out the boodae into smaller cups without lifting your arm 5 feet above the wok, all the while hot boodae juice is falling and splashing all over your clothes.
Value. So again, with the hot dishes as an exception, meaning the dahk bbq we got, and every other item in that submenu, I easily give Yori Q a ⁵⁄₅ on value. Though I will say, if they do not correct the portion sizes and preparation problems with those dishes the next time we go, their overall rating will drop on this review to a ²⁄₅. But the boodae jungol was reasonably priced since it was delicious, and the appetizers were not terribly overpriced. Even with the horrible dahk bbq, our ticket was $ 52 before tip, which, if you remove the dahk bbq from the equation, it was very reasonable. So again, aside from the hot dishes, bbq dishes sub menu, Yori Q gets a ⁵⁄₅ on value.
All in all a ⁴⁄₅ experience I think. They will get repeat business from us. And we’ll see if they lower the prices on the hot dishes, double the portion sizes, and correct the preparation issues. Hopefully I won’t be coming back to this review and stamping a ²⁄₅ stars on it. All things considered, Yori Q is a good place to go, just be sure you ask people what to get before you go, lest you end up with a mouth full of creamy cooked chicken blood, unrendered chicken skin, and chicken fat to eat with your rice.

*Only about 60% of the menu has been released so far. I’m excited to see the rest!
Food– They don’t skimp on their portions. I went with one other friend & we ordered the Bulgogi Jeongol & we had more than enough for a third person. Even perfect for a group of 4, if you want to eat a satisfying amount & know that you will get dessert afterwards ;) Side dishes were all very good too — just wish they had offered about 2 – 3 more.
Service– Really good & quick. Very friendly too! They’re really good about filling up waters, empty side dishes, & such.
I can’t wait for their dessert bar & grill area to open up!