Bbop Korean Restaurant

I have to admit, I’m a bit disappointed. The reason for my disappointment is that I have been wanting to try this place for a while now and when I got off at the Sheridan El, much to my surprise, they had a sign that said «Closed For Remodeling.» Please open up soon, so I can give you a whirl and write a better review once I actually get to taste your Korean goodness!

As of the week of 09/​22, Bbop is closed due to remodeling.

This is a nifty little hole in the wall that is so neighborhoody-​homey feeling that it’s almost like you’ve walked into the funky apartment of some of your hipster guy friends and they’ve said, «Hey, we’re going to cook you up some homemade Korean comfort food. No worries, it’ll just take a sec. Go sit down.» And it’s really good and then you just happen to give them $ 7.
Conveniently located within spitting distance of the Sheridan red line stop, this is a great place for a satisfying meal on short notice and a tight budget. With a *very* limited menu (just the most newbie-​friendly mainstream Korean dishes like bi bim bop and japchae), I’d almost call it Korean fast food if not for the fact that it’s high-​quality and cooked to order. The food is simple, tasty, and very fresh, and well-​prepared.
There’s really nothing not to like about this place. The guys hanging out in the tiny kitchenette behind the counter are laid back and nice and cook up a mean japchae. The décor is cute, casual and funky with interesting art for sale on the walls and random tables and chairs that someone must have gotten from his mom’s old kitchen. The prices are beyond reasonable for what you get and the place just has a good vibe overall. It’s nothing fancy — not the kind of place that you’d go out of the way to get to, but certainly a the perfect spot for fresh, quick, and tasty Korean if you’re in the area.

For the limited places to eat in the area, BBop was a nice choice. One word to better describe BBop and the word itself, SIMPLE. They only have 3 items on the menu (so it’s limited) but it’s great for vegetarians being that the dishes are primarily rice, noodles and vegetables. The entrees also include a soda pop with a total price of $ 6 or so. You can also add meat like spicy chicken, tofu and bulgoki (Korean beef, which I personally recommend). A good choice if you’re in the mood for something different and definitely HEALTHY.

Korean style snack shop as told by wiry hipsters.
We stopped in for a casual dinner. Wife ordered kalbi bibimbop and brown rice, I had the kalbi japchae. Meat pieces were cut pretty small. Pretty monochrome brown bowl for me but wife’s bibimbop had good veg in it.
Started with a forgivable/​forgettable appetizer, some kinda frozen then fried dumpling thingy.
Great service. Real nice guys. Very cheap. Tasted great. Belly full.
There was no art up during our visit but I understand that’s usually not the case.
Sitting up front in the window was fun. Watching street life around that el stop is always interesting.
So. Nothing fancy, but satisfying and unpretentious. We’ll be back.

3.25
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY.
Here’s the good:
First, I am glad there’s a new Korean place by my house outside of Korea town.
Second, the food is actually comparable to some of the upscale Korean restaurants & the traditional ones in this city.
Here’s the bad:
The poor waiter working there doubles as a cashier and cook… so TIP HIM WELL and the wait is around 15 – 20 minutes.
Here’s the ugly:
Small portions of meat, not many if any sides given with meal (not the way a traditional Korean meal is prepared), tiny food choice selection, dingy dining area and the Kalbi sauce isn’t that great.
However, the good food & location make up for the bad and the ugly.

Totally awesome Korean-​style food, huge portions served in a bowl and meant to be scooped up with a spoon (only use chopsticks for side dishes or noodles, just like Thai).
The Bbop mix (also known as Bibimbap) was great and my friend was even more excited that brown rice could be substituted. I just wish they would bring back the kimbap…

This place was pretty darn good. They are definitely fast, which they manage by having a simple limited menu. They were really nice and the food was fresh. One thing, since they don’t tell you; if you order something with the fried egg on top, the egg will be runny. It’s yummy if that’s your thing.

I’m not qualified to judge whether this place is authentically Korean (I have no idea)… but I can say that the two meals I’ve had here have been delicious.
The portion sizes are massive, menu is pretty simple and straight-​forward (read: small), and it’s hard to spend more than $ 10 in this joint. I’ve tried one of the rice bowls and one of the noodle bowls, both with chicken. I was impressed with each dish, especially the chicken — and whatever Korean marinade they used. Consider using the sauce that they bring out with your food — it adds spiciness and flavor.
I was a little disappointed with the reheated version of the food — not nearly as great as the first time around.
Service at this place can be a little slow, but the servers are nice. And often it is a one-​man band, which explains the extra time to complete your order. All in all, a great place to drop in for some relatively healthy meals.

I’ve been here two times — both for take out. First time, I went out of curiosity. I was kinda disappointed the first time. The rice was too overcooked and smelled «off». The bulgogi was almost decent but tasted like it was boiled cooked instead of hard seared cooked (big difference). The guys were nice enough and their makeshift kitchen was interesting — four portable burners.
The second time, the portions were considerably smaller (again, we ordered bulgogi). But, the rice and meat were cooked were better. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time wondering why every bite I took hurt my teeth. Turns out, there were very small chips of meat bone in my bulgogi.
So, all in all — I’ll give it one more chance and hopefully the meat and rice will be cooked perfectly, the portions will be a little bigger and I won’t find meat bone bits in my bulgogi.
*Also, if you do get the bulgogi upgrade with veggies.

Want real Korean food? Well, you ain’t gonna get it here!
Bulgogi marinade was not authentic at all — it tasted like jar marinade (yes, you can buy marinade in a jar, buy beef, and make it yourself, and it would’ve been comparable). I had yook gae jang — a spicy soup, and it’s supposed to come with a lot of veggies — it was just flavorless soup, barely any veggies. Drive the extra 5 miles and go to Korea-​town. Much better food for much better prices. The rice in microwavable bowls taste better too.
Not worth the 1 mile travel.

Cold day. Exiting from the Sheridan Red Line stop. Hmmm. Soup would be nice. Korean joint right underneath the El.
No. 10: Kook-​Soo: Vegetable soup with choice of rice cakes or vermicelli-​rice noodles in a spicy or mild fish or beef broth; you pick. Picked spicy fish broth. HUGE portion; enough for the two of us. Cost: $ 5.75. Delicious.
I’m definitely going back to try more. The place is very clean. The one guy working there could not have been more pleasant and eager to please.
The attempt, as described on the menu, «to showcase new and original work from emerging and established artists» might be a little lame. I tried to like the stuff on the walls, but I didn’t get it. It looked real mish-​mashy weird to me; I think it was some kind of abstract geometric thing in oil. Also, I had just come from the Art Institute. So, maybe my persepective was skewed. It doesn’t matter.
Best part: they deliver. Minor problem: at the moment their URL doesn’t work, so if you want to order in you need a hard copy of their menu. But here’s the URL:

Korean food in Lakeview? AWESOME! The dudes that worked there were nice. The food was good and help soothed my upset-​from-​drinking stomach ache. I got the veggie soup and it was chock-​full of zucchini and tofu a mélange of other veggies. I wanna try their other menu items. A nice alternative when I don’t want to make the trek to my normal Korean spot up on California and Foster. Place has a bit of a hip hop feel… and I wouldn’t be surprised if the dudes were like sneaker heads, graf writers, or bboys. I love it!

Want some Korean food fast? Definitely stop by here. It’s conveniently located right next to the red line and is employeed by a very nice waitstaff that are very helpful.
One favorite thing about this place is that you can have a choice between white rice and brown rice for your dishes. Also, even being «fast food» things are made very fresh. The first time I ordered mandoo they rolled the dumplings fresh in front of me before frying.
I’ve ordered the bbop mix (bi bim bop) which is has lots of fresh veggies, meat and the best part: a fried egg. I’ve tried their jpachae and also their yuki-​jang.
I’m a true Korean food lover — and I believe their yuki-​jang is my favorite around! Everytime I’ve visitted, they haven’t failed to make sure I don’t walk out without my side of kimchi!
I really hope this business does well, it’s one of my favorites in the neighborhood.

The only complaint I had about Bbop was that the rice was a bit hard. BUT other than that, the food was delicious and the guys that work there are extremely helpful.
I recently moved from Los Angeles and have been looking for a place to chow down on some fast Korean food and this is definitely the spot to get some bibimbop.
I’m definitely going to include this restaurant in my rotation.

When this restaurant first opened, I thought to myself… Korean food, really? Then again, I was just thrilled to have another empty storefront disappear from my ‘hood.
I finally stopped in here one day, and holy Moses, is this stuff good!
The food is geared towards Korean food newbies, like me. It’s more fast food Korean than lengthy, take all night Korean food. The owner is an absolute peach. She treats everyone like family. In fact, all of their employees are extremely friendly. If you have any questions about the food, they are more than willing to help.
My absolute favorite dish is the Japchae with beef. I had it last night and it was just bursting with flavor. It’s always been a good dish, but I don’t remember it being this fabulous! Don’t even get me started on the portions to price ratio. $ 5.75 for a heaping bowl of Japchae. Yeah, that will do.
So, why are you still reading this? Get your butt over to BBop. Go, get out of here!

Very, very nice waitstaff. They recognized we have never been there or had that much Korean foods before. They hooked us up with beef and rice that was ok. I dunno, I was expecting a bit more flavor. The best part was the spicy soy sauce. I think I had a whole bottle in there. I am not giving up though I was just looking for more. 3 stars for the awesome people that work there!

This is a tiny little nook that has free wifi and serves fast food Korean (all-​you-​can-​eat kim chee with every entrée!). The owner is incredibly sweet and friendly, and it looks like she plans on using the restaurant to showcase local artists. Best of all — the food’s *really* cheap! I definitely plan on going back, and I hope my neighbors in Uptown check this place out.

this lil’ cookin’ nook satiated my korean food craving just fine. it’s not a traditional korean restaurant, it’s more of a fast food/​take out place. it was quick and convenient which was nice.
this is normally a counter service place but since we were the only ones there, the man behind the counter was nice enough to bring the food to us.
we ordered the spicy chicken bowl and the spicy chicken reminded me of my mom’s cooking. mmm…
what’s cute about this place is that they sell asian soda pop and other asian goodies.
they also have free wi-​fi which is always a plus for me. =D
rice with a smile and free wi-​fi. i don’t know why people wouldn’t want to come check out this place.

I was a little excited when I noticed that a vacant building in my neighborhood would soon be a Korean restaurant. I hadn’t ever tried Korean cuisine! I stopped in tonight to check the place out. Wow! The décor is really cool and funky. They have local art hanging on the walls, and it’s not the regular bad coffeeshop local art. Really cool.
Bbop is one of those places that when you first walk in, you’re not sure whether to have a seat or step up to the counter to order. So I stepped up and selected a beef and rice dish (I couldn’t pronounce it) and some dumplings. The staff here were some of the friendliest people that I have ever met. They seemed really excited about the place as well.
The beef was brilliantly marinated and came with a spicy soy sauce that was tops. The lady made the dumplings from scratch right in front of me, and they were tasty too. I think I will be at Bbop often.
Seriously, if you are ever near the Sheridan Red Line stop, check this place out!