Han Il

Great lunch special, beef bulgolgi better than the chicken. great selection of side dishes

I came here for lunch with a bunch of co workers. We ordered 3 different appetizers which were all delicious. I noticed items on the menu had very vague Americanized names, which made it hard to determine if what I was ordering were the same things I use to love to eat. But aside from that everything we ordered was delicious and you also get all the awesome little pickled delicious goodies that are on the buffet thing. Along with that we also got cabbage soup and those Korean pancake things. I felt like I was visiting my Korean friend’s mom’s house and she was trying to stuff me with delicious food until I died. Good place. I will be back!

of all the Korean BBQ I’ve tried… from Koreana to soul Korea… this is by far the best one. of all the kbbq place on Dyer street, this is the place to be. I’ve tried them all. you can’t go wrong with the free appetizer they give you. they serve you a small salad and the cabbage soup and the best one… their Korean pancakes. that’s all free when you sit down and eat. I always get the kalbi (ribs) because you can
never go wrong with it. the all you can eat kimchi bar they have is a huge plus. free appetizers and great kalbi? what else could you ask for? :)

Pork, chicken, and beef bulgogi plates are slightly greasy but served in a good amount. Chop chae is also slightly more greasy than found typically. I grew up on Korean food. All side dishes were excellent. Especially the bean sprouts. They were fresh and didn’t have the dead ends on them (bean sprout pros will know what I’m talking about). Kimchee is a little too new so the flavor suffers a little, however there’s cabbage, cucumber, and turnip kimchee. A mandatory variety in my opinion. Overall great visit and many more returns.

Onion pancake is a little mushy in the middle and greasy. Would’ve liked it more if it was crispier. Not a lot of flavor. If the idea is to eat the pancake with the banchan then it works for sure.
Kimchee is good but a tad bit salty. Tried almost all of the stuff on their banchan buffet and everything I tried was good.
I ordered chicken bugolgi. The chicken was so tender it practically melted in my mouth. My only complain is that it’s a tad bit oily. Hubby ordered the chicken and vegetables and that one is a winner. The sauce is buttery and has a hint of sweetness at the same time. The chicken was so tender and the veggies are cooked just right.
A mom and pop place you don’t want to miss.

I tried this restaurant based the Unilocal reviews i had the kimchee soup and found it to be very good. It was very hot as well so don’t get it if you don’t like spicy food.
Service was great very attentive. Speed was about average but the so far I’ve enjoyed the food so will be back.

One of the best bbq Korean restaurants I have ever been to. The food is truly excellent. Small «mom and pop» place. Favorite dish is the Kobe BBQ Ribs. their «banchan bar» is truly one of the best that I have ever tried. We would actually order portions for the week when we would visit. Its THAT GOOD!

Authentic and delicious Korean food! One of our new favorite spots for Korean! The food was cooked well and I love that it’s a mom and pop type restaurant. I wish the dishes were bigger though. The place itself was clean and homely.
The buffet-​style side dish is an awesome idea. There are many choices, and they are all delicious!

I’ve been coming here for lunch for ten years with my mother. Even though I have experienced the greatness of Korea town in LA and the awesomeness of Chicago’s Korean restaurants, Han Il’s will always be my favorite. The owner is one of the kindest people I’ve met, and it’s so sweet to see her daughters helping their mom out both in the kitchen and with the customers. This is truly a family establishment, as most Korean restaurants are, but the food and people here make this restaurant my favorite. You get plentiful side dishes, and the lunch special is hard to beat. The Korean pancake is delicious and often on the house, and the bulgogi is just the right amount of sweet. The galbi is tender. I highly recommend this place!

Another great Korean place to go. Older Korean couple run this place. The «ban chan» is buffet style and you can get as much as you want. My favorite is the and the. Some of them can taste a little odd as they sit out all day.
Pro:
Spicy rice cake is really good, but super spicy and I handle heat very well
is buffet style
«Jap cheh» is really saucy and has a ton of flavor
K-​drama/​korean news plays on the TV (I’m still learning Korean)
Open on most days
Make certain dishes I can’t find in other restaurants
Con:
The is left out all day so some of the not so popular ones get cold/​stale
noodles are not the thick egg ones I really like
This place really saved me when I had to work on thanksgiving but didn’t want to eat at a fast food place near work. It definitely made me feel better even though I’m far from family.

Did I seriously go on a Asian food binge? Yes, yes I did! See my Koreana review to find out why. But Han IL is the finale to this Korean portion of this amazingly delicious binge.
Like so many places on Dyer (well in the northeast in general) HIL is a hole in the wall. But these tend to be my fave places. A younger me used to eat here on a daily basis… I was staying fairly close by and the only other real options were McDonalds or Wendy’s.
I’m pretty sure the owner and I are telepathically connected because my table is always available. I like to believe she kicks out anyone who even eyeballs my seat, but there is a decent amount of seating in HIL. All of the tables seat about 6 – 8, so if it’s packed just quickly grab a seat next to a stranger and stare them dead in the eyes until they look away because they understand you’re BOSS and this is now your table, you’re just allowing them to finish their meal at it… or you can ask if it’s okay if you take a seat. Whatever feels right.
I’ve had a ton of different dishes here and I’m a fan of all of them! The owner does a great job of preparing authentic Korean food and in a timely manner at that. I’d probably recommend any of the Korean BBQ dishes. Lunch portions are a tad small, but most of them are around 6.99. The soups are probably some of my favorites in EP. Here’s my dilemma: the sides. One of the things I love about eating at a Korean restaurant is the Kimchee, sweet cucumbers, and all those other delectable side dishes that so infamously come with your meal. HIL allows you to choose your own sides by grabbing them at this little rolling stainless steel bar. Everything’s cold. Some things should be cold, but not all. It kind of puts a damper on things. I will say I steer clear of the Kimchee here because I often find it too vinegary (is there even vinegar in Kimchee?). And with your meal you also get a simple cabbage soup and a vegetable pancake. They’re average in taste, but I always devour them!

This place is great! I’m a vegan, and they’re really good about substituting meat for tofu & veggies in their rice dishes. The atmosphere is very calm and relaxing, and everyone is very nice. Usually they have on KBS (the Korean Broadcasting System) on low volume on the TV, which is actually nice to have on for the background noise. With your meal they also give you a large assortment of Korean appetizers (Banchan) to eat with your rice, which includes kimchee, seaweed, bean sprouts, cucumber, potatoes, tofu, etc. There’s always something for everyone!

Best Korean short ribs in El Paso. We used to go to Seoul Restaurant down the street but the quality of the beef here at Han Il is much better. There’s nothing fancy about this place, but there’s good authentic Korean food here. I was raised on it, so I should know. :) Never disappointed.

My husband and I have been here several times since just moving here a couple of months ago. We love Korean food so try to find a place or two to go whenever we have to move somewhere. Around El Paso, sometimes it is hard to find a place that has authentic Korean or any Asian food because they throw a Mexican twist to it, which isn’t always the tastiest thing. But not here– it is true Korean food and SOOO good! You can taste the years upon years of tradition cooked right in. Like others said– Mom & Pop type of place that you should definitely try out.
For the life of me I can’t remember what I had the first time we went in, I think chicken teriyaki, whatever it was it was good. The beef bulgogi has such a nice sauce on it. Sometimes you’ll go into a place and you’re not quite sure it was cooked fresh– well here everything always is such a clean, fresh taste! The only thing we haven’t been a fan of so far was the appetizer dumplings. Other than that, everything is so good. and for the price, you can’t beat it!
Go– you’ll love it!

Still pretty good Kim chi is how I like it but a dash too much salt this time. I had the ramen today and it wasn’t bad. It seems something was missing, service was good and food came quick I was there for lunch and I got full and wasn’t late for work.

El Paso really needs to keep this place open! It’s one of the few diamonds in the rough that I’ve been able to find in the short time i’ve been in EP. I’ve had a lot of korean food in my lifetime both in South Korea and also in NYC and LA. This place is really on par with what you’d find in a decent Korean restaurant in all of those places. They have an awesome assortment of banchan (little free side dishes). If you’re not sure about what to get, go with the kalbi/​songdubu combo or the kalbi/​nang mien combo at like 12 bucks which is a steal. Don’t be startled if it looks empty when you walk in, and I probably don’t need to say this but you’re not going for the ambiance, just the honestly good Korean food.

Friendly little neighborhood restaurant.
I avoided this place for a long time because the sign outside says «Korean/​Chinese». Living in Texas for the last couple of years, I’ve seen so many generic Asian restaurants with the slash in the name usually with a vague menu for people who don’t know the difference (i.e. menus with chow mein AND terriyaki! yuck!). So being that there are so few Korean restaurants in El Paso, I tried this place anyways, and my snooty attitude was quite humbled.
Yes, there is Chinese food on the menu, but the menu also has most everything you find in a typical Korean restaurant. (I really loved their squid dish and the spicy pork.) There is a self-​service «banchan bar» that even has sliced up hot-​dogs (can’t get more authentic than that!).
There’s nothing special about the ambiance, but hey, who really cares as long as it’s clean and comfy! They have the requisite TV as well :) The lady who takes your order is super nice and can give suggestions on what to eat.
Also, I’ve only eaten dinner here, but the lunch specials look like really good deals if you’re on a budget.

Banchan was tasty and fresh. The Kimbap was awesome, the interior was nothing fancy but the service as fast and friendly. The big old tube television with rabbit ears was quaint and I watched an old ‘50s western as I enjoyed lunch. Also, the lunch specials won’t break the bank. It’s definitely on the list for next time I’m in EPDN!

Better late than never! I forgot I bookmarked this place to review =/​. So when did I eat here? Labor Day Weekend 2011… the day I left El Paso, Tx! =)…like I said, «Better late than never!» So went to visit my sister, brother-​in-​law, and nephew over the Labor Day Weekend. My first time there since they moved back to my bro-in-law’s hometown over a year ago. Yes, it’s a border town. Yes, it’s the Bushs’ home state. Yes, it’s the desert. Funny thing is, I kept thinking I was in San Diego, where my sis and her fam used to live. Only, we were surrounded by mountains and desert. No water in sight, except for the Rio Grande down near the border. Oh, it’s also a military town (Army). But I’m not here to talk about El Paso. I’m here to talk about Han IL… where I had the best Kalbi ever!!! =).
Being that El Paso is a military town, there are a lot of fast food places catering to the military families who live there (almost like San Diego). Little did I see any family owned restaurants. The day I left to go back home happened to be Labor Day, so a lot of the few family-​owned restaurants were open. My flight didn’t leave until mid-​afternoon, so we decided to have an early lunch. We drove around deciding what to eat. Fast food was out of the question, so we tried a Chinese restaurant, but it was closed. Then my sister remembered this Korean restaurant located in a mini strip mall that she wanted to try, so we drove here. We were in luck! It was open.
Small restaurant, and friendly owners. Husband and wife I believe. There were only two people eating there when we walked-​in. The sign outside said Korean/​Chinese, but their menu also showed chicken teriyaki, so I guess Korean/​Chinese/​Japanese?. My nephew loves chicken teriyaki, so we ordered that along with their fried dumplings (potstickers), kalbi, rice… and I think that’s it. I’m having a senior moment =) (this is what I get for not writing a revew of this place sooner). So we started out with their banchan (small dishes). They had a separate area for that. I guess you can say buffet style?. So much to choose from, but I settled on their kim chee, seaweed, and daikon radish. (I went back for more when our main entrees arrived.) Besides the banchan, we started out with a small salad. Then a fried onion crêpe was brought out with it’s own dipping sauce. It was really good. Then our main dishes were brought out. The chicken teriyaki was okay. My nephew didn’t eat a lot of it because he said it tasted and looked different from other chicken teriyakis he’s had. I should mention that he is a picky eater. It was diced chicken sauteed in teriyaki sauce. The fried dumplings were yum. It reminded me of these Chinese tacos my sisters and I used to get at place called Joe Jung’s here in S.F. back in the late 70’s. Yes, these dumplings brought back old-​school S.F. memories for me =D. The star of our lunch had to be the kalbi hands down. It was grilled to perfection and so tasty and tender. OMG, it was the best kalbi I’ve ever had. The second would be Me BBQ in Oahu, and third would be Hawaiian Drive-​Inn on Mission St. here in the City. I wish I had some to eat right now… Mmmmmm =).
So, if ever you’re in El Paso, Texas on the southeast side, come here for the best kalbi ever!!!

I’ve been to Han IL a few times and it’s a great place to get Korean food on the Northeast side of town. The restaurant is clean, they have a TV, and the waitresses are very nice. I’ve only gone for the lunch specials, which I definitely recommend.
The meal starts off with a bowl of cabbage soup that’s simple but tasty. Just broth, that’s lightly peppered and the boiled cabbage. Then they bring over a thin and crispy Korean pancake (Pan Jun I think) which includes veggies. The dipping sauce is a must when eating this.
For the main dish, I usually get the chicken bulgogi or pork bulgogi which are both very tasty. They are seasoned meat that are still sizzling when served on a hot plate with rice. The assortment of pickled items comes next. There is kimchee of course and a bunch of other items including potatoes, sprouts, lettuce, tofu and fish. I recommend trying each as you’ll figure out which one you like the best.
The price for lunch is great too. I can usually get out of there for less than 15 bucks for two people and I’ve always had left overs so it becomes more than one meal each time I visit. Give this place a shot if you like good Korean food.