Ive lost count how many times ive been here, and i will continue to do so. Great place to hang out with friends and chill. I always get their Gangnam fries, VEggie pancake, and garlic wings. Their bulgogi rice is pretty good too. Dont forget their happy hour. The place is a gutted house that they placed a bar in one end and a karaōke stage on the other. not as intimate, but its very chill. servers are very very very nice and attentive.
Rita V.
Classificação do local: 3 San Jose, CA
We came here for dinner, and K-Pop café has a small parking lot in the back of the restaurant. The fries here are delicious. I really enjoyed the gangnam style fries, which had bulgogi beef mixed with mozzarella cheese. The large is enough to share with 2 people. This was definitely my favorite dish! The chicken wings are ok here. The sweet and spicy wing has a little kick to it. The regular wing needed a dipping sauce. Overall, its a good place to hang out with friends. There is a huge karaōke screen, but I didn’t get a chance to see anyone sing.
Gabby H.
Classificação do local: 1 San Leandro, CA
I’m so torn on how I feel about this place. The first time I visited the café I came with my friend. My friend ordered a pitcher of the peach yogurt soju and the gangnam fries. I loved the atmosphere and the soju gave me a pretty good buzz. I came here a SECONDTIME. This time I decided to invite friends since I spoke highly of the café. Now, I’m not sure if it was because my group of friends weren’t the typical asian clientele that the café is used to but immediately as we sit down I can see all 3 of the waitress’s stare at us. I brush it off and try to maintain positive for the group. One of my friends orders soju and two of us show our ID to the waitress(the one who has the permanently pissed off«stank» face) since no one else wanted to drink. She then goes on and tells us that we will only be receiving two glasses for our pitcher. Yeah, I get it. Businesses’ don’t want to get fined, whatever. I just found this funny because my group of primarily hispanic friends was being supervised meanwhile, a large group of loud, drunk korean’s were sitting right behind us with not a single stare. Anyways, a few moments later my other friend decides she wants to drink as well. She calls over a different waiter and shows her ID in order to receive another glass. He then tells her okay and walks away. We realized that he probably forgot about giving her a glass seeing as he passed by the fridge that carries them about 15 times so my friend just asks if one of us can give her a shot in their glass. As soon as my friend presses her lips against the shot glass the stank face waitress runs across the room and tells her she can’t do that. We then tell her that her incompetent co-worker saw her ID and he forgot to bring her glass. That whole ordeal pissed me off enough to leave with a sour taste and to also leave the waitress with no tip. My piece of advice? Come here with an asian friend like I did. Otherwise, be ready to show your ID at the door and have someone watch every move you make.
Alvin Z.
Classificação do local: 4 Elk Grove, CA
This place has some very delicious food. I ordered their dumpling ramen and it was alright. The broth is definitely different than the Japanese one. The Korean ramen had less soup and the broth was less flavorful. Still good but different than what I’m used to. The bogolgi fries were delicious and their burger with the egg(sorry forgot the names) were delicious! Definitely worth a try!
Sarah T.
Classificação do local: 5 Castro Valley, CA
I had my daughters 8 th grade promotion party and I have come here several times to eat. The food is excellent and I live to come here
Lincy H.
Classificação do local: 5 Union City, CA
So 2 years later I am here to update my review from 4 stars to 5 stars because I seriously had one of the best nights ever! After day drinking in Napa for our friend’s 25th birthday, someone thought it would be a good idea to continue the celebration with more drinking at Kpop! Thankfully, we were able to snag one of the last tables on a Saturday night at 8pm for 9 people. We fueled up with some food first. My boyfriend and I shared the kimchi fried rice with bulgogi and an order of the 6pc soy garlic chicken wings. The fried rice was greasy and delicious. The wings were a bit dry and could’ve used a bit more flavor, but they kept us filled for the night. As I mentioned before, gangnam fries are a must! For alcohol, we ordered multiple rounds of soju cocktail, soju, and beer. And from there started a crazy fun night. I normally dislike karaōke(I prefer jamming in my car), but I guess the alcohol really changed that for me this time. My friends went up and were literally putting on a show. Soon, other people from other tables came to join them and then everyone in the room was singing their hearts out to all the best throwback songs. Good food, good music, good service, good company, good vibes all around! Next morning I woke up feeling extremely content and pleased with life, hahaha! Thank you K-Pop for the poppin’ time!
Shannon L.
Classificação do local: 3 Fremont, CA
Chicken wings were small but the meat tasted tough and old. Maybe they were fried too long? Left out too long? Sweet and spicy was accurate. Soy garlic tasted like they forgot the soy and the garlic. 10 for $ 13 but I think they threw in a couple extra pieces.
Eunice K.
Classificação do local: 3 San Jose, CA
Soju– check Friendly staff– check Then life is good. I honestly come here almost every week on Friday for some quality time with soju… I mean friends. I usually just order soju but their food is okay. Nothing amazing and nothing offensive. Really cool and nice staff. They do have yogurt and cocktail sojus if that’s your thing. They’re also more true to keeping it a Korean bar theme with their décor of kpop posters and music.
Julie P.
Classificação do local: 4 Livermore, CA
The food is surprisingly authentic for a place that’s called what it’s called. Me and Asian Freckles came here on a Saturday night at 6:00, and the place was completely empty. Fortunately, word spread that the hottest couple in town was at K-Pop, and by 9:00, the place was bumpin’. We had the Kimchi Fried Rice(I only ordered it because it has spam, and I was right, because it was delish), bulgogi, and the gangnam style fries(again, only ordered because it had the words ‘gangnam’ and ‘style’, but ended up being surprisingly good). PLUS, we used our Unilocal coupon to get a $ 12 pitcher of Peach Yogurt flavored Soju, and couldn’t even finish the pitcher because I promised my boo that I wouldn’t throw any more all-night ragers. THEBESTPART is that they play HILARIOUS korean pop music videos on their multiple TVs. It is so funny to watch these videos and to thank god that my boo doesn’t look like one of those? male korean singers who wear eyeliner and lipstick, and would definitely look prettier than me if they wore a wig. It’s also really funny to read the lyrics, and to substitute words(ie replace«reaction» with«erection», and let the laughs begin). Overall, I want to come back to this place, just so I can try all the Soju pitcher combinations and keep myself up-to-date on the latest and greatest in k-pop music videos. I am a little sad that they didn’t play Gangnam Style though :(
Danae L.
Classificação do local: 5 Fremont, CA
Love the mango and peach soju! Will definitely come back! $ 8 for a glass and I think $ 15 for a pitcher, but check-in with Unilocal and you’ll get the pitcher for $ 12. Karaōke available!
Charlene E.
Classificação do local: 4 Hayward, CA
K-Pop is k-poppin’! No? Too corny? Okay. I’ve enjoyed K-Pop Bar every time I’ve been here. What’s not to like? — Food: Their gangnam fries are my favorite. They don’t overload their fries with cheese(like Sia does) and the sauce is tasty. I used to like these fries and now I love them — they changed their fries to seasoned(curly fry-like) fries and the result is delicious. I would also recommend their soy garlic wings(free daikon refills!) and kimchi fried rice. My friends seemed to like their seafood pancake and burgers too. I appreciate that their menu includes a mix of fusion and bar food items. — Soju: Just order it! They offer numerous flavors. You can even order a full personal glass of soju like I(mistakenly) did but it would be a good option to share amongst two if you don’t want a full pitcher. Get buzzed at a reasonable price. — Service: They’re pretty attentive and refill your water even if it gets busy. No complaints. — Karaōke: I believe it’s free if you dine in. If your friends are like mine, the magic mic karaōke is well utilized during buzzed times. The lot is small(about 12 spaces?), so be prepared to possibly park on the street or across the street where McDonalds is. I would choose K-Pop over Sia any day — better food and service, plus they have karaōke. Will continue to return.
Gwyne P.
Classificação do local: 5 Union City, CA
It was my cousin’s birthday so the rest of the cousins decided that we should come here to celebrate! One of the cousins had a co-worker who would come here to unwind so we decided to check it out. We were a big party(12people) so we called the night before to reserve, but we were told it’s a first come first serve basis. They said they usually get busy around 8pm Friday night so we decided to meet up at 7pm to get a good spot. This place is a diamond in the rough! Parking is extremely limited. I parked across the street in the McD lot. The outside is not so welcoming as the inside. Once you walk inside, the place is dimly lit with a bar & plenty of tables! I counted three televisions– 2 behind the bar &1 at the corner for karaōke(which by the way is broken). Lol. Tables are big enough to a lot food! Servers are attentive and always checked in with us. I appreciated it since we were a big party. Now, TIMEFORTHEFOOD! We ordered: sweet & spicy wings– YUM! soy garlic wings– Yummy!!! **I enjoyed the fact the wings were crunchy & the sauce was smothered all over, mmmm. Bulgogi fries– Bulgogi was tasty! Gangnam fries– smart choice as an appetizer Takoyaki– it was an interesting taste. Not sure how I felt about it at first, but I ended up liking it. Lol. Spicy rice roll with fish cake– wasn’t as spicy as I though. Wish there was more of the sauce though! Shrimp & fries– thank you for taking off the tails of the shrimp, lol. Shrimp was lightly battered. Loved the crunch. Seafood pancake– I’ve had better but I like how there was seafood pieces in it. On top of the food, we also got three pitches of beer & peach yogurt soju. The peach yogurt was good! All in all, this place is chill! Will definitely come back!
Jasmine B.
Classificação do local: 4 Elk Grove, CA
Our go-to spot for GNO or a great time on the mic! Came here with a couple of girlfriends who needed to blow off steam so what better place to be at with yummy soju and Korean food! We first ordered plain Korean wings with soy garlic on the side and kim chee fried rice. The wings were pretty plain that way so we ordered a second round. I’ve had it before so I know it was good… unfortunately, I didn’t have much of an appetite after a few shots of the soju in my system ;) The fried rice was delish and paired well with the chicken wings. But, the soju. One of the best here! We got the peach and then the strawberry, which we loved loved loved! They seem to be a lot stronger here and it helps give you the liquid courage to start singing a bunch of Whitney Houston songs. My gf and I took over the mic because no one else was singing anyway. We had a blast! And may I add that our quick GNO dinner turned into an all night concert because the owner was nice enough to keep the place open for us until the encore ;) We all definitely like this cute little random place so this might be a weekly thing for us. If you’re looking for a casual, relaxed atmosphere with some friends then this would the place for you. Ideal for big groups but I can’t say it’s child-friendly on the latter part of the day imo… Try this place out if you haven’t already. It’s a great time!
Donna T.
Classificação do local: 4 San Jose, CA
This review is LONG overdue but… THANK You K-Pop Café! I am so glad I celebrated my past birthday here. My whole experience was a HOOT ;) TL;DR? Great casual Korean lounge with tasty sojus(many different flavors) and appetizers/entrees! Karaōke available to your party with $ 10 minimum per person(which is easy to fulfill) and starts late night. Wonderful, friendly service and fun times to be had! Tuesday night, I called in to make a reservation since I had a party of at least 10 – 12 people and they were happy to accommodate for Wednesday evening. Come my birthday night, the female servers were on point. They were super friendly and attentive to my party’s needs. K-Pop Café was also accommodating to our Unilocal party’s utilization of the check-in offer for discounted sojus ;) We tried lychee, peach, yogurt, and mango. My favorite? Yogurt! Yum! Soju is a heavy hitter so be careful when pouring it from the flip-lid cups and into your cup. Food-wise we tried delish Gangnam fries, rabokki(spicy rice cakes in ramen), bulgogi tacos, and chicken wings. I would definitely recommend their fusion dishes particularly fries and rabboki. Don’t expect traditional Korean cuisine here; there are plenty of other places for that! Our party ordered at least 14+ soju bottles. Least to say, we were the only loud obnoxious party on a Wednesday night and the last group to leave! Although the Korean karaōke didn’t have English translations/romanized lyrics, it was still fun to sing Kpop and well-known English tunes! Our bill was pretty hefty, but I was among good company that took care of me :) There needs to be MORE Korean bars/lounges! I’ll be back!
Alison K.
Classificação do local: 4 Fremont, CA
Soju cocktails are the best here! Well, it depends on the bartender of the night. I’ve gotten soju cocktails here two times. The first time, the soju pitcher was kind of a disappointment. 2 girlfriends and I shared the mango soju pitcher. Our server, who was a girl. can’t remember her name, made our pitcher. We thought it was really strong! Ain’t nothing wrong with a strong drink if your goal is to get shitfaced drunk. But, we were tryna just get normal buzzed feeling, ya get what i’m sayin’? During my second visit, our male server whose name starts with a R(i think?) made our soju pitchers really great! It wasn’t too strong but still did its job at bringing out the buzz. It’s a really chill atmosphere. They blast hella kpop songs, mostly big bang. I was perfectly fine with that. There is also karaōke. Not everyone in the party need to participate but they require a $ 10 minimum per person for you to sing. Great chill place to meet up with friends late night for some drinks. Definitely use that Unilocal check-in deal. It’s a shame they only let you use that deal once per party so I knocked off 1 star for that. And another 0.5 star removed for«just A-OK» food. So overall 3.5 stars, but I’m nice so I’ll round up :)
Sofia A.
Classificação do local: 5 Castro Valley, CA
I tried this place for the first time with my friends and I definitely will be coming back. I’ve been to Sia’s in Newark a few times and I will say that this place is better. It has a different feel to it here. Kpop seems like more of a 21+ bar/karaōke joint while Sia’s just seems like any Asian food place with soju. Their menu is pretty good and pretty standard Korean fusion food. Ramen, kimchi fried rice, bulgogi fries, bulgogi burgers, Korean style chicken wings, etc. Their food is good here though. Their servings are pretty large too and it isn’t too expensive. My friends and I ordered a few pitchers of soju and these sojus are pretty damn strong. I’ve had a lot of sojus before and these are the strongest I’ve ever tried. I even had to stop myself from having some because I was DD. Their flavors are all fruity and all mixable. They’re pretty good, but you can definitely taste the alcohol. I really like the atmosphere here. It’s definitely for the 21+ up crowd. They have karaōke while everyone’s eating and drinking and everyone just starts singing along together that it brings good vibes. My one con about this place is the wait staff is slow to get to you. I understand it’s because this place is packed and everyone’s drinking but it would be even better here if they were more attentive. I had to get up a few times to get my own utensils because no one would come to our table. It was also a 20 min wait till we ordered our food. It’s okay though. I was with friends so I didn’t mind. Overall, really cool place to be with friends with good moderately priced food and alcohol. Will be back.
Quyen L.
Classificação do local: 4 San Jose, CA
For Saturday dinner, my hubby and I wanted to try something different, so we stopped by here which advertised itself as a Korean resturant with Asian fusion themes. The establishment is located on the side of the road and looks pretty shabby. There is a small parking lot in the back, but if you don’t know what you are looking for, you can definitely miss the entrance. We certainly did! Inside, there is very low lighting, the tables have a rustic flare, and Korean pop music is playing on the television sets. When we walked in, we were cheerfully greeted by our waiter who showed us to a table with two laminated menus. The table was strangely sticky, which we insinuated came from the type of cleaner they were using to wipe it down. For the rest of the night, we had a very sweet waitress who took our order and really made for a pleasant experience. We first started out with six pieces of soy garlic chicken wings, and for our entrées my hubby chose the Beast Burger with a side of bulgogi fries and I chose the spicy chicken tacos. The wings came out first with a side of salty jicama. The soy garlic flavor was really good on the crispy skin, but the sauce didn’t permeate into the actual meat. However, the chicken was very juicy. Next came the bulgogi fries that were thick and covered with pieces of beef and a gooey delicious cheese. My hubby’s burger was massive and came with a sunny side egg and a side of lettuce and pickles. As for my tacos, I had three that were the perfect size and there was a side of jalapeños for extra heat. I really liked my chicken tacos, enjoying the creaminess of the sauce and how well the chicken was marinated. But be warned it is a VERY spicy dish. As for my hubby, he liked his burger a lot, noting how juicy and tender the patty was. The egg had the perfect runny yoke that smothered the beef and bun. However, he did feel that the burger was a little too big. He would have liked an option to just have one patty instead of two. All of the food we ordered was finger food so it made for quite a messy dinner, but it was oh-so-good. The prices here are ultra reasonable as well. I was immensely pleased with the service and my hubby liked the food overall, although he did have some criticism. K-Pop Café is a really good place for dinner. It has a ton of food options and the waiters are incredibly nice people. It might not look like the best place to the eyes, but your taste buds will thank you.
Heidi L.
Classificação do local: 4 Fremont, CA
Been here a couple times and I’ve always had a great time drinking yogurt soju and eating pretty decent korean bar food! They have great wings and dukbokki! As for the tofu soup, it’s too watery so stay away! Their yogurt soju is a little but cheaper than Sia’s in Newark, so this is my go-to! After 10pm is karaōke night!
Kimberly H.
Classificação do local: 4 San Mateo, CA
To celebrate our friend’s graduation and end of finals, we decided to come here! We ordered the gangnam fries that was topped with bulgogi and their secret sauce! It was tasty. One friend knew one of the workers here and gave us a free strawberry soju on the house, so that was really nice of him. I wasn’t a too big of a fan of the strawberry soju. It had a strong after taste. We tried their popular peach yogurt soju which was one my favorites of the night. Make sure you get the peach yogurt! Other soju flavors we got — kiwi, pomegranate, lychee… I forgot the others. The soju definitely creeped up on us throughout the night. A blur. Hahahah but it was fun! The taste of the soju was good but I do prefer other soju places more. There is a karaōke section so we got to go on stage and sing! It was a loud a fun atmosphere! We all had a good time. This place is a little small so make sure you get here early to avoid waiting! I would come again! There is a small parking lot in the back but you can park on the street if it is full.
Edna G.
Classificação do local: 4 East Bay, CA
This place is mediocre but still good service! It’s a hit or miss on empty tables… best to go on the weekday nights as tables are scarce on the weekends. The parking is even worse as the back parking is tiny so you can’t fit big trucks like mine. Street parking is even worse at night unless you come early. There is only a small portion of street parking that I sometimes park across the street by McDonald’s. =} It’s pretty loud here especially when they play karaōke! The last time I was here, they had a wedding reception here where they saved the back section for their party. Saw they had party trays so maybe they cater? The group was singing pretty good and got the crowd going. When there’s no karaōke, you’ll be listening to kpop! This place is not for the intimate dating scene for sure. Pretty good crowd thou. Cocktail soju drinks are off the hook! They have several flavor. Not for the light weight as these babies are strong! Check-in on Unilocal and you’ll get a craft for $ 12 instead of $ 18. Great deal and this will hit the mark fast! They have beer and other drinks, too. They have TV’s at the bar if your wanting to watch sports. Make sure to eat their Gangnam fries as its my fave but they have others to try. I would recommend the small servings as large is a huge portion for maybe 5 people. Their Ddukbukki is pretty good but I wish it was a little spicy. They have different kinds wing flavors to try but best they are deep fried and pretty crispy. Their K-Pop burger and kimchee fried rice are ok, too. Not everything they serve is your typical Korean food. It’s an American-Korean mix of food. They are open late so this is the place I hit when I want to drink and snack!