The Place Gu Jip Restaurant

My Korean friend took me here. Good food, great parking, and reasonable price. I think service was good but done in Korean. I’m not sure if it was without my friend’s help.

I’ve been to quite a few Korean restaurants in Torrance, Gardena, Garden Grove, etc. but I like The Place very much. A friend introduced it to me and I have gone there several times — drove all the way from Huntington Beach. I think what is special here is the more «traditional» Korean dishes that I haven’t seen other places. I’m not Asian, so maybe I’m missing something. Their wraps and ban chan are very good and fresh. I like their gamja-​tang, the tender pork neck soup very much. The fish soup and other fare I don’t the name are delicious and contain a taste that stays on for hours afterwards.
I also like this restaurant because of what and who I associate it with — maybe the people who own and run the place — but that’s a long and separate story.
The service is fair enough, efficient in a laid back way, but just fine altogether. I’ll go back any chance I get.

Finally tried this place out based on the reviews but was surprised to be underwhelmed by the food.
Friend and I ordered the stone pot bibambop and gamjitang. Bibambop was pretty decent for $ 11. However I was sorely disappointed with their gamjitang. Portion was fairly small and the broth was just ok. My favorite gamjitang place is still in Garden Grove.
Service was less than attentive.
I probably won’t be back. Nothing stood out to render a return.

I love Korean food, and am so spoiled with the plentiful Korean restaurants nearby home. This place is definitely a favorite of mine. We ordered:
— the korean tofu soup. Beef spicy. Very flavorful and they don’t mess around with their spiciness level.
— bugolgi salad, comes with rice. Pretty tasty and the salad was refreshing. The bugolgi was not too sweet.
Good service, we had our small dishes refilled quickly. Plenty of parking outside.

I stopped here after landing in LAX because they were open on Christmas Day and I was feeling soondubu.
Food — the banchan had a great variety from squid kimchi to radish kimchi and they were all great. I got the beef kimchi soondubu and it was very… flavorless. The kimchi had lost all its flavor and was bland and the beef had fat on it which i didnt particularly enjoy. The broth was the best part and even that was just okay. They dont joke around with spice level but they only offer 2 — mild or spicy
Service — slow service. You have to pour your own tea and call them over for refills on banchan and tea
All in all, this place is overhyped

Peculiar name for a Korean restaurant when you translate the words, but this really IS The Place. If you want a proper Korean restaurant and you’re in the South Bay, you should definitely come here. The food options are plentiful and fairly affordable, and the service is (as you would expect) questionable at best. But if you try hard enough, service ain’t THAT bad.
Had a variety of items from the menu. Had some beef kimchi soup with bulgogi, shared another side of spicy pork, and had seafood pancake. All really good, although I must say that seafood pancake was DELECTABLE. Don’t know why it was so good, but man it’s probably the best seafood pancake I’ve had in a long while. Overall, the servings were plentiful and the food was top-​notch. And don’t forget the banchan was fantastic as well!
I’ve been to plenty of Korean places that I’ve considered a solid four stars. But for some reason, this place had that little bit of extra for me compared to other places. And for that reason, five stars is merited.

I went there at 8 pm and they said they’re closed. I asked them why, they said they ran out of rice. Unilocal says they close at 10pm and we were there 2 hours early, but why did that happen?

I just happened to stumble into this jewel of a place! Both food and customer service were excellent!

Fuck…
Do not go this place…
They are lazy and never gonna get good services.

Ignore others’ review.
I ordered large size jokbal and i got some pieces of frozen shit. I paid it for 27.20 and it was for one person. what the…
Dont go there. Do not waste your money.
The place. worst place in my life ever.
Im not that bad person, but I just made Unilocal account to report this shit.

My fav Korean restaurant in southbay! Food is excellent and service is great. Bit of a wait during peak hours.

Food was really good. We ordered bulgogi, tofu soup with kalbi and spicy squid with fresh wrap. One of the better Korean Restaurants I’ve tried. It comes with side dishes and purple bean rice.

I am now addicted to this place just wish it was closer to me, and I live minutes away from ktown. This is your place if you love local comfort food. Theyre known for their soup/​stew entrees. Great for big groups to share or just grab a bowl for yourself $ 9+. Side dishes are incredible, reminds me of the quality of dishes korean restaurants use to serve years back… soft shell crab and allows refill on that?!!
Plenty of parking above and downstairs. Speaking Korean would be helpful but they’re not bias either. We got the same service as anyone else there vs if we were in ktown hole in the wall place.
If you like seseme cold noodle soup (very light), this is a good place. My taste bud is more accustomed to a different style of cold noodle soup dish.
Prices are a bit more expensive than other places but the quality is there.
Service: These ladies work hard! Be kind.

Came here for dinner the other night and shared the large portion of the pork bone and potato soup and the bulgogi wrap. This was a good amount of food for 3 people. The side dishes were good, especially the silver fish and the kimchi – very flavorful! I really didn’t enjoy the pork bone soup overall. The pork itself was good, nice and tender, but just collectively in the broth it was in and the other ingredients, just didn’t really fancy my stomach so much. I love vegetables, all types usually but the vegetable that was in the broth was just too bitter with the broth it was in, it just didn’t really go together well. I just didn’t really enjoy the pork bone and potato soup as much as I had hoped. The bulgogi wrap was a better dish to me. A plate of various types of wraps to use with the bulgogi, seaweed, red lettuce, mint leaves, etc. Each wrap brought out different flavors which was nice. I don’t think The Place is really my type of place in terms of its’ food and I didn’t feel so well after the meal, I don’t think I’d go back.

Poor service

I have had «The Place» on my list for a while, and finally had the chance to have lunch here. Gue Jip is in the Gardena Plaza, a couple doors down from previously reviewed Love Letter on Western, just past Redondo Beach Blvd in Gardena.
I ordered the highly recommended gamja-​tang ($ 9 — spicy pork neck soup w/​potatoes). Gue Jip also serves soondae (sausage), kalbi jim, and soondubu. Like many Korean meals, the soup came with ban chan (kim chee, small crabs, bean sprouts, peppers, egg, and green onions).
First of all, the gamja-​tang was very good. The bones were cooked for a long time in a very complex broth that includes sesame seeds. I liked the tender meat that you could just suck off the bones FOB style. The soup came out piping hot, and stayed warm throughout the meal. I was satisfied visually and gastronomically: 4 Stars. On the other hand, the ban chans were OK. The only one that really stood out was the small crabs: 3 Stars.
Regarding the ambiance, it was traditional Korean with a few tables that were tatami style. I was the only non-​Korean in the place, which added to the authenticity of the cuisine: 4 Stars. I didn’t expect much from the service, and didn’t receive much. I was greeted, seated and thanked as I left: 3 Stars.
I definitely want to come back and try some other dishes. I am glad that several of my yfs (inc some of who are Korean), turned me on to this place. Just another very good Korean place in the Azn foodie haven of Gardena.

I am usually too lazy to review a place, but I have come here at least 4 times a month for the last few years so it is definitely about time.
I have tried at least half of their lunch menu and still have yet to be disappointed. The side dishes are always refreshing and I feel like a criminal sometimes with all of the free spicy crab that I eat. I would come for dinner, but I live on the east side so I only ever make it out for lunch.
I love the Bossam most of all, although it is not always guaranteed to be available at lunch. My most commonly ordered alternatives are the spicy pork wraps, spicy cold noodle, uni bibimbap, and tuna kimchi stew.
I am not Korean, or even Asian, but when I am there I always stand way out from the crowd so I can only assume that it is quite authentic.
Damn good!

Gu Jip is probably one of the best Korean restaurants you can go in this South Bay area for many variety items on the menu for pretty reasonable price. They do specialize in certain dish as I have heard like Bossam and Gamjatang for instance but it was rather too pricy for the portion and its taste.
I did not get to try every dish on the menu but I have tried one of their best sellers which is their Gamjatang. For an individual portion and for the price, they give you more than enough of soup and the pork meat. Its pretty huge so it will be hard to eat them especially if you’re out on a date with your significant other.
Their Ssambap which is a concept of eating rice wrapped in veggies, is a such a good deal and portion. I truly enjoyed my Ssambap from the start to the end. I liked the spicy pork here more than the bulgogi which seem to be many people’s favorite dish.
Also tried the traditional broiled fish and it was just broiled fish. Nothing special. It goes well with rice and some side dishes any day.
On my most recent visit, I’ve tried their soy sauce marinated uni with the rice. I really love uni and I even asked the waitress if this was good and she told me that many customers come to eat that. So I had to try. On my first spoonful of uni sauce on my rice which came with a fried egg, masago and seaweed salad, was pretty tasty. It was something that I have not tasted before. But as I continued to eat, it was getting salty and salty. I decided not to put the whole uni sauce on the rice because I knew it was going to be too salty so I literally just got a half spoonful of uni sauce on the rice and mixed and ate it every time. But it was still too salty for me to handle. I dont think I would get this dish again.
The waitresses here are very responsive but one of the waitresses always look like she has so much complaints and does not look like she wants to work so. Funny thing is, she is there every time I go and she’s in that same mood every time. So weird.
Plenty of parking in the plaza most of the time since there is underground parking as well. Great food and great selection side dishes but one of the waitress can change her behavior a bit, it would make the restaurant much more prosper.

My co-​workers and I discovered Gu Jip recently and it has become my new favorite Korean in the South Bay. They serve comfort Korean dishes and does an excellent job at it. My favorite so far is the Galbi-​tang and Kalbi Jim. (See my photos).
I love the banchans they serve! They serve about 8 different ones during the lunch hours. My favorite is the marinated spicy raw crab. That dish alone is money!
The warm egg omelette is good too!
The ladies who work here are so nice!
The restaurant has a good number of seats and also counter seats as well. There;s a couple smaller private seating near the back.
You may have a hard time looking for this place. It’s in the Gardena Village. Same plaza as Union Bank, Lollicup, and next door to 501 Music Studio.
I can’t wait to be back!

Im giving this place a B+. I was very happy with the food. The service was nice.
But be aware, the place can be crowded and sometimes theres a long wait. More over, The Place is not exactly «the place», its old and a bit run down and in desperate need of remodeling.
Great place get Korean tofu soup!