Oo-Kook Korean BBQ

Traditional Korean BBQ! GREAT staff, especially Romeo — ask for him when you arrive… He’ll make sure your dinner is not also delicious, but entertaining as well. There’s only a few restaurants in LA as good as this.

I would highly recommend this place. This is one of the better ayce kbbq restaurants in the LA area. Only downside is the expensive price tag ($ 29 for dinner), but it is totally worth it. Oh, an they accept reservations, which is very rare with ayce kbbq places.
Came on a Sunday during lunch time, and there was no wait. There is a small valet only parking lot in front of the restaurant (and it’s only $ 2). The service was excellent and the food was brought out very quickly. They also change out the grill plates frequently.
There was a large variety of different meats, and the quality of meat was very good. The bulgogi was thinly sliced and the marinade was tasty. They also have a good variety of side dishes. Overall, this place is pretty great!

This is one of my favorite korean spots. Good quality meat, great staff and the ban chan is great.

I can see why this is one of my Korean friend’s favorite Korean BBQ places in the area ! Although AYCE for dinner is on the pricier side ($ 28.99 ??), the quality of the meat, marinade, side dishes, service, and ambiance is top notch !!
My friends, boyfriend & I had such a great experience here !! From getting probably 10 plates of delicious galbi to asking refills on our bowl of salad, everything we tried on the AYCE menu was delicious.
All the plates came with hella meat of whatever we ordered and we never felt like the workers were getting annoyed with us ordering a lot more. Our teas and side dishes were constantly refilled and many employees stopped and helped cook our meat !!
The marinated galbi (#8) is a must, but forsure you gotta try the marinated bulgogi as well ! I don’t think I’ve ever liked bulgogi as much as the one here ! Although I was SO INCREDIBLY stuffed that if I ate anymore I’d probably fall over, I tried so hard to eat more bulgogi because I loved it that much !! Ugh I’m salivating while thinking of how delicious it was *_​_​_​* !!
The beef tongue pieces were super good, soft but had that cartilage-​type-​of-​crunch too.
Make sure to ask for the side of garlic & this one sauce that comes with it when you ask since grilled garlic with your meat is always a plus ! I love wrapping meat with a piece of garlic, some salad pieces inside a rice wrap !
MmMmmmm a must place to visit if you wanna splurge on some great quality and delicious Korean bbq !
There’s also valet parking right in front of the restaurant for a couple of bucks, so if you dont feel like hunting for parking, bring some cash :) !
TLDR must haves: Maribated galbi, marinated bulgogi, & beef tongue !!

They’re a bit pricey, but frankly, I’m okay with that. I was hungry and I wanted something to eat. I really liked their beef briskets. What was funny was they kinda got stuck, most-​likely because they were frozen together. The marinated beef that they had was quite sweet, not what I was expecting.
Maybe when I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll stop by again.

OK, so maybe it is because it was my first time ever at Korean BBQ, maybe it was the free flowing soju and beer but it was AWESOME. Seriously this was a great experience. I went with my friend Jenny and some co-​workers, most had been to KBBQ before and many were surprised that I hadn’t been being the foodie that I am.
This review is going to be difficult because I have literally no idea what I ate, tons of meat and tons of sides. so I will do my best. First of all, the meat was flowing like it was coming out of a hose, I mean it just never stops, which is amazing. Jenny was cooking at our table and just making meat like a woman possessed, I had chicken, beef, soju, pork, soju, alien, soju, shoe, soju and who knows what else, if it was on the grill I was eating it, then I had some soju.
The entire evening was spent cooking meat, eating meat, drinking soju, eating meat, cooking meat, drinking beer, cooking meat, drinking soju, eating meat, drinking soju, eating meat while cooking meat and so on.
I had a blast and this place is really delicious. I will definitely be back!

Oo Kook has been a regular AYCE KBBQ spot for some time. A little pricey at just under $ 30 but the meat quality is very good and restaurant is clean (though all the oil makes for slippery floors by the end of the night).
Favorite meats to get… short rib, brisket, pork belly, pork jowl, prime rib, beef tongue… keep meaning to try the garlic shrimp… oh and the mushrooms and vegetables is a nice break from all the meat.
The and the meat quality is very good. Street parking is a nightmare but the valet gets packed too.
There is often a long wait but it’s worth the wait. Always call ahead and try to get a reservation… I’ve often gotten a reservation within a couple hours of wanting to KBBQ.

We don’t eat out too often because my husband is a chef but we love coming here! But only when we are in the mood for protein overload!
Great food, people are helpful and it’s fun to eat it!
You will reek like BBQ after you leave, but it could be worse!
So good!

I love Oo-​Kook. The service is decent and the meat quality is good considering its AYCE. One of the better AYCE places in terms of meat quality and banchan. Just like any other place in KTown, parking sucks. You can try street or valet. I do prefer the one in Rosemead since there is more parking available (although it gets packed as well) and because they have a salad bar that has great offerings.

One of my favorite AYCE KBBQ in L.A. I love the variety of the AYCE menu and the attentive services this place has to offer for the price charged. I made it a mission to try ALL the items on the menu but I was overly ambitious — for the portion they serve I was full after just few orders lol. The non-​marinated meats are fresh and high quality, and I just love seeing the beautiful marble on the meat! That being said I do like their marinate sauce too! (So basically I love everything they got lol) oooh They have a good selection of banchan as well (my favorite is the kimchi)
The only downside of this heavenly yumminess is the amount of customers it attracts — It’s very packed during dining hours, especially weekends around dinner time! so if you come with a large group, prepared for a long wait to be seated. It does get loud as well, so great for groups not so much for romantic dining lol
*Follow @foodiestravelguide on Instagram for more foodie recommendations*

SUPER DELICIOUS KBBQ! I thought it was a tad bit too expensive for me (paid $ 37 after tax + tip) so I definitely wouldn’t go here often, but I really enjoyed my dinner.
I came with a friend who was Korean so she basically took over and ordered every single meat on the menu which I was SUPER thankful for. Knowing me, I would’ve just paid $ 37 to eat brisket. Frankly, I don’t remember most meats I ate but everything was super delicious and super fresh. One of my favorite meats there was the beef tongue which we ordered a few plates of. We also ordered some rice soup, tofu soup and steamed egg. The servers were also super friendly and kept coming back to check on us.
Hint: Go in a big group so you can try every single meat! :)
Parking: $ 2 valet or street

Expensive for AYCE! 29 dollars for dinner. Seriously don’t understand why this place has such good ratings.
Meats are OK, ban chan is lacking — not a lot of selections. Our pancake was sitting out cold when we got seated at our table.
We did come in about an hour before closing, so that may have been a factor…
With all the KBBQ selections around, I probably won’t be back.

Woohoo! I’m the 1000^th review of this spot:)!
The good:
* Delish!
* Great for parties!
* One AYCE KBBQ place that takes reservations!
* Good vibe!
* Many grill changes and often!
* Fresh meat!
* They bring lemons with your soju!
* Great variety of banchan.
* Valet is cheap!
The bad!
* Have to reorder many times, they’re forgetful.
* They told my party to be more quiet even though other parties were louder. And c’mon, it’s Korean BBQ on a packed night! How quiet you want us to be?!:P
* Stingy with the rice paper!
* Uneven heat on the grill.

So this is the original OO-​Kook. I dont think it is nearly as good as the OO-​Kook in temple city but pretty tasty none the less.
I came here with a couple of friends and we waited in line for what seemed a long time. At least the waiting area outside was somewhat pleasant with seating and beers available. However the parking around here was excruciatingly bad.
The meats were fairly fresh and seemed tasty. The cuts of meat were not the highest quality but were definitely better than most KBBQs that I have been to. I would expect that with the cost.
The service was fairly average and nothing was that special IMHO. I have been to much better and much worse places, but I had hoped for a lot more. I distinctly remember feeling like the table top was covered in grease and it likely needed a much more thorough cleaning than it had received in quite a while. We had to call out to passing wait staff a couple of times for additional meats and water. Normally you would expect the wait staff to at least swing by a bit more regularly.
So yeah the food is better than average but the service isn’t close to that standard. Expect a wait and a bad parking situation. Overall it is just not nearly as good as their location in San Gabriel on Rosemead Blvd. I highly suggest going there instead if you want OO-​Kook…
Hell I almost feel like a Kook for having gone there let alone everyone going OOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOoooooOOOooo…

Not all OO-Kook’s are the same. This one is a nice one, but not as good as the one in San Gabriel that just offers way more from Steam Egg, and a whole salad bar area. The meat options on the other hand are PRIMO AWESOME. I’ve tasted and heard from acclaimed websites that this is one of the best meats you can get from a AYCE KBBQ.
*Kobe of any meat: This is the cream of the crop stuff. They have a nice tender texture and great marinade for the ones that are marinated. The non marinated ones are just as good.
**No Steam Egg: I have a hard preference of wanted steam egg with my KBBQ and this place does not have it. You lose a star for not having it and not having uNlimited refills on soda. That’s just the way it goes.
All the meats are good and the side banchan are ok. Not the best banchan I’ve had. I would rather have the Gen Banchan options. Overall this place is good for the meats.

The original site for the Oo-​kook Korean BBQ in Los Angeles, I’ve been dying to try this place for almost years now, and it really doesn’t disappoint in food, although quality and overall experience could have been a bit better.
Parking in the lot here is only $ 2 valet, and there’s not much parking around, so I definitely recommend you take up this offer.
The AYCE option comes out to $ 30/​per person for dinner, and is well worth it for all the different meat options they offer. Their beef and pork meat quality truly are a notch above the rest, especially at this price point. Although I doubt the meat actually is «Kobe» meat as the menu says, I don’t doubt that it is relatively good quality. Enough to satisfy me at least.
The valet service as well as food service were both a little lacking in my opinion, I felt like it took forever to get food to us, and everyone seemed slightly rude/​unhappy all the time. I found myself having to ask for simple things like water several times before I got it, and I just feel like when you’re paying this much for food, it definitely shouldn’t be that hard to get basic service. Overall, it was more than worth it to come by here though, and I definitely will be back soon!

I’ve eaten at another of their locations and it’s one of my top KBBQ joints but this one didn’t quite live up to its par. The food was good, but they were missing the potato salad at the beginning, mine and my boyfriends favorite! Bummer.
The real reason I knocked down one star was the service. The host was fantastic, but I had to call to get attention to a server when we first started after sitting for close to 7 minutes. We seemed to be inconveniencing the servers to get our grill started and first order of food. Not starting out on a high note made the rest of the meal a little shaky.
Like I said, the food is great! But the service lacked overall. I’ll stick to my other location!

This place serves quality meat and offer so much options! We were hungry when we got there so we were so glad when we didn’t wait for more than 10 minutes. We opted for anything that was black angus and Kobe. Of course, I have to have my mushrooms and vegetables. Every single item was delicious. Even the steamed egg, which needs to be cooked on the grill. My faves were the skirt and beef belly.
They often change the grill which is great soot doesn’t compromise the flavor of the meat. You do have to ask for water, otherwise they won’t bring you any. The server won’t normally check in with you unless you ring the buzzer. Once the buzzer is rung they do come quick. You don’t have to wait long for your dishes. They did serve a soup, which the honey liked but I wasn’t too crazy about. They don’t have potato salad but I survived.
The lady in the front was friendly. Servers were accommodating and fast. They gave valet for $ 2.00 or paid street parking.

It’s good!
I love Korean food and it’s because off places like this. I tried the beef soup with noodles and green onions. I don’t know how they can make it so perfect! It’s the right amount of beef and noodles. Too much of one over the other and it will take away from the balance. The beef has a lot of fat on it but it’s easy to navigate around it with some patience. The broth was hot and not too salty which is fine by me!
It’s gonna be one of our regular spots in downtown.

Admittedly, I don’t eat KBBQ very often. I am actually not a very big fan of KBBQ (whoops, I have a feeling I just got unfriended by basically everyone). However, I did have a great time here and the meat was of pretty good quality. My party ordered things like brisket, beef tongue, assortments of marinated meat, strip steak, mushrooms. Lots of things that I actually cannot recall since I wasn’t involved with the ordering. My favorite was the beef tongue.
This place was very attentive: meat kept coming and grill changes were very prompt. However, I have two gripes: I felt that the grill was too small and we couldn’t fit enough meat on it. I also was surprised that they had their last call at 10 when they close at 11pm. I don’t eat at KBBQ very often, but never have I encountered a last call an hour before closing. Whatever, I was full anyways so it wasn’t that big a deal.
My favorite part about this place was that they had japchae as a side dish! Again, I don’t know if it’s common to have it — I certainly don’t recall any other KBBQ I’ve gone to offering it. I love noodles and I’m pretty sure our server knew that after many rounds of ordering more japchae.
Street parking was not hard to find, but if you’re lazy and inclined to pay $ 2 you can get Valet parking.