Bap & Grill

New management! It is now called Kol Ba. Used to be a good go-​to place for Korean soups — Kim chi chigae, sudubo… but they must’ve changed cooks too because things didn’t taste all the same. Service was ok.
Sadly enough, will have to go somewhere else for Korean soup in the burbs.

Happened to be in the area, needed lunch, this fit the bill. Ordered the kal bi and bibimbap, both solidly ok, meat a bit tougher than expected for these dishes. Service was 4 stars, really friendly and prompt. If we’re in the area again, we would eat here again.

Love their roasted squid, mussels and shrimp with vegetables. My mom kept raving that it was so good with white rice. The family who owns this resto is super nice and they are generous with side dishes and drinks. Also good are the roasted squid in stone pot and the sticky chicken wings.

Having lived nearby for over a year, we finally decided to try the Bap & Grill. Having little experience with Korean food, we were a little over whelmed with all the choices and little english on the menu. However, our waitress was extremely helpful and patient. The food was spicy without being inedible and the squid was prepared just right. The portions were large and we had extras to bring home. The side dishes were a good tasting. Overall, we would visit again to continue to develop our Korean palate.

I had to search for this place to write a review on Unilocal,which is a shame because I wish it popped up right away when writing in «korean bbq» in «skokie.» I never write reviews on Unilocal,so this is going to be among the first and probably last. This place definitely deserves more exposure.
Anyway, I say this because this place has the BEST service. It is family owned, and I think it is the daughter (the hostess) who does most of the translation, at least for me. The first time I was there I ordered right before closing time. Even though they were about to close, the hostess was so helpful and took her time detailing the menu for me. I know many people think that owners should be helpful regardless of the closing time; however, in reality this is often not the case. Luckily, the young lady helped me without hesitation and was very hospitable, which is a great surprise in today’s business.
On the second time I visited, I had originally thought the seafood pancake came as a meal instead of an appetizer. I told the hostess this over the phone, and she said she’d include all the side dishes without extra charge because I had thought it was a full meal instead of an appetizer. When I arrived, I had to wait for my order, but as usual, the hostess was very hospital and was sincerely apologetic I had to wait, even though I had come in early.
The whole point of this review is that being family owned, the service is the best I’ve received in a long time. I’ve been to many businesses, and this one just takes the cake in service. The food is what to expect when going to a korean restaurant; it is not noteworthy, but is definitely worth a shot if you’re in Skokie. I hope this place stays around for a bit, because it’d be a shame to lose a place that has such genuine owners.

We recently moved down the street from this place, and decided to try it out. We are a vegetarian/​vegan family, and we know korean food can be pretty meat heavy, so we popped in and asked what we could eat. the girl who works there was SO friendly and started telling us all this stuff and making reccomendations. So we gave it a go, and were really happy. we eat the bi bim bop — she recommended it in a stone pot, and we are so happy she did so. it was delicious. Its usually not very crowded, and they are really nice to our young son — bringing him more tofu and rice when he runs out. Im not a korean food expert, but happy to have something out of the ordinary, and close to home to eat — and its delicious too! Very low maintenance which is what i like.

The people that work here are very humble and courteous… makes you feel like you’re at home. If you’ve never ordered at a korean restaurant before, they are friendly and are open to explaining their menu /​making suggestions. The food is great, especially the Bibimbap and Galbi (get them both in the stone pot!). Always hot and fresh.
Also, if you want a little extra rice or side dishes, be sure to let them know. They insist on it and will be more than happy to give you more.

I was unintentionally deceived into coming here, haha — my dad mentioned something about a place called «Bap ‘n Grill» nearby and thinking maybe they made a mistake with spelling «Bar & Grill» (clearly he does not know Korean food). I heard «BopNGrill», of course, so I made a beeline there for some kimchi cheese fries, only to find that it’s a standard Korean place that replaced Ttowa! :(So they’re clearly capitalizing on the name (that’s fine).
Here, the star is the service. The girl working there was extremely kind and attentive without being overbearing. I felt odd about going somewhere alone to eat during off hours, but she made me feel welcome. (Side note: When I walked in, the TV was playing a Korean variety show. Moments later, as the TV remained on, the audio was cut off and replaced with a generic white people music playlist. No! I hate Jason Mraz! I like hearing silly sound effects and people going «UHOOOOO!!» on the shows! I know they were just trying to be nice, though, haha.) The server also offered /​multiple/​times to bring me more food!
She recommended a stone bowl, and also said the squid was very fresh that day. So that is exactly what I ordered! It was definitely tasty, and nicely topped with chiffonaded perilla leaves, although I could have gone for more heat. Capsaicin heat, that is — this was the hottest stone bowl I’ve ever seen! It was still sizzling over ten minutes later! It made my rice perrrfectly caramelized and crispy — really outstanding. The banchan — kimchi, tofu with sauce, soy sprouts with sesame oil, fresh zucchini kimchi, julienned potato salad, fish cakes, sprout soup, and humorously, seasoned hot dog slices (gurl don’t say sausage, it’s okay, I love hot dogs) — were generally tasty, although the plain napa kimchi was lackluster.
One downside is the menu — things are only sparingly translated into English, and sometimes they’re just romanized. I didn’t see any (yeolmu) naeng-​myeon on the menu, which was a bummer because it was hot and that’s one of my favorite dishes. I didn’t even realize they had makgeolli available until I peered in their cooler later (I had a Hite with my meal).
My rating is more of a 3.5. But this was also one of the first times I hadn’t even realized the mediocrity of the food because the service was so genuinely kind.

Being non Korean, I stood out like a sore thumb and received the deer in head lights look from everyone. After an awkward silence, I received a warm welcome from the waiter and owner. They spoke English! Although they struggled to find me an English menu, the owner took his time to go over the menu with me. I really appreciated that because you don’t receive that kind of attention often at Korean restaurants as an outsider.
I decided on the spicy chicken wings (ggang poong gi). For only $ 10, the meal came with four side dishes (pan chan), a bowl of rice, and soup. A great deal since I was dining alone. The pan chan was prepared well with a good balance of pickled vegetables and kimchee. The ggang poong gi was very crispy but didn’t have as much flavor as I was expecting. If I was in the area again and craving Korean food, I would try them again for the other items on the menu like the blood sausage or spicy squid and noodles.

was craving some Korean Bi Bim Bap, and happened across this place on Unilocal. (thank you Unilocalers!)
before I get into the food — the service was TOP NOTCH. Super friendly and courteous. Today was one of those 100 degree heat-​index days, and the A/​C wasn’t working at Bap & Grill, so the waitress suggested we sit in the rear, where it would be cooler.
the Bi Bim Bap was delicious — I don’t think it lasted more than 8 minutes. My only other recent Bi Bim Bap experiences have been with CRISP’S «Funky Buddha Bowl» so my expectations were thrown a bit when i got a bowl containing sprouts, mushrooms, a «pinch» of beef, seaweed, radish, cucumber with a fried egg on top. (the six vegetables and beef). It was not filled all the way, but once I threw in my rice, and the Bi Bim Bap sauce, the bowl was rockin.
Taste-​wise, it was just what I was expecting — and given the price ($ 7.99), the amount of food I got was reasonable. So the Bi Bim Bap gets a big thumbs up for satisfying my craving.
The GF likes soonduboo (spelling, yes, I KNOW!), so that was her meal for the evening. There were high points and low points to the soonduboo:
Highs:
— lots and lots of tofu
— not too spicy (where you can’t eat without making that «hoo, haa, hoo» face)
— seafood flavor without the seafood
Lows:
— not «spicy» — it was lacking any real heat
— no seafood, despite being seafood flavor (no shrimps, mussels, clams, etc)
— not very flavorful.
Obviously I need to explain why some of the highs are the same as the lows. Because it’s all about perspective. Some people can’t handle spicy — if that’s the case, this is the place for you. But if you like that burn, you probably need to tell the waiter/​waitress to make yours EXTRA SUPER SPICY. The same applies to the seafood — yes, it was light on the seafood, but I know two people who enjoy seafood flavored soonduboo, but don’t eat the seafood. This is what Unilocal is for — to let you future diners know what to expect so you can tailor your experience.
The kicker? After I finished my bi bim bap, the waitress asked me if I was still hungry, and offered to bring me some more rice. You don’t always get that kind of service at a restaurant.

This place is amazing! The waitress is super! I asked her for all the side dishes and she brought it all out. I know many korean restaurants are pretty stingy with side dishes, but this place is no problem at all. The restaurant is a family restaurant. Everything is homemade and delicious. If you didn’t try the soybean tofu soup, you’re missing out. It’s the best thing ever. The soybean are marinated and homemade. The korean BBQ is really good also! The meat is tender and everything. Not alot of people know about this restaurant because there’s alot of construction going on. If you have time, come and visit. Another favorite of food I have is the bulogi. The server cooks it for you too. The people of the restaurant goes to the market everything to find the freshest ingredients. The server is super fast. On a busy night, she has to serve around 9 tables and it’s sometimes just her. Working in a restaurants is difficult, please considered the 25% tip when you’re tipping. Overall Bap & Grill is delicious. The only main concern is that the portion for the korean BBQ is small. That’s one of my favorite food at the restaurant and I wish there’s more meat, so I wouldn’t have refills for my side dishes. Anyway, come and eat here! Friendly service, cheap prices, and a SEDUCTIVE WAITRESS.

This place is amazing. I absolutely love the atmosphere of the restaurant and the workers are very nice. I came here many times and I want to go now… because i’m hungry.
THEY HAVE THE BEST YOOKGAEJANG. HANDS DOWN.
I remember the first time having it. It was SOOO GOOD. I’ve had yookgaejang at hmart, yoorimal, assi, chan choong dong and many other korean restaurants but it wasn’t anything compared to the the one here at bab&grill. Other places always have something wrong with their Yookgaejang. Either too watery, oily, not enough flavor or not enough soup. BUT THE ONE HERE IS PERFECT. SHOOT i’m craving some now… sigh. SERIOUSLY, YOU SHOULD TRY THE YOOKGAEJANG!
Oh and I love their dukkbbokgi. It’s perfect. Some people might say it’s spicy but that’s how it’s suppose to be. They cook they’re dduk perfectly and the sauce is amazing. Seriously, talking about the food here makes me want to go.
Overall I tried a lot of different things here. The side dishes are good too because all the vegetables are fresh and tasty. Everything here is good but the yookgaejang&ddukboki would be my favorite.

Service was like 4 stars but the food was more like 2 – 2.5 stars
It was a very hot day and we were craving some cold noodles (nang-​myun).
Bap & Grill replaced Ttowa, one of our favorite Korean restaurants near by in the burbs.
I called them first to make sure that they were serving Nang-​myun and they said they did.
The 3 of us drove over there immediately and got seated right away but did not see Nang-​myun on the menu or anywhere else… so I was a bit nervous…
It was pretty empty when we got seated but pretty soon, the place started to get packed… perhaps dinner rush?
While waiting for our food, we ordered a bottle of soju. It was only $ 6!
Maybe a special promotion?
Mool Nang-​myun was just flat out nasty… no flavor to the noodle or the cold broth! My sister didn’t even bother to finish the dish!
I had the bi-​bim Nang-​Myun. It was decent but nothing special.
Boyfriend decided to go with the spicy marinated squid with veggies and noodles. All the flavors were there… and probably the best out of all three dishes that we’ve ordered.
Later the owner, a very nice guy, came over to our table to ask how everything was… although, I wanted to be honest with him and tell him straight out how I really felt about their food so they can make improvements, I just couldn’t… so we all said that it was «good»…
Servers, probably family members, were super nice and attentive and just so like-​able…
Unfortunately, as far the food goes, I probably won’t be back again… at least not any time soon…

Had a craving for some Korean food and stopped by here.
The service was very good and friendly. I ordered the bibimbap in a stone pot and it was delicious. It also came with a complimentary side of seaweed soup which was unexpected. All of the panchan (complimentary side dishes) were spot on as well.
The one thing that I noticed that was good was that there were several customers seated that seemed like they never had korean food before. The wait staff was very friendly and explained all of the different menu options.

My family and I unknowingly came here and we were all super sadface that Ttowa was gone! Bap & Grill is pretty much just a mediocre Korean restaurant serving fairly generic food, none of which was that impressive. 1 star for the gganpoong chicken which was pretty tasty but super sticky — too much yulmoot (corn syrup).