Soo Café

The wings were out of this world, And, I had a 45 minute ride in the car before I ate them.

Great place to eat Korean fried chicken. It’s similar to Bonchon. I ordered the six wings and three drum sticks. The original and soga flavors are very good choices. The only disappointment was that they overcooked the drum sticks. The bones were very brittle after I took a bite. Definitely would come again for the fried chicken. The prices are a little bit high but definitely worth it if it means I don’t have to drive to DC.

Awesome food, Real authentic Korean food!!! Talking about customer service Awesome guys!!! I will definitely come back here!!!

Best chicken wings ever and I LOVE chicken wings! The soga sauce is my favorite. I could eat these every day.

Food was so so. Not authentic. Rice was not fresh. Waiter ignored us. Will not come back.
The place was not busy… less than five parties. Quite dismal. Bowl hair cut guy needs to be quicker…

The chicken is terrific. That being said, last time we were there, the whole and half chicken were not available, only wings or tenders. I’m not sure what side dishes would be appropriate at a Korean place, but white rice and kimchi were overpriced for their portion size.
This place has never been crowded when we go, so service is attentive, although you are cautioned that you will have to wait as everything is cooked order.
SOGA sauce is my favorite and recommended. You’ve got to try the chicken, but I wish they had other sides and dessert to really make it a meal.

A friend of mine referred me to eat Korean fried chicken as she mentioned it is a must have to eat on a regular basis so I found Soo Korean while searching for a place in Raleigh that would have such a thing. To my very pleasant surprise, I found Soo Korean and I am SOO glad I did. The chicken is amazing and I was so happy to learn it is a cute café’ off of Capital Blvd. and one of the convenient areas to drive to. My food was 5 stars great and the place is cute, trendy, clean with wonderful customer service. Kudos to Raleigh for having such an amazing Korean fried chicken spot, this place is a winner.

Not often in Raleigh, but new to the Triangle area we’ve been looking for a good Korean restaurant for several years — decided to try Soo Café.
Pretty extensive menu, but we focused on the bulgogi (both normal and spicy), with rice, a bit of salad and home made kimchi. Was it as good as we used to get when we lived in Korea for a couple of years. No – but it was damn close. The bulgogi was very good, with mixed vegetables (e.g. shaved carrots) — my wife liked hers but I preferred the slightly spicier version. For me lit could have been spicier, but given American tastes I expected as much. I got my «spice fix» from the kimchi — which was EXCELLENT, as good as I have ever had (for cabbage based kimchi). Overall, an excellent experience and we will definitely be back.

I spotted Soo’s Korean Fried Chicken sign on my way to a friend’s house and it blew my mind. Koreans fry chicken??? I’d never heard of such a thing in all my years of enjoying Korean cuisine. I’ve now been there several times and let me say this:
Their fried chicken is amazing. So far I’ve tried the Soga sauce, which is lovely if a bit on the sweet side for my taste, and the Traditional, which to me tastes like dak jim. I’ve tried the wings and I’ve tried the tenders. I think the wings are better tasting overall, but if you don’t want sticky fingers, go with the tenders. It’s high quality chicken, cooked perfectly, no matter what you order.
The down side to me is that it’s fairly pricey and does not come with any side dishes. I’d really like to have banchan with my chicken. It bugs me that it costs $ 5 extra to get a bowl of rice and some kimchi.
But most Korean food is on the pricey side, compared to other ethnic cuisines, and when it’s done well, I’ll pay for it regardless of the price. Soo’s fried chicken meets that requirement!

Have been craving Korean fried chicken since I moved here from LA last year. Hearing about this place and going with friends. Oh my! Definitely got my KFC-​fix in.
A bit off the path to get here. There was a private room we were put in with our big party. Service was a bit slow, but we got all of our food eventually! Whole chicken sogo, original, and old fashioned was what we ordered. After eating most of it, I could not tell the different between sogo and original were fairly similar. But it was good overall!

Wings are amazing! That’s all I ever order. I’m not a huge fan of breaded wings, but theirs… Chicken is perfectly crispy on the outside and moist on the in. The meat is flavorful. SOGA is by far my favorite sauce.

I have never actually eaten here but my family gets take out all the time and their fried chicken with soga sauce is so so good.

In my initial review I wrote that I planned to return to Soo Café soon. That was almost two years ago, so I guess that I didn’t adhere to my intentions. I was really impressed with my first visit, but I just don’t get to this area in Raleigh much anymore.
I was staying at a friends house in Raleigh near downtown and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to re-​visit Soo, so I called in a take-​out order of 10 wings with soy-​ga sauce and a side of kimchee. The wings were as good as I remembered. Sweet with a slight tinge of spicy and sticky to the point of almost being candy wings. The kimchee with a super spicy level made for an interesting dichotomy with the sweet wings.
I still think their wings are great. The wings were just Soo good (see what I just did there?). Their wings are on the pricey side though, so keep that in mind. My ten wings plus kimchee was over $ 16.
I’ll be back sooner than another two years if I can help it!

I’m in Raleigh for the night and happen to be staying right next to Soo’s. I read great reviews so now I’m here! I’ve never thought of this before but I’m going to do a live report!
(All times are p.m. EST)
8:36: I walk in and am greeted and seated immediately. I order a Pepsi.
8:38: Pepsi arrives and I have to say, this is some excellent fountain pop. The Pepsi guy must have recently adjusted the syrup/​soda balance. Just ordered 6 wings and a bowl of rice with the SOGA soy-​garlic sauce.
8:43: I’ve had a few minutes to take in the ambience. The interior is well-​decorated and comfortable. There are a few other tables who seem to be enjoying their food. Several other customers have the fried chicken in its various forms.
8:45: Each time the bell rings, I salivate a little more. This time it’s a to-​go order. Soo’s seems to do a solid carry-​out business. Also this K-​pop video has a singer cuddling with two wolves, which is pretty badass.
8:47: The singer seems to be some kind of Korean Eminem analogue. I think he just said «chikkun!» which is only making me more hungry.
8:56: wings arrive, smelling incredible. I misunderstood the wing counting, so I put in for an order of gyoza to supplement. (I thought they were full wings I.e. flat and drum connected)
8:59: these things are laser hot, ultra crispy and the flavor of the sauce is divine. Just a touch of sweetness and a medium level of spice. The bowl of rice is a bit small.
9:03: Three wings in, here are the gyoza! They’re… green? Well, let’s try em! Ah, a spinach wonton wrapper… They’re good, not as good as the wings.
9:15: I have eaten everything and had two Pepsi’s and now I’m sated. As I kept eating the gyoza I came to dislike the interior texture. I’d get the pork gyoza instead next time, because the outer wrap was so delicious. The filling might have contained okra, which I personally am not such a fan of. Regardless, I give this place a solid «⁹⁄₁₀ would eat again!»

Love, Love, Love Soo Café! We haven’t eaten at the restaurant, although it looks like fun — we just get takeout and it’s awesome. We get traditional sauce fried chicken and side dishes: edamame, vegetable tempura and white rice, which you have to order but it’s cheap and one bowl has been enough for me and my boyfriend. Service has improved considerably over the approximately year and a half we’ve been going. At first, it would take 45 minutes or more to get our order, now it’s pretty quick, about 15 minutes or less. Tasty, flavorful, delicious stuff, great customer service — one of our favorite places in Raleigh!

The beef bulgogi I had was wonderful, as was the fried chicken with the SOGA. I really wish they had wine, but the food is absolutely delicious.

BEST OF THE BEST. I’ve lost track of the multiple times that I’ve been to Soo Café. I prefer dining in and having fresh chicken wings. I’ve done take out before and it’s delicious still but not as fresh (after the 20 minute drive home). It takes time to prepare fresh chicken wings so the wait may be a bit (but it’s worth it).
My favorite sauce is the SOGA. It is a combination of sweet and spicy. It use to be a bit more on the spicy side but noticed that it’s sweeter than hot nowadays.
I recommend getting side dishes and rice with the wings. It compliments the meal really well. Keep up the great job Soo Café! I will be back again soon.

I wanted to do a quick update as I’ve eaten here a few more times. I have now tried their specialty, the fried chicken. As expected, it is delicious. It is extremely crunchy and flavorful on it’s own, but add in the sauce and it’s lip smacking good. However, I still can not give Soo 5 stars just yet due to it’s nickel and diming. First, you have to pay extra if you want sauce on your chicken! Really? Isn’t that the point of Korean fried chicken? Otherwise, it’s just fried chicken! Second, a side of rice is extra. What Korean restaurant charges for the rice? And third, the sin of all sins, still no free banchan! Kimchi is $ 2.00 for a tiny dish! Sigggghhhh. I guess we can’t have everything we want. Can we?

I loveeeeeee their chicken wings. They were also awarded for being the best Korean wings in town. Soga is my favored flavor and all the flavors were very good.

What makes Soo Café such an amazing place? Superb chicken and fantastic service!
Upon the commendation of a coworker, I realized that I had not been back to Soo Café in ages and I was missing out on their famous Korean fried chicken.
On my most recent visit, we ordered the Old Fashioned and Soga (soy garlic) wings and both were deliciously spicy. In my opinion, it was the perfect level of spice in that the heat was there but you could still enjoy the other flavors. There was an option for a more extreme spice level but not for no spice at all. The menu warns you that if you do not like spicy, do not order a sauce but you can still order the fried wings. We each ordered the 5 wings and 1 drumstick and were pleased to see how huge the pieces of chicken were.
The establishment is nicely decorated in the bright traditional Korean colors and the TV typically has KPop music on which is interesting to watch.
The service matches the quality of the food; it is exceptional. They are extremely friendly and informative.

You need to come here and try the Korean Fried Chicken, the better KFC, unless you want to miss out on some of the best fried chicken in the area. I finally made it out here to quell a insatiable craving for Korean food and ended up loving the place. It’s a nice restaurant, but it is in a sorta run down strip mall. For me that’s kinda what makes this place so awesome, call it charm or whatever you want, this place is just great and they have K-​Pop perpetually playing on a TV in the corner to get you in the Korean State of Mind.
Everything I had here was great and a bargain compared to other Korean places in the area. Soo Café is more of a à la cart place and doesn’t offer Banchan with all dishes. You can however get sides of Kimchi and Pickled Diakon for a couple of bucks and they are both top notch. The Vegetable Tempura is excellent and just like other Unilocalers say the mushrooms are the best part of the dish, and I’m not even a fan of mushrooms.
The fried chicken is where it’s at though, absolutely some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. I got the Half Chicken in SOGA sauce and it was incredible. Even though the Chicken was tossed in sauce it was the crispiest fried chicken I’ve ever had. Biting into it was very audible and delicious. I’d recommend you give it a minute or two to cool off a bit though because it comes out super hot. I also appreciated the fact that they chopped the chicken breast into segments and left the liver in place… fried to perfection. The Chicken was huge, the wings and drumstick were some of the biggest I’ve ever seen.
The SOGA sauce is perfectly balanced and gets better and better the more you eat. Even though it’s a soy garlic sauce there are a lot more flavors involved, ginger and several other sweet spices are present. It’s just a great all around messy meal.
I also love the rules/​guidelines they have first on their menus. I thought it was funny they have to say to get your chicken without any sauce if your sensitive to spicy food, because I didn’t think the SOGA was spicy at all. Based on the other rules there are way to many picky people eating here. There is nothing wrong with trying something different or outside your comfort zone… you never know you might like it. Anyway everything I had here was awesome and I think the quality of the food for the price is phenomenal. The service was great too! I was personally impressed that one server was able to hold down more than a half dozen tables and take care of to-​go orders, as that is much harder to do than you’d think. I really enjoyed myself here and think you should absolutely give this place a try.

I’ve had Korean fried chicken multiple times in both the NYC and Boston area, but this has got to be one of my favorites!
The chicken wings are fried with the perfect batter of crispy, saucey, and crackly goodness while the meat inside is so juicy and tender. I’ve had the SoGa and Old Fashioned sauces and LOVED both of them. The SoGa sauce tastes like a sweet soy, garlic, honey, and ginger mix while the Old Fashioned sauce has a slightly sweet but bold gochujang (Korean red pepper/​soybean paste) flavor.
You’ll find that the wings are pretty big and the sauces are VERY sticky, but all the more delicious!

⁵⁄₅. So happy I got to try out this place because it’s soooo hard to find good Korean Fried Chicken in NC.
Between two people, we shared one order of 10 wings (soy garlic sauce) and one order of the 6 tenders (original sauce). It was enough to fill both of us up! I enjoyed literally every single bite. The chicken is full of flavor and very juicy. I am getting hungry just thinking about it now.
Tip: If you ask for a small side of radish, you can get it with no charge (per table)!
Our waiter was nice and made sure that we had everything we needed. He was attentive and gave us good recommendations.
I can’t wait to go back and try their other flavors!

I don’t think I ever knew what perfect fried chicken really was until I tried it at Soo Café!
After hearing multiple people rave about this place, I finally got a chance to try it out for lunch today. It’s silly that it’s taken me so long — it’s pretty close to where I live.
Soo Café is known for their fried chicken, so I went for the tenders in the SOGA (soy-​garlic) sauce. My husband ordered beef bulgogi. The menu states that the chicken takes extra time, so the bulgogi dish came out a few minutes ahead of the chicken. The plate was huge and the bulgogi was spicy and delicious — definitely rivaled Seoul Garden! My chicken arrived and it was definitely freshly made and piping hot! The chicken was tender and perfectly cooked. The fry was crispy, but did not overtake the chicken in anyway. The sauce was awesome — flavorful and spicy!
They have other sauces and I hope the try them all, but it will be difficult for me to NOT order the SOGA sauce. I highly recommend Soo Café. I cannot wait for my next visit!

I’m definitely happy that the triangle area has a token korean fried chicken joint that does it well. Obviously, you should listen to me and the other hundred Unilocalers and go with the soy garlic sauce. YES.
I will say the last time we got takeout here, the wings were SUPER sticky. but hey who cares. still good.

The restaurant itself is worn just like the shopping center it resides in. The décor of the place isn’t very appealing either but I don’t need a fancy place when I want to get elbow deep in some fried chicken. One server handled the 7 or so occupied tables on the Monday afternoon we dined and did a fantastic job. I ordered the Spicy Beef Bulgogi ($ 8.99) and my husband chose the Combo B– 2 drums and 8 wings in the SOGA (soysauce and garlic) sauce ($ 15). They had a TV in the corner playing K-​Pop videos which my husband and I found oddly entertaining. Soon enough the Bulgogi arrived and we were pleasantly surprised by its spiciness. Definitely on the upper end of my spicy threshold and I will get this again when I return. Soon after we finished the chicken came out and it was lava hot. My tip would be to wait a few minutes for it to cool down. The pieces of chicken were huge and the photo doesn’t do the portion size justice. Everything everyone has said before me is true. The sauce was wonderful, the chicken extra crispy, and hands down some of the best chicken I have had to date. As others have mentioned they do not offer ban-​chan but I think that helps keep the prices lower in general. They only have 4 sauces to choose from and you can only get one sauce per order of chicken. The menu is slightly limited compared to other Korean places but if you come for the main event you won’t be disappointed. Soo Café is a no frills restaurant serving up some solid Korean food and if you haven’t tried them yet you are missing out. Shout out to the Unilocal community for bringing this little gem to my attention :)

This chicken is «different» but really good. I tried the Soga sauce, which is an interesting mix of soy sauce, garlic, and other spices. It’s quite sticky and fried and delicious. It also takes a few bites before you «get» the flavors. It’s unlike anything else you’ve eaten.
Then, you are like, Cheese Bird Traffic Light Hot Dog Honkato this is good stuff. Then the owners come out and talk to you!
I’d love to try their other sauces, but the spicy bogati (or however you spell it) was really good as well. Highly recommend you give this place a try.
I usually don’t give 5 star reviews to Pepsi places, but I LIKED this place. It is different, authentic, not Americanized, and original. Wonderful!

Delicious and unfathomably crispy fried chicken.
Old Fashioned & Soy Garlic (SoGa) are my favorites here.
The ‘NC H&S’ sauce is really tasty for a really spicy wing sauce but it is sticky! It’ll stick to your gums and lips so be careful.
The wings and drums here are pretty huge. The tenders are large cuts of chicken breast.
It can take upwards of 20 minutes for them to prepare your meal, expect a longer wait with a larger group. It’s worth the wait.

The Korean fried chicken here is amazing, easily some of the best fried chicken you can get around Raleigh. It’s double fried and is the pinnacle of crunchiness. The chicken came out freshly prepared and extremely hot. I had my half chicken covered in SoGa sauce (soy garlic) sauce, and it had the perfect amount of sweetness with a little kick to it as well. Even drenched in sauce, the chicken remained extremely crispy throughout the meal. The chicken is a little pricey ($ 10 for half, $ 20 for whole chicken), but it is well worth it. I’ve never been disappointed with the chicken here and will definitely be back to try it with the traditional sauce. We also got the bibimbap and beef bulgogi and both were decent, not bad, but also not as good as the chicken.
Overall, I’d highly recommend coming to Soo Café to get the Korean fried chicken. That is their specialty and is a must order. The other food on the menu is okay, but why get anything else when you know the fried chicken is head and shoulders above the rest.

The Korean style fried chicken here is awesome! Since the chickens are deep fried twice, they do take longer to cook than other restaurant. However, it was worth the wait. The skin was exceptionally crispy and crunchy, while the meat was moist and juicy! We have option of just eating it plain or with sauce. The sauces are flavorful and have thick consistency, which sticks to the chicken really well. You cannot go wrong with any of the sauces, but I usually go with the soy garlic.
I have also tried their other dishes, such as the bulgogi (korean barbeque) and samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly accompanied by lettuce and raw garlic slices). They were good but nothing special. If you want to come here, I would recommend sticking with the fried chicken and you would not be disappointed!

The Korean fried chicken is awesome here and i recommend getting the tenders. You get alot more meat on them as opposed to the wings which are mostly breading but still real good.
The bimbimbap I wast terribly impressed with but you dont have to worry about that because you’re going here for the chicken as previously mentioned.
Staff has always been real nice and plenty of parking since its in a strip mall. As a bonus you get to watch some awesome kpop music videos while you crush your wings.

If you want Korean style fried chicken in the Triangle, this is definitely the place to go for it. I started coming here with Ron W. while they were located on Hillsborough street and have continued going to their new location when I can spare the calories for fried chicken.
The other Korean dishes are still good, but as Sam K. points out, the real reason to come here is for the fried chicken. I would recommend trying all of the sauces, but SOGA and original are definitely the favorites among my group of friends. The hot & spicy sauce tends to be a little too much for most people, especially as you get into the smaller pieces with more surface area for the sauce. I would also recommend ordering some other side dishes so you’re not just eating fried chicken alone. The beef bulgogi is a pretty safe option for most people, and would pair up well with a smaller order of fried chicken on the side.
Personally, I like the downtown location on Hillsborough street a little better, but I’m sure there are good reasons to move down Capital. The new space is definitely much larger, but I feel like the old location had more customers even with the limited parking. I hope they’re able to host a lot of events with the larger space to compensate!
The staff are very friendly and the chef does come out to check on the food and make sure everything was satisfactory. I’ve never felt ignored or like the service was especially slow as some other reviews have mentioned. Soo Café is definitely going to remain in my list of go to restaurants for years to come.

Finally made it to Soo Café yay! Even the chef wanted to know what took me so long to check them out. Soo’s moved off of Brentwood Rd. right off of Capital blvd in a small strip mall. The restaurant itself was bigger then I expected and is great for families or crowds. They also have a private room and I saw some karaōke equipment in there, I think fried chicken and karaōke sounds like one fun night to me!
So here is goes the Korean fried chicken is amazing, I’ve never had anything like it anywhere else in town. The restaurant is authentic the Chef is the real deal and even came out to see how the food was and offer some tea after are meal. Big thanks to Ron W for showing me this place.
We ordered a pork belly dish not sure what the Korean name of it was but it’s served with rice, lettuce, kimchi, and some sauces. I liked the way this dish tasted all wrapped up in a lettuce but I wasn’t crazy about the pork belly. It was prepared differently then I’ve ever had before it wasn’t bad just different the meat itself didn’t have much taste.
However the real reason I was here was for the fried chicken. The chicken here they master. it’s super crunchy coating is just delicious and that soy garlic sauce yum so good! We ordered the whole chicken and I had a lot to take home for later. Knowing you have that yummy fried chicken in your fridge is tough. I grabbed a piece before I ever put it in the fridge and by the end of the night that chicken was gone.
Soo Café is special and authentic I will be back and can’t wait to tell some of my friends about this place.

Fried chicken at its finest!
I’ve been to multiple places in the dc area that offer yangnyum chicken (Korean fried chicken with sweet and spicy sauce) and although this place is one of very few Korean restaurants to offer it in the triangle, it’s JUST as good if not better than the ones in dc!
The chicken’s breading perfectly absorbed all the soga sauce but was still miraculously crunchy!
^(likewise with their fried shrimp, wahoo)
The meat of the chicken remained perfectly juicy as well~
My only criticism is that their wings and fried shrimp were slightly on the smaller side.
If you’re not into fried stuff, they have other things on their menu like bibimbap, bulgogi, etc. but I highly recommend everyone just giving their fried chicken (with soga sauce) a go!
Our server was kind and made sure we were happy with everything at all times.
They have tvs playing kpop music videos which is always fun to watch while waiting for delicious food!
Of all the Korean places I’ve tried in the triangle, this is the only place I can say is most definitely worth every single buck!