Kogi BBQ

That cheese corn is to DIE FOR! One of my favorite sides EVER. Their selection of meat is good. I also get bulgogi and brisket. I wish they had that sauce that most KBBQ places serve (it’s not the salt, pepper, and oil one but it’s a sweeter sauce) ANYWAYS, this place is amazing and they take reservations which you should take advantage of!

Kogi is a great addition to the KBBQ scene in San Diego. After 9pm I believe, the all you can eat price is only around $ 17 per person. They have your typical selections of meats, but the special thing is that they have a lot of sides that most places don’t have. Kimchi fried rice, kimchi pancake, and of course, CORN CHEESE. If you haven’t tried corn cheese, you need to right now. Cheese and corn, maybe a little mayo or some other sauce, pure goodness. Their meats are pretty fresh and taste good. Black hog pork belly is an interesting meat selection that they have.
Servers are attentive and the restaurant isn’t too big so it’s never too crazy loud or packed. They have TVs playing Korean music videos which is pretty entertaining. Café Hielo is right next door so you could get some shaved ice or desserts too. My go-​to late night KBBQ place!

Always good every time I come here, plus happy hour is great if you’re on a budget ! Service is sometimes slow but it’s expected when there is only about 3 people working, but other than that I’d come back again.

Their bulgogi marinade is really good — it’s one of the best marinades I’ve had with KBBQ! They also had this cheese corn which was pretty good but it’s pretty similar to other KBBQ places in San Diego. It’s a smaller restaurant though and since we went at around 9 PM for happy hour it got pretty drafty every time the door opened.
As good as the food was, it actually took my party a long time to get full — maybe it was because they were busy on a Saturday night but the service was really slow and it took a while for us to get our meat and sides. We had to keep buzzing for them to come over.
Overall it’s a great KBBQ place if you’re on a budget — $ 18 total for happy hour and $ 2 soju bombs — but it wasn’t my greatest first experience with this place because of the slow service. Maybe next time.

Went in a group of 7 and the service was extremely slow. We would order new dishes and sometimes we wouldn’t even get it. Even after ringing the buzzer more than 3 times, the waiters would make eye contact and avoid our table. One of the waiters even gave an attitude when we got her attention to order more dishes/​drinks.
Normally at other KBBQ places, I would get pretty full within the first hour. As for Kogi, I was still hungry after the 3 hours.

Amazing happy hour prices if you’re on a budget.
Cheese corn & kimchi pancake are really unique to this place and they do an amazing job at making them.

My visit to Kogi BBQ really blew me away! My coworkers and I decided to come here to commemorate one of our fellow coworkers leaving us with a big MEAT-​up (haha, get it?). Though there was no seating to fit all 13 of us, because my supervisor called ahead of time– we got to reserve 3 tables right next to each other. The atmosphere was dark and chic looking, and had energetic k-​pop music videos playing on the big LED screens around the room. It was like the beautiful singers were hyping us up, getting us ready for the big feast (then again, I was HANGRY!!).
As soon as everyone filed in, the servers got to meating our demands for food– all three tables got to ordering off the Regular column (~$ 20 per person), and soon, all the food + the sides (which are unlimited!) came along.
Here are a list of my FAVORITE things that we ordered:
— Daikon (radish) wraps: the sweet tanginess goes really well with the meat, or by itself.
— Kimchi Pancake: not spicy at all in my opinion, and very tasty! If you never had it before, I suggest you give it a try.
— Salad: There wasn’t anything TOO special about it, but hey– you can order it to give your stomach a little bit of diversity from all the meat its going to eat!
— Beef Brisket: These cook quickly, and satisfy quickly– especially with that tangy meat sauce they give you in the beginning!
— Pork Kalbi: Tender, succulent, and marinated to perfection. It was so juicy and delicious, made me wish that we got it much earlier
— Beef BulKogi: An interesting adaptation to the typical bulgogi (or marinated beef). Typically, bulgolgi has a strong sweet, savory flavor profile– especially coming from the onions (and sometimes brown sugar) its marinated with. This one seemed to have a stronger ginger taste to it. Worth a try!
— Peach Yogurt Soju Cocktail: OH MY GOD! THIS IS DELICIOUS! You can barely taste the alcohol, but its there. I loved this so much– I would definitely order this again the next time I come here.
The servers were quick, and very attentive, helping us change the grill top time and time again since we cleared our rounds of meat many times throughout our visit. Because we had a large party, gratuity was automatically added to the check. But because I thought they did such a good job, I rounded my bill up and gave them a tip!
Out of all the KBBQ places I have been to so far, this place is definitely a great place to go to. In my opinion, it beats out some other KBBQ places in the area. Though KBBQ tends to have a strong smell that sticks to your clothing on the way out, I didn’t end up smelling of meat at all!
I’ll definitely coming back — though not for a while since my stomach is still nurturing the meat food baby from yesterday night!

This place was pretty good. We (my boyfriend and I) came in right when the restaurant opened so we were seated right away and found a good parking. I could tell that parking can easily be a problem with because there are other busy restaurants around and parking is very limited.
Service was awesome. We had Ben as the server but it seems like everyone helps each other out. Waters refilled by different people, grill was exchanged, empty plates being picked up, at least 3 different people checked up on us.
Food wise, we chose the Regular AYCE. With all the meat we tried, the favorite would have to be the garlic beef rib. The cheesy corn is also a must try over here. I really enjoyed the beef tongue, although Ian wasn’t a fan of it.
–1 star because out of all the food, only garlic beef rib, beef tongue and cheesy corn are the only ones worth coming back to.

Nice seating, very large portions, and an enormous amount of fat. We ordered the pork belly and it was 80% fat. «I don’t want clogged arteries» so we put it all in an empty rice bowl. The spicy pork belly had surprisingly less fat, but it wasn’t great. The spicy pork belly at Taegukgi is much better. The stone pot egg was bland, I had to use the dipping sauce for my meat if I wanted to eat the egg. It took a while to get the waiters to notice us and to get some of the food as well. The table itself is quite big compared to TGG but you have a limited amount of banchan. I might be back to try their kimchi fried rice and bean paste soup.

Kogi was better the first time I had it, which was over a year ago, and I think the cheese corn was the main reason why. I won’t compare experiences in this review though because I don’t remember anything from last time.
My friends and I – a group of 9 – went for dinner on a Friday night around 9:30. First of all, I can’t really tell who is a worker or not. The workers don’t have a set uniform (even if it’s just all black). They wear casual outfits that make them look like any other customer in the restaurant. I would get confused because I wouldn’t know who to call, especially because we had around 5 different servers randomly attending to us.
The service was so slow. It took forever to get our food. We’d ask for cheese corn, and we’d get one minuscule platter of it for a table of 9. Then, we’d ask for steamed egg and we got 5 at a time for one instance. It wasn’t consistent at all. Not to mention, I felt as if the meat portion would get smaller every time, especially for the one grill that we had. To be honest, we didn’t get THAT much meat considering how many of us there were and how we used the full 2 hours. This was due to smaller portions and slow service. I left an AYCE KBBQ restaurant still hungry.
Better luck next time, Kogi.

Ok place for Korean food. I like the vibe and how the tablets are all separated so their some privacy. Food is good. Nice selection of meats. Their is a bell to call someone but it is on the wall almost behind you. I did not notice it but one of my friends did. One area they could use an improve on is at the entrance. When we walked in, we stood around before we noticed the sign up sheet. Like other Asian places, sign your name and wait to be called. It makes it easier to know how many groups are ahead of you but not how long the wait is.
Parking is a little tight as it is a shared lot. At night, not a problem but I can see it being a problem during the day when all the local business are open.
Overall, 3.75 stars.

This place is alright, as it’s tucked away on the other side of 163 freeway, so the wait isn’t too bad compared to other AYCE KBBQ joints. I finally tried this place when one of my friends from SF came to SD for the weekend.
We had the usual: beef tongue, brisket, short rib, etc. Everything was average in quality and lacked in flavor. I tend to stay away from bulgogi since the marinade is a bit too sweet and/​or heavy. Everything stuck to the grill, and it had to be changed frequently because of all the meats we ordered.
Service was lackluster and ventilation could be better. Yep, you’ll smell like KBBQ after, but I do welcome it (KBBQ cologne, anyone?!). This place is just so very… average. But hey, corn cheese as one of the banchan is new!

Decently priced for ‘Happy’ hour. Service was okay but somewhat disorganized, spent some time sitting around waiting in front of an empty grill. No complaints towards the quality of the food.
Over the course of our dinner, we had 4 different servers helping us. Most of them were patient with us, one of them just wasn’t trying too hard. Flagging down the servers was a chore, and there were times that we had to sit in front of an empty grill waiting for someone to pass by to take our next order. Pressing the service buzzer didn’t do anything. Overall, service didn’t keep up with our pace.
My party ordered mostly just brisket and pork belly. For a full table of 4, I recommend ordering double orders as they skimp on the portions. My favorite side was the corn cheese, it comes sizzling hot on a cast iron plate. I would come back here just for this side. You can also ask for garlic and onion.
The grill itself wasn’t oiled, so the thinner cut meats (like the pork belly) got stuck and had to be scraped off. Grill changes were made in a timely manner.

Used to say this was my favorite kbbq spot. But they did something to the brisket. There was a copious amount of fat on it. The waiter would forget to bring sides we ordered despite requesting them multiple times. If they didn’t offer beef tongue and if the beef short rib wasn’t good, I probably would give them fewer stars. Our server changed multiple times so it’s difficult to rate them on that. It seemed like the younger the server the more incompetent and inattentive they were.

This is my go to kbbq restaurant the minute its past 9pm.
The parking lot here is tiny, there are a limited number of spots so sometimes I have to find street parking. The wait can be fairly long (~1 hour when its packed) but most ayce kbbq places have long waits now. The restaurant is smaller than other kbbq spots and they tend to get large parties that take up half the restaurants.
They have daily happy hour for about 17 a person after 9pm. There is a limited selection of meats but they make up for it with the amount of side dishes that are available. during happy hour they offer 1 dollar soda with unlimited refills as long as everyone at your table will order it.
Service here is hit or miss. Some of the wait staff works a lot harder than others. I usually get pretty luck but ive seen people try to flag down their waiter multiple times and never succeed in getting any help.
The meat quality here is okay, not as good as manna but much better than roadem. I tend to stick with brisket, beef belly, and pork belly.
I recommend getting the veggie combo, I love having grilled green onions and mushrooms with my food!

This is our favorite and go to spot for kbbq goodness. It didn’t come up in our radar until few months ago. It’s your usual ayce kbbq joint, however they have kimchi fried rice, cheese corn, kimchi pancake available as side dishes! Kimchi fried rice!!!
For their meats, we really like their brisket (sometimes they give you the leaner side, sometimes the fattier side) and beef belly. We also like the beef tongue & garlic finger ribs. We have yet to try the kobe offerings — we’ll save that on a special occassion.
Their service is really good however once it gets really busy it a hit or miss. So far, the times we’ve been here they are pretty consistent.
Parking is horrible as usual but dont worry you’ll find street parking available. The only thing missing is that they don’t serve boricha — I hope they will start serving it.
PS: they offer HH and late night happy hour! :)

Besides the slow fire and the not-​so happy hour deal… this place is definitely deceiving by the exterior!
I came here with a group of 6 others on a Tuesday night at 9:30 PM. Why? Well, we saw that there was a Happy Hour deal after 9 PM so who wouldn’t want AYCE for a «cheaper» price?!
The place was fairly empty, but it was well kept and Kpop was blasting on the TV screens. (Yes, go ahead and make me stare at stick skin girls while I gorge myself with uncountable calories…)
We were quickly seated and asked what we wanted to order.
We got multiple rounds of:
–Bulgogi /​/​MORE PLEASE. One of the better bulgogis I’ve had!
–Beef brisket /​/​YES! Spot on. If you don’t want anything too marinated, get this! But be warned, it’s pretty thin.
–Spicy pork /​/​Not bad! Big pieces, so cut it up a bit if you want it to cook faster!
–Thin sliced pork belly /​/​Yummy in proportion!
–Large slices of pork belly /​/​ERRRR. Not what I like, but if you like thick, large slices of pork belly… be my guest!
Sides:
–Corn cheese /​/​OMG YES. Literally corn + cheese. What more can you ask for? I like that it’s not too buttery like other restaurants, but the down side is that it’s not as crispy.
–Salad /​/​OH YAY. Not the one with the thousand island ranch dressing! They give you a pretty big bowl, so yay for not having to constantly ask for refills!
–Banchan /​/​Wow. Okay, so I was not impressed because most places come with mini platters for each. Instead, they cram 6 different ones on a stone plate. +1 for innovation? Definitely not creative in banchan, but their focus is on the meat!
–Kimchi fried rice /​/​A bit oily for my liking, but super flavorful! Definitely get!
–Egg soup /​/​Not as «yellow» as other places. I think their egg: broth ratio is off, and tasted more soupy than anything.
Pros:
–Quick service! Whenever our grill burned, they immediately came and switched it out for us! And, when the fat was starting to create flames on our grill, the server quickly came and put it out for us!
–Clean environment! The outside definitely deceived me! But the inside was brightly lit and well kept.
–Good eats! A hidden spot for sure! It was super sketchy getting here, but it was a great experience since the food was on point!
Cons:
–Meh pricing. I was expecting a great discount for «happy hour»…the price was the same as if I ate KBBQ at Manna during regular hours. Come here if you like eating at night, though?
–Meh BBQ grill. Our was so slow, compared to my friend who sat at the table next to us. Maybe we just got a bad spot!
Tips/​Observations:
–Parking is pretty crammed here, even late at night! Street parking it is, in the dark!
Though I came for the happy hour, but this place is worth coming to during regular hours! Their other plans have a lot more options, but happy hour menu was more than enough for me!

Where have you been all my life Kogi BBQ ??? I think i’ve found my new go-​to ayce kbbq place.
Kogi bbq is nestled on the other side of the 163 freeway next to Shogun/​Dennys/​Café Hielo. I like it because it doesn’t try to dazzle you with huge platform tvs and all that extra stuff. Its literally a place where you can kick it with your friends over a solid ayce kbbq meal. COME HERE FOR THE HAPPY HOUR AFTER 9PM where AYCE becomes $ 16 which has all the meats that you’d usually order anyway. Soju/​sake bombs are also heavily reduced during HH.
Quality of meat is solid, and they also have a great selection of sides for you to choose from. UNLIMITED CORN/​CHEESE, KIMCHI FRIED RICE, AND KIMCHI PANCAKES ARE A THING! And of course you’ve got your rice paper and salad. Seriously so clutch.

This place is a bit small and the parking lot is limited as well so try coming here early to get good parking and a short wait especially for their happy hour after 9 PM! It’s definitely worth it for happy hour ($ 17.95) but no other time is worth. They have drink specials and a cheaper price for their AYCE. ($ 1 for refillable soda, $ 2 drink specials) They have rice paper too!!!
The customer service is ok, I would always have to flag a waiter down for refills and more orders on side dishes and more meats. (I asked for two extra waters and only gave me 1…) so I had to ask for one more again.
I suggest getting the bulgogi, brisket, and pork belly. The meats aren’t well seasoned and marinated compared to other KBBQ places which is why I only rated this place 3 stars. So ask for extra side dishes like corn cheese, kimchi fried rice, and salad. They’re delicious! Personally, I don’t like their sauces for the meats. Other than that, I would recommend this place for their happy hour.

Date of visit: 4÷26÷2015
Happy Hour is now $ 17.95 per person. We came here at 9pm to take advantage of happy hour and got exactly what we paid for. Although we were a party of 7 people, we were immediately seated in one of the booth areas. with an extra chair.
Most of the meats are not marinated and were just okay. I really liked the Black Hog Pork Belly. Scotty really likes the Prime Brisket. Everyone (except Scotty) loved the Bulkogi (the only marinated meat that we got) and disliked the Spicy Pork Buchete (we don’t even know what that was).
The side dishes were all good and the wait staff was prompt to meet all of our requests (more kimchi, more sauce, more rice, etc.). They also made sure that our water was always filled and replaced our grill after each Bulkogi order (it tended to start burning because of the marinade).
Overall, I think I’m getting a little old for all you can eat, but I definitely enjoy cooking the foods for everyone. The kimchi was also awesome. Cam and I probably won’t go here without our friends.
FYI on parking: We parked in the 30 minute zone and didn’t get a ticket, but that was probably because it was after 9pm. I’m sure the parking is enforced more during lunch time.