Sa Ri One Korean Restaurant

Korean food is pretty rare in Tampa. Seriously, I think there are only like three Korean Restaurants. After reading a few Unilocal reviews, I thought Sa Ri One sounded pretty good.
Right when you walk in, you’ll probably recognize that you’re in a pretty authentic Korean restaurants. Unlike all the other wanna-be’s, Sa Ri One has one thing that many lack, actual Koreans. Now that’s a true sign of authenticity.
The food was really good, even though I struggled a bit with the spice. I would recommend getting mild if you’re sensitive to spice because I definitely downed at least five glasses of water in one sitting.
I would give this place five stars, but you’ll notice pretty soon after walking in that it’s slightly dirty. And by slightly I mean that there were still chopsticks and napkins on the floor when we were seated. It was slightly… disgusting. The service also lacked a bit. We came in around 8:30PM and they closed at 10PM. By the time we started eating, the servers ignored most of the guest because they were cleaning the kitchen. It took at least 15 minutes for us to flag down a server.
Other than those two things, it was a pretty good experience.
tl;dr — If you can deal with a bit of trash, go get that Bulgogi.

Great food. Dirty gross tables.
Kimchee pancake good. Fried squid good. Kimchi average. Galbi good. Spicy cold noodle good. Dolsot bimimbap very good. Pork bulgogi good.
Very consistent across the board. 5 stars for the food. Negative 5 stars for the tables.

I have to start this review by saying that this is for their take out only. We had a long 11 hour drive and were hungry and opted to get some food to go. We got the beef galbi, these were good however they didn’t have quite the char that I am used to. We also got the seafood pancake, also good but a bit thicker and less crispy than I expected. The food also came with a plethora of banchan, all delicious.
Both of the «issues» mentioned above could have been due to the food being take out and not actually eating in. I would give them a try again and eat in and update my review if needed. Based on the sheer amount of people coming in and out of the place, I would say they’re very busy and popular.

12÷31÷15 Updated Review:
Moving it from 4 stars up to 5 stars. The service has been great this past year. No more waiting 20 minutes for someone to take your drink order by a cranky server. On top of that the food has been consistently good with fresh ban chan on the reg. When you order take out they give you tons of food and sides to take home with you. Now only wished they would have grill your own BBQ and I would be a happy camper.

Sa Ri One has some pretty good lunch specials and an extensive menu. I had the pleasure of enjoying lunch here with my buds Melinda. Natalie, and Melony.
I often find inside places to be quite loud and hard to converse amongst a group. This definitely was not the case. We were pretty cozy chit chatting and enjoying our lunch.
We also had a nice server who took care of us with ease. Natalie and Melinda both ordered two types of soup including a bulgogi soup and a spicy red soup along w an appetizer which I really like, but forget the name.
Melony and I both ordered lunch boxes with either bulgogi (beef with no bones — my order), and hers which was Gal bi — beef — short rib. They come with rice, dumplings, an omelet like side, and your entrée. It’s a lot for the price.
I am also happy to see they have seats outside. Therefore, it is dog friendly outside. Perfect for these upcoming winter months when I want to sit outside and bring my dog everywhere.

Came here 15 minutes before opening at noon. Wanted to avoid the packed bars during game day and wanted non-​chain food before the game. Ordered Fried Tofu ($ 6.95, batter is something gelatinous, not a fan) — and Jaeng Ban Ja Jang ($ 14.95, squid/​shrimp/​vegetables with thick black soybean sauce noodle). Fried tofu and the usual accompaniments of bean sprouts and kim chee came out 6 minutes after I ordered. The noodles came out soon after and it was an extremely large portion (first world problem) and it was smothered in sauce. I wasn’t a fan of the noodles either as I couldn’t get over the amount of sauce it had so I took a few bites and searched for the seafood to pluck out.
One of the servers noticed I barely touched it before grabbing my check and she was apologetic about it after I explained that I wasn’t a fan and suggested I try the non-​sauce version so I could control the amount. I appreciated the concern and I’m sure the food may be appreciated by someone else, but maybe Korean food isn’t my thing?
Service was great though!