Kalbee

As of May, 2010… This place is closed.

This place is fantastic! It’s really something. Went to try this place before they closed up and found it to be wonderfully below mediocre and expensive! And when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I saw… ROACHES! but seriously, the food wasn’t great. If you are going to name your restaurant kalbee, the actual dish better stand out. And it didn’t.

Update: CLOSED.

Walked by last week and the restaurant was all boarded up and there was a sign on the door saying they were on vacation for two months or something. On vacation? Does that really require you to cover all your windows? Maybe this place is getting fumigated because they didn’t pass inspection? Just a thought…

This place is gooooood. It’s very affordable and appetizing. An entrée and an appetizer was enough to satisfy two people’s hungry appetites, especially with one of them having a REALLY big appetite ²⁴⁄₇. They serve really good portions that’s why. Seriously, an entrée is enough to feed two 5’2″ petite girls and have them come out of Kalbee’s really full. The food is delicious. The side dishes that came with our entrée really hit the spot. It was a good variety, and the tastes of the side dishes really blended well with the taste of the meat. The service is great, as my waitress was really attentive and friendly. The eating environment was relaxing. I’d definitely go there again and try their short ribs! Our bill ended up to be only $ 22.

This place is awesome! I’m constantly craving something meaty and their short ribs do the job! I had eaten here in the past. probably a year ago and didn’t think much of it. I’m pretty sure it was under different management/​owner because this place has drastically changed! It was a fast food type place before but now it’s a sit down restaurant. (CASH ONLY!)
I came here for dinner and it was really empty. I really don’t understand why?! My boyfriend and I ordered our own entrees, bul gogi and kal bi, respectively. The two meats came out in sizzling plates at VERY generous servings! We’ve decided that the next time we come here we’d split the short ribs and probably an appetizer because it was way too much food! The sides that accompanied our meats were plentiful and included kimchee, fish cakes, pickled jalapenos of sorts, sprouts, cucumberish stuff, etc. DELICIOUS! I’m craving it more and more just thinking about it! A rare good restaurant in Vallejo… so if you’re in the city, this is where you wanna eat!
So why a 4? The bul gogi was a bit too salty and because it’s cash only. But this is coming from someone who never carries cash!

Apparently Asians do look alike because everyone at work keeps confusing me with another Asian. So much that we have started charging people a dollar for each time they do. We finally saved up enough cash to buy us a nice meal so we decided to blow our earnings on Kalbee. We ate here on a Friday for lunch.
The atmosphere: eerily quiet (I felt like I was eating in a library), and sterile (not much decoration besides their bamboo screen). There was only one other couple eating in but there were a few people who ordered to go.
The waters were brought out promptly. Our orders were taken within a few minutes. The lunch specials came with a bowl of soup and at least 10 little side dishes which included kim chee, pickled green beans, bean sprouts, fish cake, etc. The soup was pretty tasty. While the kim chee was good, I could have done without those sides.
I ordered the Daeji Bul Gogi, and my other coworkers ordered the Bul Gogi and the Kal Bi. These plates of meat were huge and could feed at least 2 people easily. I loved my order. It came out on a sizzling platter, and the meat had great flavor and good texture. The Kal Bi was also pretty tasty. The Bul Gogi was ok. It had good flavor, but was a little dry for my liking.
Luckily, we had our cash earnings with us because this place takes cash only.
Bottom line: This was a decent place if you like eating in peace. The prices are reasonable for the amount of food you get. Good for lunch because it’s not that busy so you can get in and out of there within one hour. This is a good eat for Vallejo.

Craving, craving and craving for some Korean food for dinner. So I Unilocaled the area we’re cruising by at the time, which happens to be Vallejo and came up with this place.
I read all the reviews and once again Unilocalers you’re right!
Situated in a strip mall, this place seats about 30 people. They offer about 40 plus items on their menu including appetizers.
The waiter was «A» plus. When we walked in we we’re greeted, seated and served ice cold water right away.
We perused the menu and finally decided to go with the Jap Chae (clear sweet potato noodles sauteed with vegetables, mushrooms and beef) and Kal Bi (marinaded short ribs).
Minutes later we we’re served traditional Korean side-​dishes that come with a barbeque order. Sesame bean sprouts, sliced sesame cauliflower, spicy string beans, steamed sliced cucumbers, grilled fish cake strips, daikon and cabbage spicy kim chee and a bowl of rice per person. Real nice! The menu listed barbecue orders also come with soup which we did not get and I’ve forgotten to ask for — that’s ok.
As I was chomping away at the sides next thing I know our order was served!
The Jap Chae presentation and taste, real good. The Kal Bi, served in a sizzling hot platter, got my taste buds rolling. It was excellent!
Both portions served family style. We ended up with to-​go bags.
I was stuffed.
This is my new Korean restaurant close to home. My wife thought the food was tasty and just okay that’s cause she’s a huge fan of Seoul House restaurant in Oakland. I will save that for another review.
My overall experience 4-​stars, great service, good ambiance, good food and good portions…
One caveat, leave your credit cards at home, this place is CASH ONLY.

I’m addicted.
My family, whether extended or immediate, eat here at least once a week. We always order the Kalbi short ribs as well as the Jap Chae clear noodles (with Bul Gogi in it).
I always get excited when I sit down to get ready to eat. They serve you an array or accoutrements on the side, ranging from kim chee, bean sprouts, fish cake, and many more. It changes weekly. They also serve you soup as a small appetizer to the meal.
I’ve tried numerous dishes here and I have yet to find one I don’t like. Oh, wait, they have a biter melon side I’m not too fond of.
I’ve also ordered their Bento Box lunch special. Doesn’t actually come in a box but it’s a smaller portion that the full size on the menu. Great deal.
LOVE THIS PLACE! You have to try it.

I believe this place has since closed, after trying to call and learning the number has been disconnected and then driving there only to find the windows boarded up with paper.
When we did go here twice, the food was very decent. They give you many sides, I especially loved the picked veggies and picked cucumbers. The meat wasn’t bad either, although I wish they gave you more.
It’s a good take out place or eat in place, and the plates were about $ 7 which is reasonable for Korean food. Although, I still prefer real Korean BBQ, this definitely beats nasty princess garden with their Mongolian BBQ or the Mongolian BBQ chain.
The service was nice and if you were nice, sometimes they gave you a bit extra of the sides.
If I found out that they were still opened, I would definitely go, but it doesn’t look like they are. It’s unfortunately, that this economy has closed down some of the few decent places around here.

Kalbee is now a full service restaurant, but the prices have gone up and there is alot more variety, like soondofu and all that jazz. However, I still liked old Kalbee when they have lunch specials for $ 5.95 and you got to choose your sides. Now the lunch specials are $ 7.95 and they give you sides that they choose.
I personally haven’t tried the other items on the menu but I really do want to try.

This is the place to go in Vallejo for great Korean food. The pork is one of their best meats. There menu is now more extensive. The soup and rice dishes are great. The sides are tasty. There is no other place even close to Vallejo that is worth the drive. Stay in town and enjoy some great food.
Location is odd, but it is a great place to drop in a grab a bite.

Good Korean food. Kim-​Chee is also off the hook and to me, thats all that matters! They customized a dish for us once so thats a huge +.
Somehow they are linked to our favorite Japanese place (Matsuris). I think the owners are brothers or something? Regardless of being Japanese or Korean or whatever, they’ve got it down.
Location is the biggest killer even though they are close to Tap-​Ex, Longs, Starbread, etc… its just not in a part of town where to many frequent. Just a select few. Then again, Vallejo aint got no good locations…

It’s OK … not particularly spectacular. First time experience was horrible, though. This was also the first time I ever had deep fried mandu, and it made me sick! (Especially with my own omoni only doing pan-​fry and everyone else around me doing steamed)
The galbi tastes fine, but since it’s not a Korean BBQ I wouldn’t have expected too much of it.
It’s the first Korean fast-​food that I’ve seen though. There are some things to be yearned for but it does fine.

I love Korean Food and prefer it to be very authentic. This isn’t going to be 100% authentic, but it is very good and it is fast food.
They have kalbee, bulgogi, fish and other items on the menu. Your meal comes with the obligitory kimchee and other little goodies, you get your pick.
There are other good Korean Restaurants in Fairfield & Concord, but this one is closest to home. When I absolutely must have some kimchee, then stand back!

I no longer live in Vallejo, so if this is the only Korean place there, I support it.
It IS fast food, and I’m sure that yes, the quality of the food equals some sit down Korean restaurants.
But, I will note that … this is authentic in that I believe the owner is half korean (maybe full?), and his mom — to us, halmoni (grandma) — does the cooking. Or the recipe creation.
However … someone brought this up — this is CLEARLY Hawai’ian Korean cooking. Which is not the same as Korean Korean cooking. So the family probably spent at least a decade there and modified the korean food with the Hawai’ian palate which likes its flavors kind of mulled and sweet. Not that spicy doesn’t exist, because the Japanese and the Korean foods still need their spice, but the FLAVORS, the seasoning outside of spice, is totally different than traditional Japanese and Korean cooking.
All to say, if you want like, true to native Korean cooking … this isn’t it. It’s culturally modified by Hawaiian and American palates (note the potato/​macaroni sides and katsu style food on the menu).
(Sidebar: I lived in Korea for 3 years and enjoyed plenty of native cooking. The flavors, with or without spice, will blow your mouth up. :)
However, it’s reasonably priced, got a very clean friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and they’re cooking Korean food in Vallejo which is new, so again, I support it.
I was a bit disappointed by the rice. It was kinda mushy and the rice servings were small. (Which is weird, cuz usually these hawaiian places will give you heaping mounds of rice.)
However, otherwise, the overall servings were generous. The sides weren’t as generous as you’d get at a sit down Korean restaurant, but still, American stomachs are used to overeating so I think this is a good trend.
I personally rarely eat spicy kimchi so I can’t say how authentic this was but their winter kimchis were okay.
Oh, for me, the kalbi is their best item. It had a generous amount of meat and was cooked well. Flavor was a bit bland but still pretty good.
The bulgogi was pretty bland (though texture and quality of the meat were high).
You def get your money’s worth.
For me, 3 stars means a place is worth eating at but does not create nor fulfill cravings. 4 stars means I’ll go back cuz they have something on the menu I must have. 5 stars is so amazing my mouth watered and I had orgasms (very rare).
So, definitely give this place a chance if you’re near Vallejo and craving Korean food. Just know the flavors might be a little more Hawaiian and on the sweeter/​less intense side.
(Another sidebar: I just realized — long after eating the meal and heading back to Santa Clara, that I ordered mandu with my dinner and it wasn’t included in my order. DANGIT!)

I love Korean food. Of course, the Korean take-​out I remember was while I was living on Oahu. My mom and I would go to a little mom & pop type place in the shopping plaza behind our apartment in Waipio Gentry (I don’t remember the name).
I’ve tried Korean BBQ joints in Berkeley, but I never found one that served Taegu (peppered cuttle fish). I loved the choices of sides they had. Kim chee, daikon, cucumbers, sprouts, mac salad, broccoli, spinach, tofu, etc.
Now, I loved the Hawaiian/​Korean variations on the island. I called my mom to discuss this new restaurant and we had a few suggestions (which I may throw out to the manager, who happens to be from Hawaii too):
* long clear noodles
* potatoes (marinated in like sweet-​soy marinade)
* keep the kalbi-​ribs in strips, not cut up
* and bigger pieces of bulgogi
I ordered both the Kalbi ribs and Bulgogi for dinner tonight. I was quite impressed with the friendly guy behind the counter and meeting the manager. We exchanged our Aloha’s and Mahalo’s while waiting for my food too. Since I ordered dinners, I got two free sodas and for what I got for under $ 20 was well worth it. I devoured both the cuttle fish and daikon.
I will definitely go back since I enjoyed the food, the warm welcome, and the prices can’t be beat. Plus, I don’t have to leave Vallejo for Korean (well, its the only Korean place to eat in Vallejo).

My Mister and I came here to try this place out because of the great reviews on Unilocal.Great authentic Korean food!
The portions were HUGE. They are very generous. I saved my left-​overs for the next day. They’ve got a great selection of sides too. I ordered the Bulgogi and the Mr. got the Spicy Pork. We approve :) Great, great, great place. We already recommended Kalbee to all of our friends.

THIS IS REAL KOREAN FOOD (fast food that is)!! I no longer have to go to Oakland or San Francisco and spend $ 70 when I am craving Korean. (Save yourself the trouble of reading my rave and go here and see what the fuss is about!)
Thank my lazy fingers for finding this place — the fiancé and I were craving Korean so I went on Unilocal to find a new place… too lazy to fill in the «near» I just left it at Vallejo then BAM! There it was two reviews for a Korean restaurant in Vallejo with four stars!!! We give each other the look (its four stars but its in Vallejo) but we are feeling adventurous (and we did not want to drive to Oakland). We call to make sure this is not a cruel joke (yes I am that pessimistic). Then we hope in the car and head over… jill t. hit the nail on the head this is not a good location…(its where businesses come to die)
I walk in to a clean restaurant with booths and wood paneling (My Korean friends swear by wood paneling if a Korean restaurant doesn’t have it, its probably Americanized) so far so good. There is also a flat screen TV playing some law movie with John Cusak… NICE!
Each order comes with a different number of «sides» or banchan which are laying out salad bar style next to the register (it is not help yourself but they give you a nice pile of each choice). We went there two days in a row (it would have been three but they are closed on Mondays) and the variety changed (the staples were still there but there were one or two new choices — crab cake, cuttle fish, potato salad, cucumber kimchee, bean sprouts, you get my drift).
The food… I have grown up eating Korean — good Korean — and this place is good. The pork is not spicy but they have the red pepper paste to spice things up, the mandu or potstickers taste home made (seriously like my friend’s grandmother use to make with the glass noodle bits and all), the japchae was a little sweet for my taste but my friend was diabetic so her granny did not use sugar :) The meats were not over cooked and tender.
I feel I am doing this restaurant an injustice by calling it fast food because the quality of food is equal if not better then a lot of Korean restaurants I have been to in the bay area. The only reason I do is the lack of table service and cook at your table grills.
I had the combo which gives you two meat choices, six sides and two scoops of rice… the portions are very generous (I eat more then most and it was still too much to finish).
For under $ 10 you get a complete restaurant quality meal — I am going back there again tonight… yes that does make it three times since Saturday but I don’t care! I am a glutton!
The service is very friendly — the lady in front of us in line asked two questions about each and every item in the banchan/​side bar and he was very patient and understanding when I would have slapped the side of her head at question number 10! (but that is why I don’t work in the service industry)
Anyway five stars because they deserve all five there is just one thing:
It is CASH ONLY but well worth a trip to the ATM — seriously y’all!

We love Kalbee! Quick, good Korean food in Vallejo — such a welcome concept when we needed a new restaurant to be our «regular.»
Good food, huge portions, and good sides. We usually get the lunch boxes (available during lunch AND dinner), which is a main dish (e.g. bulgogi, spicy pork) and two sides, typically for less than $ 6, depending on your meat. Robert, the owner, works behind the counter, and is very personable and generous. He worked with my classmates to provide lunch for close to 80 people. Wonderful.