88 Tofu — Restaurant in Duluth

Service was terrible. The food was good but kind of expensive, the beef bulgogi bibimbap was almost $20 for very little bulgogi. The service was a terrible experience overall. My friends got there at 8:40 and were waiting for me to get there to order (the place closes at 10pm), they called me and tell me the lady was pressuring them to call me and ask me what they wanted, i was already there so I rather get in and see the menu. I get there at 8:48 ish and as soon as I seat with my friends the lady rushes in and leans in the middle and asks me what i wanted, telling me to hurry. I couldn’t look at the menu at all I just ordered what my friend did. They never checked if we needed more water or anything else. When is time to pay she asks if is one big check, she’s rushing us as she asks the question, we tell her to split it (in 5), and she complains and says “split it? ugh,” doubts about it but still does it. When she gets with the bills we realized 2 of us forgot our cards, so 2 others paid for their bills, and the lady complained that we made her split the bills in 5 and it was pay with 3 cards, we said we were sorry but we didn’t know we would do that, she literally said to us “you made split all, but you and you are paying for two!” we kept saying sorry but she still left upset. She came backed we signed and all tipped at 9:37, we weren’t even there for a whole hour. The suggestion on the bills started at 18%, my bill was $18, the 18% suggested was $3.25, I tipped $2 because the service just wasn’t good, but it still is 12%. The lady checks all the bills in the table before she let us leave, looking at the tips, she complains to me and tells me “only $2”, i respectfully tell “yes I know,” she says “no 18%,” i said, “i know, i did custom,” we kind of go back and forth, she just kept complaining and said “little” and then i just quickly go. Just an overall bad and disrespectful experience, if they will make me tip an specific amount they might as well just put it in the bill and let us know before hand, also, I always tip, but a good tip comes after good service, and the service was just...

I don’t do reviews a lot unless I really feel that I need to say something. I liked this place so much and have come to eat several times. I’ve loved their food and always spoken highly of their food and service to my friends. Whenever a friend asks me to recommend a Korean restaurant, I’d recommend 88 Tofu. But I was really really disappointed with the most recent visit on Jan. 2. We had no service. I brought a couple of friends who hadn’t been here before, so we took a little longer time to discuss the menu. But it was really just 5 minutes, max. My friends were very looking forward to trying a new place. The waitress came by twice and we could tell that she was getting impatient and annoyed by us taking more time. While we were having our dinner, no one came to check on us. I had to push the call button several times to ask for more water. They heard my call and just ignored us. We waited for a while and my friend had to walk to their front desk to ask for more water. During our entire dinner, no one checked on us. The only time they checked on us was the time my friend asked for water at their front desk. By the end of our dinner, we even waited for a long time to get our check. Plus, there were only 4 tables in the restaurant. I don’t understand why we had such a bad experience during a not busy time. At the end, they charged us a mandatory 18% service fee. We were told that it’s because we had five people. Well, regardless of not having service at all, they shouldn’t charge the 5 of us a mandatory 18% service fee. On their menu, it clearly says that a 18% service fee is charged for 6 or more people but we only had a party of 5. I would pay 18% if we get good service, but we didn’t get any service at all. In fact, I’ve always paid more tips previously as a returning customer. What is this about then? It’s such a big disappointment as it was one my of fav Korean restaurants. I’ll not...

Just went for lunch today, party of 4. Summary of the food: The tofu soup, pot rice (솥밥) and cabbage kimchi were great, their LA Galbi was sub par, their grilled fish(고등어 구이) smelled(비린내) and appeared to be slightly undercooked.

Summary of the service: Their service however was incredibly disappointing. I had initially written that off because if I figured they had just opened but based on the comments it looks like they've been open for at least 4 months which prompted me to write this review. We were initially seated and then was told that the seat was for a different party. There wasnt anyone ahead of us so we were confused(turns out it was indeed our table and there was poor communication between the staff, strike 1) They then brought our food to our table. Only when it was brought to the server's attention that we got two beef tofu soups rather than the seafood(해물) and mixed(섞어) tofu soups did the server realize that they brought the food to the wrong table(strike 2). Halfway into the meal, we asked (in person) to get a refill of cabbage kimchi. 5 minutes go by, we then push the little call button, nothing for a couple minutes, pressed another time, nothing. My mother in law then asks a passing server (4th time for people keeping count) at which we finally get the kimchi arrived. Whats the point of having a call button if no one will acknowledge?(strike 3)

Conclusion: Their 순두부 (tofu soup) is above average. If you want the same quality tofu soup, better overall food, better customer service but expecting slightly higher prices, I would recommend 장수장(Jang su jang) which is a 2...