K BBQ Factory — Restaurant in Duluth

Someone was kind enough to gift me a $200 gift card and so planned a trip to spend it during a single visit with the wife and kids as we live almost an hour away. I've been to maybe four other Korean BBQ joints over the years and knew what to expect.

The rundown: Ordered the most costly combination C meal (feeds four)which was about $165. This meal included an assortment of beef cuts, jumbo shrimp and either Kimchi Fried Rice or Hot Pot Noodle. Meats came out in a timely manner on two trays. Our selected Hot Pot Noodle was only served after all the meats were prepared which was odd to me. Maybe that's not a unique thing though?

The cook was too fast to toss every cut on the grill once the previous was cooked enough to consume. This generated a sense of us needing to rush to eat or the meats would get overcooked waiting for us to finish the previous cuts. I get it. They are busy and trying to romp through tickets but it was just unreasonably hasty.

The grill fire continually went out and because the staff were, admittedly, working hard to serve all the tables, the grill not working consistently took away from the experience and the cooked cuts. Staff were visually frustrated with the grill not working properly. It must have gone out more than 10 times and sometimes we'd go five-ten minutes before staff showed back up to relight it.

The shrimp were grilled last and got absolutely thermo-nuked to a crisp. Partly due to the grill going out repeatedly and partly because the staff couldn't give adequate attention to us. While the shrimp were cooked last, there were still two healthy cuts of beef on our trays awaiting to be grilled. Before a word could be said the trays were stacked and run back to the kitchen along with our cuts of beef. Presumably to be saved as there wasn't anything wrong with them. There is a zero percent chance the staff didn't see it. At this point, the kids were full, I was nearing my limit and I considered how it was a gifted meal anyways so I just left it alone.

For a meal combo intended to serve four, I feel the volume of meat was reasonable. And the cuts were of acceptable quality. But I was surprised to see all four of us were to share small, individual-sized single servings of side dishes (Kimchi, salad, cold noodles, fried egg white, etc.). The caveat being that we each had our own small serving of rice. Maybe this is common but the other Korean BBQ places I've been to gave each their own servings of each side dish. So take that for whatever it's worth as I may not have good feedback.

Bill came up to about $180. Handed the server my $200 giftcard and my cc with instructions to use the full GC for the ticket. The GC balance could go towards a 20% tip and then whatever was needed to complete the 20% tip could be charged to my personal cc.

She came back reporting that tip could not be put on the GC. Again, with this being a gift I didn't make a deal about it and just tipped her fully from my CC but this one irks me a good bit all the same. She looked like she expected to not receive a tip because of it. Maybe a red flag of sorts...maybe not. But I've never had a GC exclude tip before and the card itself didn't have that noted on it.

All in all, it was an underwhelming experience. If I didn't have a GC covering the visit I'd have been pretty hot. Instead I handed my GC with it's nearly $20 balance to some folks waiting for a...

As someone who has lived in New York and New Jersey for the past 40 years and has visited countless All-You-Can-Eat (AYCE) Korean BBQ restaurants in the area, I can confidently say that most of them have been disappointing—especially when compared to traditional, authentic Korean BBQ restaurants. In my experience, the meat quality is usually poor, the marinades are off, and some of these places are even run by people who don’t seem to understand what real Korean BBQ should taste like. To be frank, many AYCE K-BBQ places in NY/NJ serve food I wouldn’t even consider edible by Korean standards.

So when I visited my brother and sister in Georgia last month and they insisted I try a place called K-BBQ Factory, I was highly skeptical. I actually refused at first, because I had already written off AYCE Korean BBQ—especially in the buffet format. But they kept insisting it was different, something special. I didn’t believe them.

Still, I ended up going, and to my surprise, the moment I walked in, I smelled something familiar—real bulgogi, the kind my mom used to make when I was a kid growing up in Korea. The aroma alone made me pause. The restaurant was clean, well-maintained, and the staff were extremely friendly—especially the female manager, who went out of her way to check on my 85-year-old mom several times throughout the meal. Her kindness stood out right away.

But I didn’t want to get my hopes up just based on the atmosphere. I ordered just one dish—bulgogi—to test the waters. If the bulgogi wasn’t good, I wasn’t going to try anything else. But to my absolute shock, it was perfect. The beef was tender—unusually tender for an AYCE buffet—and the flavor was spot-on. It tasted just like my mom’s. The kind of taste I’ve been chasing for over 20 years in NY and NJ but have never been able to find.

From there, I tried more: the marinated galbi (short ribs), the spicy squid, and more. Each dish blew me away with its quality and authenticity. I’m Korean-American, I grew up with this food, and I can confidently say: this is the real deal.

I don’t even know what the price was—my brother and sister paid since I was visiting—but I’m guessing it was even more affordable than what you'd find at inferior AYCE places in NJ. Regardless of the price, the value is unbeatable.

I’m planning to return to Georgia this September, and honestly, visiting K-BBQ Factory will be one of the main reasons for my trip. I finally found what I’ve been searching for all these years.

Highest recommendation. Truly. This is not just another buffet—this is Korean BBQ done right.

Oh by the way, If you're not familiar with Korean BBQ, I highly recommend starting with unmarinated beef cuts first—like brisket or short plate—so you can truly taste the quality of the meat. Then move on to the marinated options, like bulgogi or galbi, to experience the full range of flavor. That way, you'll appreciate both the freshness of the meat and the richness of the marinades....

Dining in at KBBQ Factory, this place has everything from tasty food, service, environment, and price. It was a party of three including me, my girlfriend, and her sister. We opted for option B for the all-you-can-eat combo. There is quite a large variety of meat you can choose from with that option which only costs about thirty dollars per person. I have never had to get reservations or had to wait to be seated down in this restaurant. So, there is a good chance that you will not either. I would say this place is not as popular as Iron Age, but considering the price and quality of meat, it is better. The variety of the menu depends on what option you choose and there is three options that you can choose from. Of course, we went for option B which is a bang for its buck. All the options come with free side dishes such as kimchi, rice, egg souffle, salad, etc. The meat selection depends on which option you pick, with option C having the most meat and being the most expensive. The meat and side dishes from this restaurant taste very well-seasoned and delicious. My favorite meat and side dish from here is the seasoned short rib and the kimchi. I recommend the short rib to first timers in this restaurant. The service here is well and the servers come frequently to check on the customer and the meat. Sometimes they flip the meat too frequently since there will be other servers trying to help. I would say it is unnecessary, but it is the thought that matters. Nevertheless, the service is well, and I have not had any bad experiences so far. They all seem like nice people and help you cook instead of other servers in other KBBQ restaurants where they do not. I usually do not handle the grill, so it is convenient when dining alone or if my girlfriend is too tired to use the grill. Like I have said before the price here is a bang for its buck. Option B only costs thirty dollars per person and has such a variety of meat that it is worth it. Now I cannot speak of the other options since I haven't tried it. Overall, option B is still the best choice. I can compare the food here to Kang’s BBQ which is a lot more expensive and has a higher quality of meat. I’d say that the meat here can go up par with Kang’s and the price here is way cheaper twenty dollars less than Kang’s. In Conclusion, KBBQ Factory is a mid-tier restaurant for an AYCE BBQ spot. The menu is great, it has different varieties and options. The price is well compared to other restraints near and for the price you get superior quality food. Servers also help a lot cooking your food but sometimes it is too much if you want to cook on your own. The music here is also good, but it is towards people that listen to K-pop, sadly I am one of those targeted audience. Overall, great atmosphere, food and...