Rainpia — Restaurant in Ellicott City

A month ago, I found out about this place from my daughter. Didn't even know this place existed and I have lived in Howard county for over 20 years. As you can see, I am not much of a bar person. Now I have been to every restaurant around this place but never thought about it. A month ago, my wanted some chicken. So I ordered some food from our usual place and then on the way over there to pick it up, I stopped by and talked to the owner's son and put in an order for their boneless chicken to go. After picking up the usual food, I came back and picked up the boneless chicken from here.

I don't know if it was because it got cold and the shrinkage factor, the boneless chicken was pretty sad. I air fried it to heat it up but it didn't help. I thought about putting in a review of that experience but thought that it would be unfair to base it on just one dish under not ideal conditions. So I didn't. Well, this week, a group of friends wanted to come here for drinks and food and I readily agreed. Wanted to give it a proper chance.

As you can see from the photos, the place is not that large but with the long table in the middle, it can adapt to a lot of people in a group. This time the food was really really goof. Everyone loved all the chicken dishes. I would say the half and half chicken is probably the best dish they have. I could use a much spicier sauce personally but it suited everyone else just fine. The food came out in a timely manner and it was great. The one thing that I would say they can improve upon is that I didn't see any Korean beers on the menu. Just had Sapporo beer. No draft beers either. I know it's a Korean bar but it is still a bar and beer variety is a must. People want what they want when it comes to beer. I would note that the flavored Korean rice wine was definitely a huge hit with...

Had dinner with a group of 7 on Wednesday night and for sure will never return to this restaurant again. The gratuity percentage was not communicated to us beforehand. When we got our first bill, the total was $288.47 and I asked the server how much tip was automatically charged and they answered “maybe 20%”. Maybe? This is definitely not the right term to use since this restaurant has been in business for a while. You know how much you charge because when I asked for my original bill, the total amount indicated $236.45. They put a 22% after-tax gratuity charge automatically to the bill probably wishing that customers will not notice. When I refuse to pay the first bill ($288.47) and ask them to give me a new bill either with 20% gratuity added to before-tax total or the original bill where I can put the amount on myself, the server refused and told us they could not do anything because of the store “rules”. I ended up paying $283.74 (20% after-tax gratuity) when the server came back and told us that tax was removed in calculating the gratuity (scammed once again). You just simply changed the gratuity from 22% to 20%. We understand that big groups tend to have gratuity charged to the bill but this was not communicated honestly to us. Seriously think they charge 22% to every group bill hoping that customers will not notice. Will never return to this restaurant or recommend it to anyone again. Please check your receipts beforehand and avoid...

Really fun Korean gastropub. This place gets packed on the weekends and there is usually a wait. Service here was so quick and I went twice in 1 weekend. You stop in and add your name to the list if its packed. Expect to be seated in 30-60 minutes depending on the day. On the weekends, you have to order food vs only drinking. Prices are pretty reasonable for the drinks. My friends and I ordered the chicken gizzards, Korean chicken wings, galbi ribs and and tuna rice balls. I would highly recommend ordering the the gizzards, galbi and rice balls. They were all delicious. Especially the gizzards. Fried and seasoned perfectly. The wings were ok and I don't know if I would make my way out here for them.

The location itself is right off the main road. When you enter seating can be really tight. There is K Pop blasting and servers running every where. Restaurant is clean and the servers are attentive. If you want a place that does not have very high noise level then Rainpia is not it. Also, when ordering be mindful of the spice level. Level 3 which is considered a hot already had me sweating. Overall, fun place to grab some drinks and get some snacks. They are open until 2 AM on...