Shin Chon korean bbq restaurant — Restaurant in Ellicott City

This spot has been a staple for YEARS. A reliable spot to go when you miss the typical 9 pm dinner cut off.. however that no longer holds true. Sit down early and you'll avoid this true madness that we went through...

We walked in @ 830 with a party of 10 ppl and 1 baby for Easter Dinner/Bday celebration. Then was it communicated at 8:47 pm that the kitchen closes at 9 pm tonight. The door shows 10:30pm. No biggie though. We ordered everything within 2 minutes of being asked to push things through. It was 8:50 PM at this point.

Service: Some were super nice ajjumas!!! A+ service. The rest were clearly ready to go home. It was super confusing because some servers would insist "take your time" as another server asked us to move from our spot, mid conversation, so she could fit her trolley for dirty plates and glasses into our seating area to clear the table as if we were leaving. There were ppl in our group clearly still eating so we were taken aback by the request. People are STILL EATING. As a result, this insistent server spilled food juice on the birthday boy. He was blocked in and couldn't get up as she kept clearing our table.

Management: idk why you were YELLING at your employers in korean while they were eating their dinner shift meals but we're korean so we understood what you were saying. We were attempting to enjoy an Easter / Birthday meal and you sucked the happiness out of the room.

Food: Kalbi was delicious. Japchae was extremely overcooked. Soondubu used to be fire but this time around it was just okay. Sam gyup Sal (pork belly) And chadol (brisket) wasn't cooked to my liking since the servers did it in the back. It would have been nice to be able to at least order more rice since it comes out of a rice cooker but the whole table failed to order more...

Has always been my favorite Korean BBQ restaurant. My kids buy me gift certificates there as gifts for me over the years. I've been away from the area for a while and decided to make a trip tonight and attempted to use a gift certificate that was given to me a year plus ago. After spending $180, and putting the $100 gift certificate and a credit card in the check presenter, the server returned to the table to tell us that the gift certificate would not be accepted because the restaurant was sold 2 years ago. No manager came to tell us, no signs in the restaurant saying this, no notification on their website, nothing at all. They basically took $100 and gave nothing in return. A simple acknowledgement from a manager to explain this and offer something to offset the unaccepted gift certificate would have made us feel better. This behavior is highly unethical. The Gift Certificate had no expiration date. The logo and all restaurant information is exactly the same on all signage and on the old gift certificate. It's horrible PR to not even offer to accept the gift certificate at a reduced rate or to offer drinks or appetizers. As a person with 46+ years in the restaurant industry, this behavior is embarrassing and appalling. It's truly a shame that management/ownership chooses to operate in this manner. This ending to our very nice evening tarnishes my opinion of what I thought was a very good restaurant. But, I guess with new ownership, that has changed. Better communication from a manager would have been appreciated much more than our server who suddenly didn't speak or understand English when we questioned why they wouldn't accept the gift certificate. Shame on you Shin Chon for electing to treat customers in this way. You should be...

This is the best Korean BBQ place for the family. All the other places seem to tend to a younger crowd and honestly I want to be able to talk to my wife while enjoying some KBBQ!

FOOD - The food is outstanding, especially since this is one of the few places that beats my Mom's cooking (mostly... :P). This is also one of the few KBBQ places where you get a ton of the side dishes (BON CHON... not to be confused with the chicken place). The highlight of many people who come for a first time visit is that the rice wrapping squares are something you don't normally see but is a great add-on. KBBQ isn't all this place does Shin Chon also does the Korean classics like Nangmyun and Haemul Pajeon. However most people head to Shin Chon for the KBBQ, which is the best I've had in all of DC, VA, MD, and Baltimore.

SERVICE - The service is good, especially when you realize this place is always packed and they are never just sitting around.

MISC. - The owners are usually in and sometimes stop tables to check on people to make sure everything is going well. Shin Chon is highly regarded on many of the review sites. You can look it up for yourself but it's better to go and be the judge yourself.

If there is to be one or two minuses, and it is super minor, is that Shin Chon while not super expensive is on part with many Korean restaurants and won't break the wallet but isn't going to be like eating off the dollar menu at Mcdonalds. This place is always packed and I mean if you don't have a reservation on a Friday or Saturday night you might not be able to get in. So I suggest that if you can plan ahead make a reservation. You don't need to do it a week in advance just a few...