Star BBQ — Restaurant in Garden Grove

Let me first say that I am not a fan of these kinds of 'restaurants' which cater to the younger drinking crowd. It is what it is....if you mainly enjoy cooking meat and eating it with some minimal condiments and alcohol, then this should suffice. But this is not what I would consider real korean food or even good tasting food. The meat itself is OK....there's not much you can do about. They put minimal marinade on the short ribs and on the bulbogi which is good. The other stuff tho is pretty bad. The noodle soup, the soybean paste soup, fried rice, etc are really an after thought meant to support the meat. In addition to the tastelessness or too saltiness of some of these foods, i really dont like the order in which they are served. This seems to be a 'normal' order in many restaurants but i think it's moronic. They also gave the reason/excuse as not having enough room on the table for the other things. Thay's not true and wishful thinking on their part to support the order. Eating meat without alcohol with just some condiments is moronic and typical of trying to uphold an atmosphere rather than really good food. Overall, the food is mediocre at best, and I am being generous. It is just a 'hip' restaurant run by 20-30 somethings with no real sense of really good korean food. By the way, our waiter with the stylish top-colored hair was a bit curt with us....not very friendly. He needs to learn sone manners. In contrast, the other servers appeared to be very polite and friendly. In general, I hate being served by 20-30 year olds who have little patience. Also, that waiter couldn't easily articulate exactly how the menu worked. The menu tells us what is included in an order but he kept telling us we had to order the supporting dishes that we finally understood to mean we had to tell them when we wanted them, which was right now!! The music was also too loud. I doubt these childish owners will care about this review but hopefullu it will help people in the 30+ range to go elsewhere to find really good korean food. This is just a generic bbq joint...

At first upon entering the facility, no greeting or smiles, just a tablet to enter your name and phone # for the wait list. The cashier I see at the front may have not noticed me entering the info, even though i am the only person at the entrance, since I was asked directly, "have you signed in" in a stern voice with a slight anger to her face, no hi or welcome to star, maybe she has had a rough day? I said "yes", she replied, "what's your name, I don't see it, I told her my name and she said, "are you sure you signed in? I said again, "yes", I even went to look at the tablet and saw the name there. "Oh now I see it, it must be slow".... I didn't say anything, first time here and the impression is that the employees must not like their position, if so they shouldn't be the first person to greet guests that are observing as I. Her name was "Ann".

Anyways, , we only waited 5 mins. A waiter escorted us to our table, we informed him it was our first time and he explained how their restaurant has a 3 order per at a time process. Of course you het your side dishes and instruments for cooking.

Food was adequate, not too sugary or salty, just right, depending on your meats ordered. Service is great with the waiter, his mae was "Joseph". The yogurt was just two flavors but refreshing after all that meat you hust ate.

I liked that they have large tables for plates and drink space, some places you have no room for any of your beverages.

Overall, a good place for family to dine, not my favorite but good price for the two nemu options. Ours was $32/ person the other was $28/person.

I would ONLY give it a 3 star due to first impression of the cashier, if she could be nicer and friendlier, I would give a 4.

Best surprise that wasn't told was that if you pay cash, it's 10% off your total check/bill, this I liked but they should inform...

Price = $35+ / service = above average / cleanliness = above average / interior = KBBQ vibe with smoke actually aired out / parking = shared lot in plaza, plenty

I visited star BBQ with a few friends and we all ordered from the premium group. They also have a basic group of KBBQ so you got choices on which to choose from. Our table ordered very similar meats for our refills between the thinly cut beef brisket to the pork jowl. The way the cast iron pan gives the right amount of grill burns to the meat drawing out the juices while you dip it in each of the 3 sauces: soy & vinegar, sesame oil & touch of salt, and chili & spicy bases for an extra burst of flavor complements as perfect as KBBQ can. In complement, use the mushy rice paper and ask for the ssamjang to wrap it like a small Korean burrito and stuff your face! At the end, I wanted some marinated LA beef ribs which was a perfect way to end the meal with additional dripoings from the meat marinade. They open until 1 AM with last call at 12 AM which is a perfect way to end a Friday night.

The portions you get for each order is very generous. This place doesn't cheap out and give you small portions at a time making you order a high volume. Each meat was very delicious and it seemed to be of higher quality especially for in all you can eat BBQ. If you are looking for a tasty KBBQ outside of koreatown, look no further. The staff is also very friendly and give good customer service.

We also found out they have a buy 1 soju, get one for $.01...please drink responsibly!

This is probably one of the best aired out KBBQ restaurants I have been to but be warned...it gets cold. Idk if it was from the AC or outdoor air. Plenty of parking is available in the lot which is shared...