Cupbop - Korean BBQ in a Cup — Restaurant in Midvale

I’m not the kind of person to leave reviews at any place I eat at. Doesn’t matter if I’ve had a good or bad experience. But today is different and I felt like an employee there deserves that recognition; his name is Johny. First off, it was super packed when I came in to order my food. Johny was friendly and kind enough to answer my questions I had about the food they served there. You see, I’m a vegan and CupBop offers 3 vegetarian meals. I wanted to see if it was possible to remove whatever it was in the meal that wasn’t vegan friendly. I’ve came in serval times before and had to always end up leaving because someone would be unsure and/or could never answer my questions. This would be the same case scenario when I would try at the other CupBop locations as well. So I really appreciate Johny being able to answer my questions and concerns I had. I ended up getting the Doochi Bop (it’s with fried tofu) and prior to ordering Johny also mentioned that the tofu gets fried in the same batch as the other stuff. So vegans, if you’re worried about cross-contamination there’s that. But I don’t know what you expect if you eat out and at a undesignated vegan place. When it came fo the sauces he walked me through what sauces was “safe” for me to eat which was I believe was only sauce 9 and 10 since the other ones contained mayonnaise. I didn’t mind that because I love spicy so the more the merrier! But anyways, I seriously have Johny to thank because despite it being busy (during lunch time) he was super kind and considerate to my accommodations. I will be only going to this location from now on and will be trusting Johny to be...

I tried Cupbop years ago at the Soho Food Park in Holladay and tried it again this visit for the second time at their Midvale brick and mortar location. It's not Korean food in the sense of a place like Jang Soo Jang (by Chinatown Supermarket) or any other KBBQ place in the valley. I get that they are catering to more of a broad taste because they need to cater to their local community to make money, but it just isn't good.

I ordered the Combo Bop. It came with rice, glass noodles, veggie mix and two choices of protein with a mixture of sauces that has been used so much with many Asian fusion restaurants that it's just overkill. It's usually Sriracha or gochujang mixed with something else like mayo. I chose the BBQ pork and the katsu as my proteins. The rice they use is not quality rice. It wasn't sticky like your variety of any Asian rice you can find at the Asian supermarkets. The rice in combination with the glass noodles water down the bottom of my dish quite a bit. The BBQ pork was not great, but the katsu was delicious. Also, their spiciest level is more like mild spice if you're going to a Thai restaurant. IYKYK.

Service was good and the restaurant was well kept for the most part. I thought I'd give it a second try and I walked out with the same reaction as the first time. I just prefer traditional Korean food over...

I really, really wanted to like this place. Let me start with the biggest problem I had with this location: the kid working there at this very moment had a completely lousy attitude. There was no line, yet he treated me like I was inconveniencing him and acted like he couldn’t wait to get me out of there fast enough (all I ordered was the rockbop and a kko kko stick, no special instructions). No wonder the place was dead - this kid is driving people away. Now that I have that off my chest, on to the food…

On its own merits, the food is….ok. Having spent the better part of six years living in Korea, I can tell you it really doesn’t taste terribly authentic, though. I’d rather get my Korean fix from a small mom-and-pop place (at least they give you complementary kimchi).

In terms of value, I’d say it’s poor. For what they charge for that kko kko stick, the meat should fill up the whole stick. What a ripoff. Then when you consider that half of the bowl you see is rice, it really feels like a ripoff.

Bottom line: if you want authentic Korean, go somewhere else. If you want to overpay for ok food, go to Cupbop. If you want to meet a server with a bad attitude, go to this location.

Would...