K-Town Korean BBQ Restaurant — Restaurant in Portland

All you can eat is what we ordered but what we got was all you can wait and more. This is family's third time to this place. We have been to many places with horrible customer service and so our mindset was prepared for the bad service. We sat down and was not asked or greeted for 15 minutes. A couple came after us already got their water, banchan and menu. We communicated that for the server. Off of that we could sort of predict what type of experience we will be receiving tonight and I got out my phone searching for the alternative BBQ place for backup. Server come out and take our order. A group of 8 people come in, followed by group of 4. We proceeded to wait for 20 minutes while munching on our banchans and being extremely patient. However server walk by and another server walk by and another yet no meat came while the 2 groups that came after us already got their food. We still wait for another 10 minutes and a server looked and asked "Wow still no meat?" We just smiled. Couple minutes later our patience ran out and we asked another server" Could you check if our meat is ready as people after us already got their food. She replied "I don't do the meat but I will check for you" with an annoyed attitude. That pushed us to the limit and about 5 minutes later we still got nothing so we told the server we would be leaving, I took my 2 kids and we walked out while my wife came to speak to the people at the cashier. On the way out that same server with the attitude said loudly in a sarcastic voice "THANKS, BYE!!" as we walked by. I was already in my car at this point searching for another place to eat. My wife shared this experience with the manager on site and he offered us to eat for free next time we are back. My wife said "No, we can afford it we don't need a free meal". We will not be returning to this joint in the future, the manager was trying to deescalate while that same server with the attitude gave my wife a THUMBS UP as in saying yeah we don't need your business here. Great job on kicking your customers after you shoved them down, another point earned. If that is the type of customer service you are serving, and only selectively serving great service then I can sense the culture here. Every restaurant, mom and pops when there is one location you put your heart and soul into it so it is manageable but when you expand too fast this is what happens. You are letting 18-19 year olds running the business to the ground by building this type of culture with no consequences. I really hope the owner reads this, and rethink how they train their staff on customer service because what we experienced today is absolutely unacceptable. Maybe have an anonymous box for customer feedback, periodically check in on how customers are thinking about the service. Only then can you go up to 4 stars but at this rated we predict this will slide further down and with our network of friends you lost more than just 2 customers. The wait time, the provoking of customer after they are mad, is some of the reasons why we will not be returning and supporting this business unless management can get their...

The food was good, not great, certainly not worth $28 (or $31-32? for bonus stuff?) per person for AYCE.

A party of 6 of us were seated. On the table sat 6 cups, each filled with dining utensils and some with cooking utensils. Also on the table were several small plates of side dishes typically served with Korean food as well as several stacked trays of sauces for dipping(?).

The utensils were dirty, many of our chop sticks had free leftovers crusted onto them from poor cleaning. Same goes for our drinking glasses, everyone loves some floaty gunk in their water, right?

The sauce trays were stacked in a way that made it seem as if they were from the prior party who sat before us. They were very low in sauce as if it had been consumed already and each tray had sauce from the tray under it on the bottom side, they were also dirty and looked like they had food in them. I'm not sure about how most people like their food but I'm not one to have trays with sauce on the bottom that had been on the table, dunking in other trays of sauce. Gross. We didn't even bother touching them as we were all disgusted.

Between 6 of us was one small pitcher of water that was empty after only 2 people filled their cups. We constantly had to ask for more water, as the waiter didn't seem to notice when it was empty and on the end of the table. I understand when a restaurant is busy it can be hectic, but he would walk up, ask how we were doing and if we wanted more food, and almost walk away before one of us could ask for more water.

Portions are generous except for side dishes such as the salad more meant for 2 than 6. Plenty of meat, definitely enough to fill you twice over. Just not worth the money though. You could very easily make the simple dishes at home for far cheaper and cook them on your own grill. There was nothing really special about their ingredients, meat cuts, or sauces.

The wait staff were friendly at least and did well serving us presentable food in a very timely manner. After our first course of meat they swapped out the cooking surfaces for clean ones again, we appreciated that for sure as it kept food from burning on and charing.

One other small gripe, the vent above our grills didn't seem to ventilate well. One of our party members constantly had smoke blowing in her face and making the dining experience miserable for her. As the restaurant is pretty tightly packed full of tables and chairs, she didn't really have room to move away from it.

Overall, none of us will be back. But for a one time thing, it was a fun environment and experience to cook your own food at a restaurant similar to that of The...

Summary: decent place to eat ayce kbbq at a reasonable price BUT watch out for portion serving. Come with a genuinely empty stomach because it’s actually a lot of meat.

Food - good for its price but the quality of meat itself doesn’t taste super amazing. Only meat we actually liked was the bulgogi as everything else was hella salty. Had to actually dip it in water to help wash down the meats. Also, don’t recommend getting the popcorn chicken as a side. Only the ramen and nuggets & fries were good. ANNDDD if you’re trying get salad, get it without the dressing because the “salad” is straight up huge pieces of lettuce lol. So might as well use the lettuce as a wrap

Service: we came right when they opened so our stuff came out pretty fast. They had even prepped every table with stuff alrdy so it was easy to just get started. The workers were also friendly!

Atmosphere: okay? Didn’t necessarily like the decor bc it was so dark :( but I do believe it becomes a fun place to eat n drink with friends at night.

Note: the reasons why we ultimately didn’t like this place was bc of how the ayce menu is set up. 1- When you order meat, you have to order different types of meats and it’s 4 max per round. You can’t repeat a same type in a round so if you wanted more bulgogi, you’d have to wait another round. 2 - when you order meat, it’s for the entire party. Meaning, if you’re a party of 8 sitting at 2 tables, both tables will be getting the same type of meats. It won’t be split between what each tables want. 3 - the sauces seem to be very limited. The kbbq places we’ve been to have allowed us to create our own sauces. Whereas here, it’s mainly the sauces that came in the banchan dish already. 4 - the saltiness of some of the meats, especially the spicy pork bulgogi. SOOOOOO salty. Hence why, stick to the thin meats with no sauce

The reason why this place still gets 4 stars is bc ultimately, you’d still get to enjoy ayce kbbq at a good price, though...