Chong's Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in San Antonio

The owner, Ms. Chong, is apparently the only worker here. She's the host, the server, the cook, the busser, and the cashier. The problem is that she does not do most of those things well, and I have three main complaints about the place.

First and foremost, her people skills are truly terrible. She is unfriendly, charmless, and impatient, and she seems to be genuinely spiteful as opposed to pretending and putting on some intentionally humiliating gimmicky show designed to attract masochists. It is as if she is truly, deeply bothered by the customers whose presence is interrupting her TV time.

Now, to provide some background, my wife and I have been patronizing this restaurant and putting up with her foul mannerisms for years because: 1) she runs the only Korean restaurant reasonably near our house and workplaces; 2) the food is decent; and, 3) the prices used to be ok. She has, since our first visit and ever after, been unpleasant (although she seems to be getting worse), but this last visit was the last straw for me. We entered and were the only customers in the place, which is typical, and we chose our table and ordered our drinks. As usual, Ms. Chong told us she had nothing but bottled drinks to serve (she's had nothing but bottled drinks for years); however, since my wife prefers room-temperature water, and Ms. Chong only serves refrigerated bottled water, my wife decided not to order a beverage, again, as ususal. The difference this time was that we had just come from the gym, and my wife had with her her gym-backpack which had a water bottle in a pocket on the side. Ms. Chong pointed at the bottle, sternly told my wife that my wife couldn't drink water from that water bottle in the restaurant, and glared while my wife awkwardly promised that she wouldn't drink water from her bottle. It was abraisive and belittling. We've been loyal customers for years, and I felt like she was treating us like beggars or thieves. The situation was awkward and petty, and it was at that moment I decided I had had enough of Ms. Chong.

Anyway, to continue the review, secondly, Ms. Chong hiked up her prices and reduced her portion sizes during the pandemic which seemed reasonable during that time, but, now it seems stingy and greedy. The pandemic is over, but she has kept her prices jacked up and the portions small(, and the portions keep getting smaller; this last time, she gave me two tiny little leaves of kimchi as the side dish for my entrée (bi-bim-bap)). To be clear, I'm not saying the food is bad because it isn't ... but it isn't that amazing either, especially not at her price points.

Third and finally, the place is dingy, dark, and musty, and, although I love a good hole-in-the-wall, I would rather pay hole-in-the-wall, the-pandemic-is-over prices if I visit one.

In conclusion, it really feels like Ms. Chong has just gotten very tired of the restaurant business and is trying to pinch & squeeze every single little cent out of it so that she can close down, retire, and get some respite from us, the annoying, Korean-food loving customers. My advice would be that she hire friendly servers, stay in the kitchen, and adjust her price points and portion sizes ... but that advice applies to long term goals, and I believe that she's winding down and is just in a hurry to get out.

Do her and yourself a favor, avoid this restaurant, give her what she wants & put this place out of its misery, and take that 30-minute drive across town to get better food and service for the same or...

Lengthy but worth the read I promise.

This was our very first time eating here. This is during Covid.. Wear your masks please. DINE-IN only on FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. 12 people can eat in, there are 4 tables. We went on a Saturday.

Owners are a very nice couple, atmosphere is homey, like eating at a family friend's house. Place is very clean, sanitized tables, doors, knobs anything that is touched gets sanitized. You are asked to put hand sanitizer on as well, menu is taped down on the table, take down what you want and then you will get seated. We got a kimichi pancake and yaki mandu then for main meals we had two orders of beef bulgogi and galbi (grilled bbq beef short ribs). If you prefer your korean food sweeter than spicy, this place is perfect for you. Food came out quick. Hot and fresh. Prices are very reasonable compared to other places.

Yaki mandu was served hot and fresh.The sauce that comes with it is "Chong's sauce" it is a sweet and salty soy sauce like flavor. It is a very good compliment to the yaki mandu (pork and veggie fried dumpling) Very balanced.

Kimichi pancake was cooked more than a traditional one would be because the gooey/mochi like texture doesn't appeal to most people here in the U.S., ours was a tad burnt but the crisp was a nice touch, though would ask for it cooked as it normally would be next time. Loved the soft batter. Dip the pancake in some "Chong's sauce" for a flavor kicker. 🤩

Original Beef bulgogi is very good. A bit on the sweet side. Veggies inside consists of onions and carrots, the meat is marinated with this. I would just pluck it out if you don't like it.

My mother and I had the spicy bulgogi, the only difference between the original and spicy is the Korean red pepper, it didn't make much of a difference, still a bit sweet. Not sure which spice level it was, could have been more Spicy.

The Galbi was delicious! Tender, flavourful, beautiful grill mark. Not sweet at all, very balanced and delectable dish. My personal favorite of everything.👌

White rice is sticky and delicious as well. Ask for a side of "Chong's sauce" you won't regret it!

Will definitely be...

I've gone to chong's to sit and eat, I've taken friends and family with me, and then I moved away. My husband and I were in town yesterday and he's never had korean food before and I have been craving it like a mad person, so while we were there we went to chong's with my sister and i ordered 3 bibimbap,( 1 shrimp fried rice side note that and yaki mandu is all she'll eat) a kimbap roll and 2 orders of yaki......it came out and we devoured the food. It had been a while since I'd been there and Chong came over and said it has been a long time....and we started talking and I told her we were pregnant, and she was super excited and wanted to take care of the baby, so when the bibimbap came she put just enough sauce on it so it wouldn't hurt the baby, and said it's too spicy right now but when you're 4 months itll be better lol. My husband loved the food so much he tried to eat my other bowl of bibimbap and almost got forked lol I ordered another bibimbap to go but Chong said no that i needed protein which i did and she said the beef bulgogi would be better, and that made me fall in love with her even more bc she took the time to care not only about me but my baby. I feel really bad though bc she tried to come over and ask if I wanted a to go plate but I thought she was trying to take my bowl away so I snatched it away and continued to eat like crazy....but she just looked and asked if I needed one and I apologized and said no unni lol. She gave me a hug told me merry Christmas and happy new year like where else do you go for this kind of treatment? Not many places that I know of....chong's is superb and my husband is hooked on you and your food every time we are in san Antonio we WILL be coming to you,even after our son or daughter is born. We...