Minari — Restaurant in San Bruno

First time visit and happy we tried it out.

We went to San Mateo avenue because there are lots of wonderful choices. The first few places we wanted to try were closed and we ended up at Minari.

The dining area is nicely open and tables spaced out so you are not back to back with other diners.

We were promptly greeted and after putting in our orders, banchans followed soon afterwards. It was a nice variety. Two items not normally served at other places included (very mildly) spicy bean sprouts and marinated seaweed. It was as delicious as all the other banchans.

Our mackerel was nicely done, crisp on the outside and moist inside. The mackerel was a decent size. The bibimbap was a generous portion with delicious vegis and perfectly cooked rice. The seafood in the seafood tofu stew was good too.

Everything was very delicious and service was very prompt.

Water is self serve.

Minus one less star for the plastic container for the bibimbap sauce. Personal bias against use disposable plastic ware for dine-in.

Would...

The service here was horrible. They auto charge an 18% service charge and then figure they can ignore you and provide bad service. Ate dinner here with family and ordered a bunch of stuffs the server assured us the soup can be made not spicy for the kids and when it came out of course it was spicy. They forced us to keep it and the kids ended up not eating it. The other food was worse, the fried chicken had no flavor, the japchae was too sweet and the beef was tough.

Tried to get the check and was ignored multiple times and then after at least 20 minutes I finally stood at the register and waited for a server. The server that came out then totally ignored me as I waved and said excuse me and just walked by not even making eye contact. I was about to walk out if they didn’t acknowledge me as they walked back but luckily they did.

After all this bad service they still had the audacity to keep the 18% gratuity. Spent over $200 for overpriced food and bad service. Never coming back...

We came for a late lunch and it was relatively empty, so we had our choice of tables. The service was excellent, prompt and attentive. Our banchan of 6 dishes came out quickly--we got the usual bean sprouts, kimchi, broccoli and potato salad—refills are available upon request.

We ordered the beef stone bibimbap and the tteokguk soup (rice cake soup). The portions were huge. The bibimbap was sizzling as it was being served, as it should. The meat to vegetable ratio was generous and my tteokguk was also plentiful with rice cakes and broth. The broth was really tasty and I nearly drank the whole bowl. The soypaste stew was also delicious and the seafood pancake was had plenty of seafood in it and very tasty. Everything was really delicious and I would return for another meal.

It's a nice hidden gem in San Bruno worth checking out. It may seem a little pricey for the area, but for the size of the servings, it was worth it.

The biggest downside is parking--it can be...