Handoo Korean BBQ — Restaurant in San Diego

My original review from Yelp on 5/5/2017 Nice, friendly servers ready to have customers like me come in. We sat on the outside table as we were a large group. This time I came with 6 of my friends. 4 of us drank beer (I can not comment on the quality of beer because I did not drink), but they said it was good. Perhaps it was too good that they had too much of a good time cracking jokes. The sides were so good, I was messing around with my friend on eating the whole tray of cucumber. The server did not mind giving us another share of the sides of the cucumber to only have me eat it all. I ate most of the salad, because one of them offered me their bowl. In fact, my other friend was looking for it to only be disappointed by me pigging out the last bits of salad. I put all the kbbq, salad, and the rice together to give it some interesting taste. I should have also eaten the boiled egg, but I decided not as I had more eggs at Denny's earlier in the day. However, they ate it and did not complain so I will say it was a pass. As for the meat we ordered mainly beef briskets and the ribs. They were all so good I could not stop eating. I almost ate about 3-4 plates worth of meat. We even ordered chicken. In fact we had so much fun that when I was cooking the meat, all I did was serve myself while trolloololol my friends for giving me the tongs. But my table did not have any beef tongue because my friend did not like it so I was disappointed. My friends at the other table did and they had a blast making fun of us. We ordered so much that they had to change our grills 3 times. Oh yes, talk about high maintenance customers we are. We had 2 jugs of water as we were quite thirsty. When we eat too much, we need water to digest and the server did not disappoint. In fact we had a blast trying to reorder cucumber side that my friend called it pickles. The server did not know what he was talking about. A customer at another table pointed out to the side that I ate and made fun of us by saying that we do know what it was called. But I feel bad for our server who worked so hard to please us 7 people plus several other customers who were not like us. We spent about a little over 1.5 hours (19:45 to about 21:20ish) so we had a good time catching up on our past. Our bill came out to be about $220, but I do not know the exact total because my friend treated me out. Perhaps because I am such a good friend to be their designated driver so I will not comment on the price other than the price was reasonable. Although we had such a good time being the most difficult customers to please, we sure returned them with generous tips as we all putting in about 25% of the bill. That is how much we love this place or at least one of my friends do to come back every time. For me, I liked it too so I am so kind to give this place a 4 stars mainly for very attentive servers who can accommodate to our needs. The food was good and the bathroom was clean when I used it but I feel for the price that we paid that (in my opinion) Manna would be a better choice. However, I feel the service here is much better than Manna. Anyways, I would definitely come back to eat at Mapo another time with my friends if time calls for us...

Went to find a Korean BBQ off Convoy and ended here. Since it was hubby and son with me, we knew we could pack down some meat with us 3. I love BBQ and for 7/2 weekend, we wanted a quieter atmosphere to start to celebrate the 4th of July weekend.

So many Asian places to eat in this area. It's amazing.Since parking is an issue, We parked off a side road one block parallel to Convoy and walked with no problems. There's a parking area for other businesses that allows u to drive all the way to the parallel street (short cut to walk thru) to where we parked.

The place was packed but we were the first in the overflow room that had looked like an encased patio with windows. It was really different in that they have little stools around a small round table with a burner in the middle. The eating area is a thinner space (instead of a table, so the food bowl is actually small; no room for a plate. Where we sat there was a TV tray beside us so we put the meat there so we had more space. Overall a great vibe. We were finishing up when so many other people were in line. We got there at a good time.

Anyways it's all you can eat here. Pricing was for adults $26.99 for 16 different meal options or $32.99 for their 27 meal options. Of course went for the $32.99 because we wanted Short Ribs (we should have selected Rib Eye too but forgot about it). We also got spicy pork belly, spicy chicken and another thin marbled meat which I don't know what it was called. We had fried rice and white rice served as a scoop in a small cup like bowl. We ordered a green salad, and fresh cut mushrooms. Of course the Korean way is to have a few sides like as if u were at a Mexican place with chips and salsa. So we had little veggies with jalapeño, clear noodles, kimchi, and another small bowl I don't know what it is. I love Kimchi and veggies so we had replenished it as well (unlimited on the sides). You have 3 hours max to eat, which is normal.

All I can tell you is that the meat was amazing. The short ribs and chicken were tender and flavorful. The pork belly was very flavorful as well. I ordered mushrooms on the side, dipped it into their soy sauce and BBQd it along with the others. YUMMY!!! 😋 and more YUMMY AND YUMMIER!! 😋

The waiter wasn't all smiles but he was extremely attentive. He changed the burner about 4 times. I've never went to a BBQ place that changed the burner out so frequently. He checked up on how the meat was cooking and heated it up adjusting the flame accordingly. He was quick to take away empty containers etc. I really liked the service. Loved the vibe. We had a great eating experience.

Needless to say WE ROLLED OUTTA THERE completely stuffed like a...

This was hands down the worst dining experience I have ever had, and I strongly advise everyone to stay far away from this so-called "Korean BBQ" restaurant.

First, the service was an absolute disaster. The staff seemed uninterested, rude, and completely inattentive. We waited nearly 30 minutes just to get a server’s attention, and when they finally arrived, they acted like we were inconveniencing them by ordering food. Basic requests like refilling water or bringing extra side dishes were ignored or met with attitude.

The food was equally appalling. The meat was of embarrassingly low quality—mostly fat and gristle, with an overpowering stench that made me question its freshness. The pork belly was greasy beyond belief, and the beef was so tough it might as well have been rubber. As for the "marinated" options, the flavors were bland, overly salty, or sickeningly sweet.

The side dishes (banchan) were a disgrace to Korean cuisine. Limp kimchi, flavorless bean sprouts, and stale potato salad left on the table felt like leftovers from days ago. When we asked for more, they had the audacity to charge us extra for the tiniest portions.

The cleanliness of the restaurant was revolting. The grills were caked with burnt residue from previous customers, the tables were sticky, and the floors were littered with trash and food debris. Even the air vents seemed to spew smoke directly into the dining area, making the whole place feel like a choking hazard.

To top it all off, the prices were outrageous. For the abysmal quality of the food and service, this place charged premium rates. It felt like an outright scam.

In short, this restaurant is a complete embarrassment. Avoid it at all costs unless you enjoy bad service, awful food, and wasting your money. There are far better Korean BBQ options in the area—don’t settle for...