Daeho Kalbijim & Beef Soup — Restaurant in San Francisco

Disclaimer - the food was fantastic. The marinated short ribs was so soft and juicy and we layered melted cheese on top that just made it more heavenly. The kalbi soup was superb too.

However, our experience was completely tainted by several things, the primary one being the lady managing the front counter. She was extremely rude, and was dismissive, and being downright difficult. I was nothing but polite, but she didn't want to answer my questions and brushed me off. The yelp wait-list is nothing but just for show, really.

Our wait-list has at least an hour left before we had to check in with them, so we left to get something to snack on while waiting. The call came telling us that our table was ready - no big deal, we rushed back, and packed our snacks to bring along, only for her to tell us that the table should be ready in 15. A group of 4 walked in to ask for seats, and they were told a wait time of 20-30 minutes. We were a group of 4, and that group got seated before us despite them not being on the wait-list.

After a 30 min wait, I asked the lady about the wait, which she said she'll tell me when a table opens up. We went to walk around and I got a call 5 mins later that our table is ready - again. We headed back, and she said that they're preparing the table, and we should make our orders first. We had to think a little, so stepped outside to decide (it was insanely noisy inside). 2 minutes later, we stepped back in, and I waited 10 minutes before making out order, and the table was still not ready. My friends went for a short walk around the block as her toddler was a little overwhelmed with the noise. When the table was ready, I called them to come back, and sat down while notifying the lady that they're coming back - and she said that we need to be all present to be seated, and wanted to chase me off the table, despite my friend just being around the block. And us already having made the order. I tried to explain that they'll be here before the food comes, but she wasn't having it, so I just ignored her, until she left me alone.

It went fine after that and food came after about 10 minutes, and we enjoyed the food.

Was the food good? Absolutely. Was it worth the rudeness of the front desk person? Absolutely not. I won't be coming back again

I've always recommended this place to my friends who visit the Bay. I...

TLDR: This place is really busy but well worth the wait. I highly recommend their Kalbijjim, braised beef short rib. It is fantastic and should be enough for at least three people if not four.

Daeho is a Korean restaurant right outside of the Japantown shopping center. Their restaurant has a very modern feel to it. On almost every night, there is going to be a long wait to be seated. I tried this place out on a Thursday night and after putting down my name, my party of two still had to wait roughly an hour and a half. They use the Yelp system, so when they are ready for you, you'll receive a text for you to head back. When they call you back, they take your order roughly 15 minutes before they actually seat you, so they are able to get it started.

My party ordered the Kalbijjim, which is their most popular dish. They allow you to choose the spice level that you want; no spice, mild, medium and hot. For those of you who know the spice tolerance of Korean people, the scale should be ticked up by two, so mild feels more like a hot, medium is very hot, and hot is extremely hot. They have the option to add-on glass noodles, rice cakes, extra vegetables and cheese on top. With ours, we went with mild spicy, with glass noodles and rice cakes, as we wanted to try the beef as is before we try it with extra stuff on top. When seated, you are immediately given sides, all of which were fairly standard for a Korean restaurant. Because you are able to order 15 minutes before actually being seated, the food was out in around 10 minutes.

The Kalbijjim was absolutely fantastic. The beef was braised really well. Slightly chewy but not difficult to eat. I was very comfortable with the mild level of spicy, as I can handle some spicy, but nothing too extreme. A good reference would be that I can comfortably eat habaneros and tolerate ghost peppers. The glass noodles and rice cakes were good, they did not distract from the overall dish and added a little bit more to chew on. Overall, I think the place is great. It has a very unique dish that is not normally served in SF and is delicious. The wait is hard to justify on a really busy night, but if it's 1-1.5 hours, it is...

As a Korean-American visitor from Seattle, I had to try Daeho since it’s a very hyped up kalbijjim restaurant. Seattle just opened up their first Daeho location couple weeks ago so I wanted to try and compare it the OG spot (have yet to try Seattle). The kalbi in SF set the bar very hig. I would come again and recommend this place to everyone who wants to try Korean food.

Food I ordered the Daeho kalbitang with extra meat and all I can say is that the kalbi (beef) was sooo good. The meat was super tender and just melted in my mouth. The soup being infused with the beef just made everything even better. I would actually recommend not getting the Daeho kalbitang and just get the regular kalbitang since the seafood was not very good. Just come for the beef. There was so much meat and I could not believe how much beef they gave for the extra meat. Very worth the $4 for almost double the meat. I can’t wait to try Daeho again in Seattle and go with friends so I can order the Daeho kalbijjim since the portions are big enough for a couple people.

Atmosphere The inside of the restaurant is bustling and very busy. The noise level was loud with all the people in there and the sort of narrow space. Casual atmosphere and wear. It’s a great place to come for good food with friends casually. You can see people get their food torched tableside and that’s always fun.

Pricing Pricing is a little bit more expensive than what I’m used to paying for kalbi but it is money well spent. The quality of the beef was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Service Service was faster than I expected for how busy the restaurant was on a Thursday night. You order food at the front counter where you check in. The food is brought to your table. This helps to streamline process and let your food come out faster. Not much interaction with the staff though.

Other HIGHLY recommend making a reservation online in advance (Yelp). I went on a Thursday night at 7pm and they were saying walk in wait times were 2 hours wow. Be prepared to wait since there are so many people regardless of reservation status. Only street parking...