Manna Heaven BBQ — Restaurant in San Marcos

Edit: So disappointed to be editing my review but I’ve had some pretty lame experiences since my original post. The food has stayed stable which is nice they changed a few things here and there but aren’t detrimental to the menu. What’s severely declined is happy servers. The women they have serving are just plain spiteful! There are one MAYBE two that are nice and actually smile at you or are kind but majority of the waitresses here are SO RUDE. We almost got up and left last time we went because how can you enjoy the food when someone is giving you a mad dog if you order food. We’re at a restaurant…. I don’t understand the problem. But trust if you order food from certain waitresses you’ll be met with scowls and rolling eyes as if you’re some kind of absolute inconvenience. Because How could you possibly want food at an all you can eat restaurant?!. If you watch carefully you can also see some painfully obvious discrimination. Like when other Vietnamese or Korean families visit they get very very special treatment. But if you’re not of those descents then get used to being ignored and blown off and given dirty looks. Also regardless of race if you’re a couple you get put on the bottom of the list. Parties take priority here. Family’s with loud children are fawned over and people who are respectful and quiet are ignored. We had a waitress completely blow us off and not come back after we placed our first order. A party of 5 showed up and she wouldn’t even LOOK at us. It was so bizarre. Luckily this opened an opportunity for the one very nice waitress to help us. We’ve been going to this place for years and it never used to be this way. Unfortunately this has continuously ruined our recent experiences and we’re going to have to write off manna as our go to place. Being treated like a burden at a restaurant you’re paying 100 dollars to have one meal is really unacceptable. They won’t be seeing my money anytime soon. Please hire happy workers manna we miss our excellent service you used to provide!

Original review: This is continuously my favorite Korean bbq place. Great sides good meat selection but the only down side is when you order the premium menu they only allow you to have one steak. They limit how many portions you can request from the premium menu which to me is kind of lame being an all you can eat place. Also they don’t offer Kobe or wagu. But otherwise great sides great service fresh meat just wish they had a better...

As nice as it would have been to be the 1st to review I thought it prudent to get a more full experience. Partly an excuse to come here almost weekly, but basically I really wanted to get a feel for the place. Most people that come here were driving down to the Kearny location, but live up here anyhow. Soft opening, grand opening and now I'm sure you'll see how they are getting better, more efficient with the service oh and they serve alcohol now too. They didn't for the first few nights. I was calling almost daily getting mixed answers until it became Facebook Official.

KBBQ the bain of my diet, but worth it. The AYCE game really pairs well with KBBQ so it's almost natural. Part of my comparison is to the Kearny location and that's because it's the original for many including myself. The price is right on level with other places, but they do have a better menu selection. I've actually never gotten the less expensive offering because I have my food down to a science. I stay away from seafood and chicken since Korea is a pig culture so you get pork belly, and that thinly sliced beef brisket or what I call "meat roll ups" on the first pass then bulgogi and others on the 2nd then change grill tops then do the first two again. The bulgogi here is a little fatty and the marinade isn't as penetrating as other places, not as pungent either. I actually found the spicy chicken to be dry and poorly seasoned, off putting almost. The service is good, but there can be a slight language barrier with a few of the servers. The banchan is everything you'd expect and I got the egg pot for free. I could use more sauces to flavor it all up. I don't recommend coming here dressed well or in a suit as you will smell afterwards, good vents, but that's part of the KBBQ game. Even my wool suits carry some of that odor.

It's a "new" interior and compared to Kearny it's bigger, better and nicer. I found the knee space to be a little cramped and I'm not a tall man. Not quite 5 starts, but getting there. a relief to have my KBBQ commute...

I love Korean BBQ, but I think I had been spoiled going to restaurants in Asian influenced towns. I was expecting what I had before and the expectations weren't met. However, they are much better than the other local options. This is an all you can eat place so make sure you workout beforehand or are starving because no point in paying $30 and eating one type of meat. This is a great place for larger groups of people regardless what option you go with (one is $25 and one is $30 per person, it just depends how many varieties of meat you would like to choose from). If you go with just two, it can be done but kind of sucks. The reason being you both get full and have only tried a few meat choices. My other biggest thing was that they did not have the sauces and oils I was expecting and that one of their sides was flipping Mac n' cheese. Okay I get it lots of white people who are scared of different foods live here, but really? Y'all just bring out Mac n' cheese automatically, ew. I didn't eat it because I wasn't there for Mac n' cheese, I was there for delicious flavorful and fantastic meat. My server was the bomb, she taught me a new way to cook the meat. If you cut the big hunks, especially if you have chicken, it goes so much faster in cooking. My only other issue was that they didn't bring me an extra plate for the meat that was done. I could have used the plate that the meat came on, but that's raw meat ew. So I dumped some of the sides out and used those plates. I am sure if you ask they will bring you extras as I'm sure if you ask for the other sauces and the sesame oil with salt seasoning in it, they will deliver. Not my favorite, but for this area so far it's the best for the taste of Korean BBQ, cook it yourself all...