Gen Korean BBQ House — Restaurant in Westminster

Oh man, it has been years since I've been here. Hell, it's been years since I've been anywhere LOL. Damn you, COVID! It was a friday night but this place was dead. There was no wait. Closing time was in 75 minutes. Maybe it's because Chinese New Years was two days ago? IDK. The place looked exactly how I remembered it though, which isn't a bad thing.

Despite what my kBBQ snob friends would say in the past, like there were way better places than this etc, I always thought it was decent. My friends don't even know how to cook so their opinions don't matter. By now, I've tried MANY other kBBQ joints. Some were better but none ever blew me away. I rate kBBQ places either good or bad. I've never experienced an "exceptional" kBBQ place nor do I think any exist in the world. It's usually AYCE so there's plenty that can go wrong since you're not just ordering only one entree. To me, "bad" places are ones where the meat just has no flavor no matter what sauces you drench them in and if the side dishes aren't too tasty.

What's new since the last time I've been here over 4 years ago? Back in the day, Gen didn't have a premium tier AYCE. There was only one tier (I think). Now they have a premium addon. It gives you the option of choosing from an extra 7-8 types of meats iirc. It was $20 extra per person for this and of course, if one person gets it, everyone must get it.

The sides seemed pretty much the same: good. I asked for rice paper and pickled radish b/c I love that $hit! The Pork Cheese Tonkatsu, the calamari rings, and the glass noodles (japchae) were all good. Anyway, let's get into the meat of this review.

I hadn't been here in so long and it was my friend's first time experiencing KBBQ. I figured it was a special occasion so I chose to upgrade to premium. I regretted it. Here's why:

Beef tongue wasn't on the regular menu anymore, just on the premium. That's fine. I paid for premium right?! When I ordered it, a plate with 4 paper-thin slices came out. It was so thin that it was translucent. SMH. Even though there were only two of us, it felt super cheap of them that only four paper thin slices of beef tongue were brought out after I had stated how much I love it.

Still no steamed egg thing.

I ordered one of everything on the premium menu to start. 5 mins later, server returns n tells us sorry. OH GOD. I know what he'll say. He's gonna tell me they're out of something. Yup... no more ribeye steak. "WHAT?! Isn't that one of the main reasons people upgrade?" He asked me if I still want it, knowing that theyre out of it. Whatever, F it right? I didn't want to cheapen my friends 1st experience.

After we had started eating the first round, I decided that i really liked one of them. I ordered some more, limit 2 per person. Moments later, he came back empty handed once again and began to say sorry.... "OMFG bro... for real?! What don't you have this time?" I forgot what it was but it was also something on the premium menu that I just had ate and really liked. He said that the manager feels really bad so he/she is willing to comp us some drinks. I told him that I don't like to drink while I eat, especially AYCE. In the end, I asked if they'll comp some soju since it would be less filling. He said sure.

The cashier asked me to pay because they were closing soon but we were free to stay and keep ordering. I was pretty salty. I paid an extra $40 to upgrade, couldn't order the two best items on the premium menu, couldn't get steamed egg thing, couldn't enjoy paper thin beef tongue slices and was comped a bottle of alcohol that costs $3 at the market

1st of all, why are they out of 2 major items on the premium menu when the place was DEAD on a Friday night?! 2nd, why didn't they comp me by reducing my bill a bit?! I forgot that korean places really love money so discount is out of the question. Well then, they should've given me a gift card. THAT would have been the smart thing to do. I'd feel like I have to come back and that would mean I'd spend more money here again. But nope, guess I...

Recently went a couple days ago and it was one of the worst experience I have EVER had for ANY restaurant. If I could rate a ZERO or NEGATIVE, I would with no hesitation. First, the wait, yes, there's always a wait, I understand that. This time though, we arrive at 5PM to reserve a table. We have a slightly larger party, so we know the wait would be awhile...An hour goes by, we ask for an update, table is getting prepared. Another hour goes by, table is STILL getting prepared. Another hour goes by, table is getting prepared but they finally seat us after 3 hours of waiting.

Once we finally get seated, there wasn't enough chairs at the table for our party and the tables were still sticky from the previous party that sat their and wasn't wiped down. After about 5-10 minutes, our waiter finally comes and asks us what to order, we ask for the menu and they explain to us that we have to go to the front of the restaurant to take a picture of the current menu. It would've been nice to have been explained this little detail while we were getting our temperature checked at the FRONT of the restaurant.

Luckily, some of us already know what we would like to order and ordered then. We also asked for utensils, side dishes and sauce, as there were none. After 10 minutes or so, only 2 dishes out of the 6 we ordered came out. Okay, they might come out later. Never did. As well as the sides, sauces, utensils, AND tongs to handle the meat.

We track someone down to help us with our situation and that person said they'll get our waiter or someone to take our order. Never happened. One person FINALLY came and asked what we would like to order after another 10-15 minutes. We told him utensils, sauce, salad, tongs napkins, drinks, ordered more meats and stuff as we never got the full order from the previous interactions with the waiter. After ANOTHER 10 minutes, we finally got utensils and tongs after over half an hour of waiting, as well as waters only and only 3 dishes out of the 8 orders. We ask where the sides to go along with the food. They'll get right back at it. After waiting for awhile, they only brought out Kimchi and nothing else. We kept asking for salad and napkins every time they came by, never received either of those.

After many mishaps but finally getting SOME food and many orders placed with not all the orders coming out, they come to us saying we have a last call as our two hour time limit is near. So, for 3 hours of waiting and then 2 hours of seat time, we only got about 10 or so dishes total, half of our waters, one soda, and a couple beers (beers came out fast). We put in our last order just to get something. Lo and behold, the full order came out, wasn't much, but the full order this time. Also, we FINALLY got napkins, salad and rice.

I literally wrote a essay for a review of this place as I would not have at any other establishment. But this place has left such a sour taste that I would NEVER come back to this restaurant, nor the other of this franchise, ever again. And to restate, if I could leave a ZERO or a NEGATIVE star, I definitely would without hesitation....

We came to this GEN a couple months ago and had a horrible experience. I read past reviews today and it was very similar to what people are claiming. We left so disappointed and for an AYCE experience, we left hungry since no one was coming by to tend to us.

I called and spoke with Ricky, he handled the situation like a total professional. Very attentive and listened well to our concerns. He offered to comp us one dinner if we would return and try them again.

We went last night and were attended to by Maddie who made her rounds on checking up on us. She left Phil in charge of tending to us and he did a great job of making sure we felt comfortable and had a better experience than what we had before. In the middle of our dinner, another manager by the name of Geri or Jerry came by to explain to us the change in management and how corporate is taking over to help out this location back on its feet. I can see by reading past reviews that past management let the place go. We understood and continued with our dinner which was a much better experience. I’m thankful for the staff.

Looking around and being that we have visited many kbbqs before as well as several other GENs, I could see that the staff is all extremely hard working. From managers to servers to bussers, even bartenders helping with customers beyond the bar. But I can see some flaws that continue to plague the place at no fault of the staff. They are super shorthanded and overwhelmed with the nature of this service. Hard to keep up with customers needs and demands. Hard to maintain a proper flow of how food comes out and the time how it comes out. Side dishes that I’ve noticed at other places are standards to start with where not brought out without requesting it. When they do, it’s not aligned with how the meats are prepared, but understandable that they are clearly doing their best.

Perhaps GEN should revisit how their ordering system is used. Perhaps a digital order service would take some pressure off the staff. Adding proper staffing would also greatly help them in their mission to pick this location up.

All and all, they deserve the 5 stars. The assistance from Phil, Maddy and Gerri made this a much much better experience than what we had a few months ago. I’ll be open to revisiting them again in the future with excitement in hope that they are able to turn this location around. Their enthusiasm and professionalism shows that they are fully capable of doing so and creating a fun and enjoyable experience for all customers if the higher ups do their part. Don’t leave your team in the dark and supply them what they need to continue to bring in your revenue and keep that...