Delicious Korean (barbecue) food where they cook your meat in front of you; quite pricey if you come hungry though. This is a really nice restaurant area, very spacious and plenty of seating when I came on a weekday evening around 6:30pm with a party of four. I wasn't familiar with their portion sizes but they recommended 3 barbecue meat dishes + 1 additional dish for four people. Given how expensive some of the options are (galbi is around $37!), we opted for two meat options and a soft tofu chigae soup. I appreciated how the staff gave us feedback and recommendations on what to order though! Food: - Galbi: delicious. A smaller portion, definitely not too much meat especially if you have multiple people. I feel like you definitely pay for flavor and quality here instead of quantity but some of the pieces were sinewy and tough. - Spicy bulgogi: my favorite, and a better portion for price. I preferred this to the Galbi! Not too spicy - Soft tofu chigae soup: so spicy but a very cozy feeling. They give you an egg to crack into it. Honestly I liked the flavors so much but this is definitely more of a "treat" of a restaurant since it's hard to do alone (have to order at least two dishes to do the barbecue option) and it's expensive for what it is! read more

Koreana - Soft Tofu Chigae - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Room has a strong unpleasant musty smell from them waxing the floor or something. Overpowers any smell from the food. Kalbi was tough and not freshly grilled, probably the worst kalbi I've ever had. read more

It's been over a decades since I've been back here and the food along with the services are still consistent . Be a little wait if you come at dinner Time but the meats are always of good quality here. Staffs are great . read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

We came here on a Sunday evening and the restaurant was half full. This place always has a wait on the weekends so I recommend a reservation, but they won't seat the table till the whole party has arrived. They have the usual Korean cuisine including Korean BBQ and soups. There is a small dishing area to the left, a bar once you come in, and a larger dining area to the right. The seafood pancake, which is a classic must order dish, was not a good start. I thought that they accidentally gave us the wrong order, because there was only like 3 pieces of squid in the whole thing. I'm used to there being a fair amount more seafood in it so I was fairly surprised. It was almost entirely flour. It was cooked properly, but the lack of seafood was disheartening. Luckily, the main entrees were an improvement. The galbi was delicious and cooked perfectly. The meat was tender and I appreciated that they didn't give us too many bones. The kimchi soup was also really good. It was appropriately spicy and had a good amount of pork, kimchi, and vegetables. It also came over a flame to keep it warm which was a nice touch. The vegetable japchae was average. I would order both these dishes again! There were 5 side dishes including kimchi, brussel sprouts, broccoli, fish cakes, and seaweed with cucumber which were okay. The service was standard and the walls are decorated with Korean arts and paintings with American music playing in the background. Overall, I would recommend this restaurant, just avoid the seafood pancake and be mindful that the food here is pricey, for two people plus tip the bill came out to about $120. read more

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For a party of 4, we ordered the galbi, chadol baegi, and samgyupsal for the barbecue and the seafood pancake and japchae as our sides. BBQ: The marinated galbi was by far the best as it was tender and sweet. The chadol baegi and samgyupsal were fine as well. The wait staff came occassionally to cook all the meat for us but when we asked for extra lettuce or banchan, they never brought it out. Seafood pancake: a little greasy and not much seafood Japchae: pretty standard! Overall, the food was not bad but the prices were pretty high for the quality of bbq and the wait staff wasn't the best. read more

I got carry out -- this is definitely not a carry out friendly type of restaurant (by design, not a flaw) so I factor that in. Definitely overpriced. But this is the best Korean restaurant food I've had, and seems like it holds its own in the class for the area, so I can't put it below 4. To be fair, this is like the 5th Korean restaurant I've been too and only one was in a city like NYC, but if I lived here I would come back every now and then. The bulgogi and golgi were excellent. Ive noticed in terms of spice, Asians distinguish between "Mexican spice". What this means to an American who likes spice is Koreans always oversell how spicy something is. But still good. The accoutrements were all very good, particularly the seaweed and whatever the peanut based sauce was Dumplings soup was very good, but maybe the biggest price offender for the size. Comparable to what I've had homemade from a Korean friend The weakest dish by far was the pancake. I'm guessing they cooked it too early before the rest of my food was done. If it had come out correctly, my guess it would've been average (and an average pancake is still good of course) Some carry out specifics - shockingly little kimchi provided, even with the low expectations about carry out - they didn't let me eat inside even though the restaurant was empty. They're the type of place that has weird "principles"/norms rather than doing what would be better business decisions. I guess you can respect it on some level but a bit absurd read more

Uhm this place is a flop Isn't it supposed to be a self serve barbecue place? Then why is the waiter literally coming back every two seconds, plopping ALL of the meat onto the grill, and then cooking it for you so it can't crisp? We felt rushed, and it's not a welcoming atmosphere at all. This place is a mega flop, do not come here. read more

Excellent all around. I ordered the pork belly dish, and shared a scallion pancake with others-- both were outstanding. Service was courteous, friendly and very helpful to navigate food allergy isssues. read more

I love koreana. It's delicious. I've been coming here for years and the food is consistently good. We've come in large groups and small, and always managed to be seated even if there is a wait. We usually get the galbi and the pork bulgogi. We've also gotten several other meats and apps. I highly recommend coming here if you haven't had Korean bbq or want to have a slightly more fun dining experience (vs a no cooking in front of you restaurant). We went to Korea in 2023 and Koreana is doing a great job once food and side dishes. It's the best in Cambridge than I've found so far! read more

Koreana - Galbi - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Koreana has good Korean food, but can be a little pricey for the portions and quality of food. They won't seat you until your whole party arrives, so just make sure everyone is there! I got the short rib plate which came with lettuce and side dishes. The meat was good, but, like I mentioned earlier, quite expensive. read more

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Best Korean restaurant in this area. Full service BBQ at every table. Full bar. The place is always buzzing. Call ahead for a reservation if you want to skip the line but make sure all your party is there: they won't seat you otherwise. Free parking across the street at Broadway Gas. Just tell the attendant you are a Koreana customer. read more

An average KBBQ place. The prices are a bit high $37 for galbi and $26 for pork shoulder but you do get a big portion of meat. They also have lots of side dishes. It's good for family style meals or sharing with friends. Service is a little slow and they shut down for an afternoon break. Check their hours before going or you might be waiting for 30 mins. read more

Koreana - Mok Sal - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

We were stopped by here for lunch. My friend wanted eat Korean food so we went to this place. My dog was service dog and always I putted my dog in the bag but they didn't wanted accept us like customers because of my dog. She's really quiet in her bag and no one knows dog is in the bag. I asked them and show them proof of my dog as service dog. And they said ok. We ordered yukgaejang and spicy sir fried squid. I eaten better food anywhere else. Maybe we choose wrong food, should try bbq in my opinion. I don't want to go this place again for eat Korean. Very clean and big restaurant. They're not very friendly in my experience. read more

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Koreana is a great place to come for KBBQ! In the Boston area, though I would love for there to be more options for KBBQ/AYCE options, I am appreciative that Koreana is around! I love getting the tofu stew soup, tteokboki, japchae, beef & pork spicy bulgogi meats to grill. They are very generous with the banchans and servers are incredibly kind and helpful. read more

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2.7/5 stars. I love Korean bbq and this place is near me so I decided to give it a try. First thing I noticed was that on the menu, if you decide to eat bbq, it says only one refill of all the banchan. I've never eaten at a kbbq that had a limit on their banchan. Second thing I noticed was that the only sauces they offered was ssamjang (bean paste) and sesame oil+salt+black pepper. They give you extremely small portions of both, comically almost enough for a toddler. There is no brisket sauce (cho ganjang) that i am used to receiving as well. The waitress had no idea what I was talking about when I inquired. 3rd is the price for the meats. The cheapest was ~29$ for sliced beef brisket and ~29$ for 3 pieces of pork belly. My husband and I ordered these two and were expecting larger portions bc we finished both between the both of us, we were still hungry afterwards. It was decent quality. The banchan itself was okay, they gave about 6-7 different kinds, mostly kimchi, bean sprouts, wakame/cucumber salad, pickled radish, broccoli, etc. I noticed not a single kbbq place in Boston/around Boston offers Rice paper? Back home in Los Angeles, rice paper is always a given, in addition to white rice. They also serve macaroni salad, Korean potato salad, jabchae, and stewed potatoes as sides, but I have yet to see any of those sides offered here in the Boston area :/ I also did not like how the servers do not let you cook your own meat. I very much like my meat cooked a certain way and they came to the table like every 5 minutes to cook and ask if we needed anything. And it honestly interrupted my talking and ambiance with my husband bc it was kind of awkward them always coming to the table. I just want to be kind of left alone after I start cooking/eating and will call you if I need anything, but they seriously came every 5 minutes throughout the entire meal. Personally this place is a one and done for me. The servers are nice but I expected more if this is a truly Korean owned establishment. read more

Korean barbecue place, but they cook the meats for you and prefer if you didn't cook it yourself. Lots of options although on the pricier side. read more

Koreana - Kbbq - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

First time at a traditional Korean Barbecue restaurant and I was blown away. My daughter and I arrived around 6 without reservations on a Saturday, it was very busy but we got a table quickly. It's a large bustling room with basic tables and bright lights, not particularly elegant but fun. We sat at a table with a built-in grill and started with the kimchee scallion pancake, which was absolutely the bomb, hot and crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, some tangy kimchi flavor mixed with the sweeter scallion flavor. Something I could eat all day. For our meats we ordered Pork Belly (Sam Gyup) and marinated beef (Galbi). When you order at least two items from the barbecue table menu they automatically bring you about 7 small plates of condiments, like kimchi and picked brocolli and mini sliced fish cakes, plus white rice and lettuce leaves. Our server placed the meats on the grill and we tended them, and she returned and used scissors to cut them into bite-sized pieces. Then it was just up to us to mix and match all the flavors into variations of deliciousness, including making rolling everything into lettuce leaves. My favorite of our meats was the Pork belly. For drinks we shared a bottle of the Korean Cass beer and a bottle of the Chamisul soju (Korean rice liquor), and we poured shots of the soju into the beer as is done (acc to my daughter) in Korea. The soju's not that strong, I think 17% ABV but it adds flavor to the beer. Such a great meal, I will be back!!! read more

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I love this place! It's definitely one of the best in the Boston area for Korean BBQ. I don't eat red meat and always get the chicken, but it tastes great! Also love the veggie gyoza! read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Came on a Tuesday around 6 and it was fairly empty, but got way busier after we sat down. Service was relatively fast though the food did take a while to come out. The kimchi pancake was flavorful and crunchy without being greasy! The fish roe tang had a lot of roe along with squid, shrimp, and a clam- it was hot, sour, and exactly what i was craving. Overall a decent spot for homey Korean food! read more

Koreana - Kimchee Pancake - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Had the brisket (good) pork(good), chicken(just ok) and shrimp tempura (good) Service was good here as they came around to help us cook and chop up some food. They did turn the heat down a bit and i had to keep turning it back up because I didn't have 2 hours to spend on lunch. Ambiance and instructions could be way better. They gave you a lot with the grilling but no explanation of what things are. Not ideal if it's your first time at this place or a similar place. read more

Koreana - Pork Bulgogi Chicken Gui Brisket - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Not many great KBBQ options in Boston, but this is certainly one of best ones. Reading the reviews, it seems the experience is heavily dependent on your server, but I'm happy to say that the last 2 times I've been we've had excellent, attentive service (our very lovely waitress did say they were chronically short-staffed, so that can explain other reviews). I've come at off-peak times and during peak times, and both times service was great. Overall, very solid KBBQ option, but would only stick to the Galbi for beef (the bulgolgi was disappointing)- it was quite rich, tender, and fatty. You have to order at least 2 BBQ entrees to use the grill, so come prepared to eat, bring home leftovers, or dine with a group of 4. The banchan is unlimited and refillable and quite tasty actually- really liked their pickled daikon. The broccoli could have been fresher looking, though. The seafood pancake was crispy and generously portioned. We also sampled the tofu soup and a veggie dolsot bibimbap, both solid, nothing too memorable. Waters were always topped off. Prices are the highest I've ever paid for KBBQ but it's also Boston, so maybe this is normal. read more

Overall: solid Korean food, wide variety of options, but a tad pricey (but maybe that's to be expected for Korean BBQ). We came here in a group of 7 people and got seated at a table with two BBQ grills. For apps, we got the scallion pancakes and tteokbokki (simmered rice cakes), which were great. Because we were a larger group, the hostess said that we had to get at least 3 meat options, which was a little annoying since the meats were quite expensive and we really only wanted to get two (the galbi and bulgogi). We added an extra pork dish to satisfy the requirement. The BBQ was awesome and tasted great wrapped in the provided lettuce wraps with a little bit of rice. The ban chon (Korean side dishes) were also bomb and on the more generous side compared to what I've seen in Boston. All in all, a solid spot for Korean food in Cambridge! read more

Koreana - Galbi and bulgogi - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This is one of those places that cooks the bbq meats for you which I personally like. I think this is the best kbbq spot in the Boston area. Not much parking around the area but the food is pretty good. I liked the galbi and the japchae. read more

Koreana - Galbi - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Always my go to Korean Barbecue place! Still amazing flavors and love the Kalbi and bonchon! The food is fresh fresh fresh! The best spicy squid dish ever! I love it when the servers cook for you. Makes me feel like royalty! read more

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This is my favorite kbbq spot! It gets packed quick and it is hard to find parking so that's the downside. It is quite expensive after ordering a few dishes but this is arguably the best kbbq spot I can find in Boston. The meat does not taste frozen or poor in quality. They offer a variety of soups, rice plates, and Korean alcoholic beverages. If you like something light and sweet as a side beverage to complete your meal, I suggest trying the peach makgeolli (rice wine). read more

Koreana - Sam Gyup Sal makeolli Kalbi - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

I have been to Koreana many times for Korean food and despite the average ratings on Yelp, I find the food here to do the job. I just got to try the Korean bbq here and I was pleasantly surprised! I have always seen the meats being brought to other tables and they looked high quality. Like most bbq places, they have a 2 order minimum for bbq. It comes with rice, banchan, lettuce wraps, sesame oil/salt and samjang. I got pork belly and the boneless short ribs, and although the prices aren't cheap (about $35 per dish) the portions are massive and this would definitely be enough for 3 or maybe 4 people depending how much you eat. They cook the meat for you which is nice but it was a little confusing when I thought the server said the pork belly was done but I don't think it was fully done (not raw but not crispy enough). The pork belly was thick cut and went well with the samjang and kimchi. The lettuce they gave was soaked in water and kind of bitter so I didn't eat it. The boneless short ribs were really tender and flavorful and I think I liked that one the best. Overall, the bbq here is great! Not as good as Naksan but it is far cheaper. I wish they had all you can eat or some meat or seafood combos so small groups could try a little bit of everything. Other than that, will for sure be coming back! read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

The food quality is so bad. The waitress got us the wrong order and was quite impatient (asking for order when we literally just sat down). We ordered an soju cocktail called Yellow San Francisco, and it's literally just Tropicana juice, worse than the OJ you'd get on an airplane. We ordered a kimchi chigae and it tasted fishy. We can literally cook better ourselves. read more

We came here on a Friday night with no reservation. We were quoted 30 minutes so we walked to a near bar and had a drink. We got a call that they were ready for our table. We walked back and were seated. With four guys and one girl, we ordered four orders of meat and soju and beer. The banchan was good and they brought out enough. We also got two stews (kimchi and doenjang). It was all good and service was great. For Boston, it is great. I would definitely go back. read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Koreana has been on my to-try list for a while, and I finally ventured my way to this corner of Cambridge the other day when I was craving tang su yook in particular (and reluctant to make the usual trek to Allston). It turned out to be a bit disappointing, to be sure - not the food itself, but rather that I've lived here for so long but never came by! Food was really amazing and I was honestly a bit surprised that this restaurant wasn't more well-recommended. For the three of us we ordered a bunch of dishes to share - a kimchi pancake, a doenjang jjigae, tang su yook, dolsot bibimbap, and yuk gae jang. I found the kimchi pancake to be quite bland, but other than that, everything was really delicious. My favourite parts were the yuk gae jang - such a rich broth, juicy shredded beef, tasty noodles, and a nice touch of egg - and the tang su yook - the perfect combination of juicy inside/crispy outside, paired with a sweeter-than-normal (but still very yummy) sauce. I think our meal was pricier than I expected (even with general rising costs), but in my experience, Cambridge doesn't have the widest selection of authentic Korean food, so I'm pretty OK with that - and am already looking forward to my next visit! read more

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After living in Boston for a while I felt deprived of Korean BBQ so I decided to check this place out. Like many other Asian restaurants around the city, this spot is good enough to hit a craving but I can't see myself coming here unless I'm desperate for Korean BBQ. Service: Called in during the week to make a reservation for Saturday evening. When we arrived for the reservation, the entire restaurant was packed and I heard the hostess telling walk-in parties that the wait could be up to an hour. Since the restaurant was so busy, they were only seating full parties even if you made a reservation ahead of time. If your party was incomplete, then they would hold your table for 10 minutes. My group wasn't complete until 20 minutes past our reservation, so the hostess apologetically told me that she had to give up our table since the restaurant was so busy. She told us that she'd give us the next available table and luckily we only waited about 5 more minutes to get seated. My experience with the service here was great even though everyone was super busy on a Saturday. The servers were kind and happy to answer any questions we had about the menu. They replenished our side dishes when we asked for more. Food: My group of 5 decided to mostly order items to grill. We got the jumullok galbi (marinated and boneless $35.95), deungshim (32.95), sam gyup sal ($25.95), and u sel ($27.95). We also got a kimchi pancake ($13.95) as a starter. Each meat order comes with one bowl of rice. I couldn't tell if the servers were supposed to grill the meat for us or if we were supposed to grill them ourselves; they would start the grill for us and if they came by when there was no meat on the grill they would place the meat on the grill for us, but they were so busy that we ended up grilling most of the meat ourselves. The kimchi pancake barely had any kimchi in it and it was the thickest kimchi pancake I've ever encountered in my life. While it was thick, it was pretty airy and crispy so it almost reminded me of a savory funnel cake. The pancake itself was pretty bland and did not come with any sauce. No flavor + no sauce + no kimchi = do not recommend. I recommend the sam gyup sal and the julmullok galbi. You can't really go wrong with unmarinated pork belly and the sam gyup sal was able to get nice and crispy on the grill. The julmullok galbi had a nice marinade and the meat stayed very tender even after being cooked. However, I've had much better galbi in the west coast. The u sel came in a big platter but the pieces in the back were much smaller than the pieces in the front. I do not recommend the deungshim-- I am normally a big fan of ribeye but the ribeye here is just not it. The meat itself did not taste like anything and was very tough even though we cooked it to a medium-medium rare. They brought us salted sesame oil and ssamjang for dipping, various side dishes, as well as pickled daikon, lettuce, garlic, and peppers for making wraps. The food portions were perfect for our group of 5. I left feeling full but not uncomfortably stuffed. The service here is excellent (but could be slow on a busy evening). Each grill has a vent built in directly next to the grill so I did not leave with my hair and clothes reeking of meat and smoke. I just wish the food was better... read more

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Service is mid. Food is good but honestly overpriced for its value. It'd be cooler if it was a buffet style! I do recommend the noodles and hot stews read more

I've been to a couple of kbbq restaurants and this one was just different. I definitely felt rushed to finish eating from the start and I wonder if that was intentional or not. Servers were cooking the meat on the grill in front of us which seems pretty unorthodox, but definitely felt like they were trying to push us out quickly. Wish I could have gone at my own pace in terms of eating, but they had already started cooking the next batch of meat! In terms of quality - the pork belly was really amazing, but the brisket dried up pretty fast especially since it was being cooked while we were still eating the pork belly. The appetizers were solid, but I think it was missing the pickled horse radish! Maybe it's a Boston thing so I gotta try out more kbbq here, but I think value was lacking here. read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Food was good, but over priced. I didn't like that the employees make the food for you. Also, we waited 45 min for a table which was fine but they don't allow you to sit at the bar. Or even drink at the bar. You cannot order anything while waiting. Very rushed experience as well. read more

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Food was amazing!! The price as well as the quality of the food is makes it some of the highest tier food you can get in Boston at this price point. I've tried a variety of Korean restaurants in Boston and this one is by far my favorite. Ambiance is alright and the service was fairly quick, but it doesn't detract from the dining experience. read more

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Enjoyed Korean Barbecue dinner this past weekend with wonderful friends! We went to Koreana in Cambridge and ordered a spread of food: Beef Bulgogi, Jumollok Galbi, Deungshim, Beef Bibimbop, Vegetable Barbecue, Seafood Scallion Pancake, Seaweed salad, and Edamame. Plus, our meal came with yummy sides - more than 5 kinds! Overall verdict: it wasn't the best KBBQ I've had, but it was good! 3.5 rating: Absolutely loved the Beef Bibimbop (disclaimer, first time trying it but definitely not my last)! Being on the hot plate, the rice was slightly crispy (the good kind) and the vegetables and meat created a perfect complex texture! The Jumollok Galbi was my favorite meat! It had the right amount of fat and juiciness to it. The scallion pancake had great flavor and was BIG, but it wasn't thin nor crunchy enough. Unfortunately the service was not the best either (3/5 stars for service) For photos of the food ordered checkout Instagram reel @foodwithsusie read more

The food was so good and the portions are amazing. They give you a ton of side dishes. We started off with the vegetables which were really flavorful. Some of them were marinated, which was a nice touch. Then we had the beef bulgogi. Every bite more flavor appeared in my mouth. We also had the beef Galbi which was really good. The shrimp was kind of plain. 10/10 would recommend! read more

Funny story is, each time I go to Boston craving korean bbq, I coincidentally end up back here. How I learned that lesson is the 2nd time I visited Boston for a convention, I return here seated in the same table. Life is funny indeed. And of course we order the same reliable thing: an order of Kalbi bbq beef cuts, tteobokki (rice cakes) with melted cheese on top, and two flavors of soju. First time was a success with soju orders as you can't go wrong with lychee and green grape or pineapple. But our second time, mango soju was a mistake, don't order that if you value your soju addicted taste buds. The kalbi beef ribs are always a great popular and safe choice for a bbq dish (good enough to share between a party of 3). Tteobokki was also a good add-on if you need your spicy and cheesy party in your mouth fix. Service here was great and it's always enlightening to get a table immediately when you've endured long searches for parking. But it is a no frills korean bbq place that's good if you're trying to save money compared to all the expensive fancy options in this area. Good for the college students in the area and Boston city goers. read more

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One of the best Korean grill restaurant that I only go to. Thank god this place is far away from where I live or I would have been fat. 10/10 for the food and services. read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Hot pots are not for me. I was not a fan of any of it. The rice was paste tasting, not what I am used too. My cousins enjoyed it. Its a nice lil spot, the parking is atrocious. If you drive, count on circling the block a few times. All I had was a glass of wine. So I took my bill separately, They charged me 18% gratuity on a party of 4, I found that to be strange but maybe theres something I dont know. It was literally just my wine on my bill. read more

Koreana hits the spot if you're craving KBBQ, but there are better options elsewhere. The service is the main reason this place loses stars - the servers were pretty inattentive and forgetful. The BBQ meat was really great though! Their Marinated Galbi and Pork Belly were delicious, it was easy to get good sears while retaining juiciness. They also have really good side dishes, specfically the kimchi & pickled radish. Overall, the food was pretty good, but the service wasn't exactly stellar. read more

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