* ~ { Great Pocha! } ~ * The service is so nice!! The food is yummy! I love the community this place brings out! Similar to a K-town's Pocha! Inside has a dark ambiance with a board game station! read more

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I met up with a friend here on a Tuesday night. Parking is plentiful, and it's really dark inside. LOL. I guess that's a pocha for you. I have to say the staff and environment are chill. We ordered some mixed pitchers of soju (Lychee and then Peach). They were tasty and NOT weak sauce, so we appreciated that. We followed it up with a bottle of Jinro Green Grape ( I don't like Good Day or Soon Hari), so I was happy. We had some deep-fried batter zucchini, but the batter was too much and made it dense. However, the army stew was pretty good, so we mostly ate that to complement our drinks since we were celebrating my bday. I drink half of my calories nowadays. Overall, it was a decent place. I would return if someone asked me to go and would definitely come here than drive all the way to K-Town. read more

Great vibes for a night out with friends, they also have interesting flavors of soju in case you want to try new ones, like lychee or melon. The servers are also very friendly as well. If you're looking for a regular night out and want to be able to talk though, this might not be the place as it can get a bit rowdy. We were barely able to hear each other the other group that was super loud. Food wise, I'm honestly not too impressed. The Cheetos corn cheese was lacking flavor to me despite being topped with so much Cheetos. The tteobokki had the same issue. But their fried chicken was great. Very crispy and the soy garlic was very flavorful. read more

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I loooooooooooove this bar! The food is sooooooooo good. The bulgogi fries are a must. The quality of the meat is fantastic not fatty cooked to perfection. Got the lavender Soju which is sweet and boozy. My bf doesn't even like lavender but he loves this drink. I like how they play Korean music videos. The server was highly attentive and friendly. There's a huge parking. I didn't take a picture of the menu because they us QR code but the prices are really cheap compared to other bars especially their happy hour. Highly recommend if you like good food and good drinks read more

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Cool little pocha bar in the SGV if you're not looking to make a far drive down to Koreatown in LA or Buena Park. My friend and I had a couple drinks, enjoyed the music and games they offered. Service was alright and parking was good despite being in between a bowling alley and kbbq spot. Good spot to have a group of friends to celebrate or just kick it. read more

Lab 88 - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

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Drinks are bomb got freaky with my coworkers ;) Fried dumplings are to die for :)))))$ read more

First time coming to Lab 88 and I love how this pocha is literally down the street from my house xD We came mostly for drinks and games & I had lots of fun :-) this is a really cool spot to go to with friends if wanna do something more chill. Next time I come I wanna try their food hehe read more

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Went here for happy hour and it's a decent place. Music was too loud for my taste. Love the call button for servers on the table. The truffle fries (not pictures) was actually pretty good. The food was good and there's a lot of drink selections read more

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The Foods needs to be a bit better, this is more like for drinks. I will try again soon.

honestly a nice lil spot to hang out with your friends and drink, eat finger foods with loud music and dim environment. service is always pretty slow here tbh but drinks come out very quickly. i rly do like this entire plaza, and with in n out right across. read more

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a great place to hangout with friends, snack on food, and drink the night away! this soju bar has a variety of board and card games in the back for you and your friends to play, even an ouija board (u guys r crazy). my friends arrived on a saturday night, approaching midnight and i was surprised that it was completely empty. the past few times i came, it was either decently packed or there was a wait list so it was interesting to see no traffic at all. prepare to black out friends! read more

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We loved this lounge!! They offer an excellent selection of board games and play some absolute bangers. The drinks and food were also incredibly delicious. All in all a great place to go any night of the week to decompress and have some fun and time with others read more

I am a fan of Korean culture. Their kimchi fire rice is the main reason that I keep consuming at this place. They have a large TV that non stop playing k-pop that gives the customer lots of entertainments. The server is professional and nice. She quickly provided my request like serving ice and extra cups. It definitely a perfect place to hang out with friends. read more

Lab 88 - Kimchi fire rice - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

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Came here for a friend's birthday and it's a good place to celebrate and hangout with friends! It's spacious with Kpop MVs playing throughout the restaurant. Very good for a night out if you don't want to go to the club but want to drink and eat! The food is all Korean bar food we ordered A LOT of food but the obvious highlight is the giant fishbowl we shared with our large party of 14. Staff was nice and made sure we ordered enough. They provide cups and a ladle for the fishbowl but the straws make a good photo. read more

Lab 88 - Fishbowl - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

Always wanted to try this and finally decided to go to happy hour. On a weeknight, it was pretty empty, but it was a clean bar with all kinds of k pop posters and TVs with k pop and american popular music. I enjoyed the ambience, and I was surprised to find that the volume of the music was just right - I could hear my partner at the table, but can hear the music well. I order only from the Happy Hour. They have daily specials, which I had the Makku Mango. It was sooooo good. I loved the frothiness of it and they gave us two ice cold empty glasses, so we could share. We also enjoyed our appetizer, which was the elote fries. It tasted very good, just like the elote you taste from street vendors. The army ramen soup was so large we couldn't even finish among two people. They put it on a portable stove, which made it so special because you knew your soup was going to be perfectly hot as you finish it. It was loaded. The broth was very tasty. I was happy with everything we got! There was a table full of boardgames. We played operation and had a blast. I'd like to come back when I want another drink and try out their other menu items. Perfect for hanging out with friends or on a date where you can hear eachother while enjoying music, play games, or just enjoy a drink or two with some solid eats. read more

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Great food Great drinks Service was premium The team was super helpful/ kind! Would recommend this place 10/10x read more

8/5/25, ignacio, reporting.... Them sochelada FYE Never had one with soju but it was something I never had but was a great experience! read more

Lab 88 - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

Thanks for the Great foods, services, music and vibe !! !!! Everything was a great experience! Thank you

Love this place but still can't find the best drink for me! Do not get the soju Pinapple or passion fruit pitcher !!! Unless you wanna

The food here is really good. A great pairing with all the alcohol they let you order! The vibes are set by all the signs they have that provide unique lighting that sets the mood for a good time. read more

4.5/5 just because the restroom line is a wait! Overall though really good place to spend on a saturday!

Convenient spot to come if you are local to the area and just want to have a chill place to drink! The place is definitely loud and they blast a lot of K-pop music here as well. I enjoyed that there were a bunch of games to play here as well. They had a variety of the basic games. They are definitely a little sticky probably not cleaned from alcohol on it. I saw there was uno, monopoly, jenga, and lots more drinking based games. I've been here several times and I recommend the fries if you want food. I recently tried the army stew and I thought it was lacking in flavor and needed to cook more ( I prefer my ramen more soggy, and the bok choy was too hard as well) keep in mind though it does come with a stove so you could cook it more to your preference as well, but it tastes like they just barely heated it and had it come out undercooked already. It also took a while to come out. Also some of my friends had the mocktails and it's definitely delicious! A little high for the price point but does taste good. If you aren't a fan of the taste of alcohol you can hide the flavor with the mocktails. read more

Lab 88 - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

My friends and I came in on a Sunday evening at 7pm and no one was in there yet so we really got to take a nice look at the place and it was super chill! There was only one bartender there when we got there (really nice young lady) and she was super great! We ordered some food and drinks and everything was super yummy. We got some elote fries, garlic fries, popcorn chicken, and 4 different cocktails and everything was great! We had fun playing different games and this will absolutely be a place we will all go back to for some chill game nights. read more

Lab 88 - Sliders - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

Solid restaurant serving great food and a variety of drinks. A must try is their fish bowl drink which is big enough for any group. Just the right amount of soju. Came in for a friend's birthday party and we had an amazing time. K-Pop music playing here and there. Nice ambiance and unique atmosphere. The service was perfect. Ben helped us out most of the night. He made our night. We couldn't get enough of their dumplings. She good and tasty. Also shared their kimchi rice. Just the right amount of spice. We will definitely be coming back soon. read more

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I enjoyed my enjoyed my experience at lab 88, it was my second time here. I liked the atmosphere the vibes were cool. We had a Soju pitcher for both of us and we had a good time. We ended up playing jenga for both of us and it was fun because it had stuff written on the blocks. read more

Nice and big. Still clean since its new. They have HH from 6-9PM with their drinks and food just slightly cheaper. We got the following items: 1. Elote Fries - these were yum! 2. Popcorn Chicken - ok they were just fried grossness. I think i was expecting the taiwanese popcorn chicken with basil and spice kick. no these were some nasty schoool lunch chicken breaded with a side of ketchup. SKIP this dish. 3. Fried dumplings - overly fried not great 4. Army Stew - Really yummy! It's normally $24 but it was $20 for HH. It's HUGE with variety of stufff like rice noodles, fish cake, dumplings, etc... 5. We also got the bulgogi sliders - these were yummy Overall we shared a pitcher of yogurt soju, soju fresh, and some lychee one. Will be back! read more

Plenty of parking in the plaza. We got the pink lemonade fish bowl and personally I would've liked more alcohol in it because most of my friends and I were completely fine and didn't taste like it had alcohol . We didn't order any food but will definitely come back again to try some. Overall our server was nice and the vibes were great. They had some games to play while drinking and tvs all around playing kpop music videos. read more

Lab 88 - Pink Lemonade Fish Bowl - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

This place has awesome environment, I enjoy the atmosphere and the scenery within this place. I would definitely come here whether it's solo or with my friends. Super tuff! read more

Great place for easy bites, social banter and lively atmosphere. Food and drinks are reasonably priced and highly recommended popcorn chicken appetizers. read more

Ben is amazing!!!! Food was great and the service was spectacular !! It's so chill the music that they play is always a hits! Thank you

This is definitely a neighborhood spot for when you don't want to make a drive to LA. They have decent priced drinks and bar food to accompany everything else. The service is good and you'll usually find a decent crowd of people in there. The bowling alley and KBBQ spot is right next to it if you decide to leave early for another activity that is walking distance. read more

Came here for happy hour on a Monday 6:30pm before bowling next door. Our group was the only ones there. We ordered popcorn chicken, elote fries, and a pitcher of soju. The blackberry soju ended up tasting like cough syrup... I should've stuck with yogurt flavor. The elote fries were okay, the popcorn chicken was mediocre. The togo paper boxes kept ripping too. For parking, there's plenty of parking spaces. read more

Lab 88 - LAB 88 ELOTE FRIES, soju - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

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3.5/5. This place is a hit or miss. It does the job for those wanting to get out on a weeknight but not drive all the way to DTLA or K town. They have happy hour, but I always miss the time frame! There might be a wait for larger parties, but not too bad. They serve only beer and soju, and they have food as well for your late night munchies. The music is primarily K-pop, maybe some top 40s. We typically bring cards to play, or you can borrow their games as well but touch at your own risk. The service is mixed, sometimes they are really friendly l, while other times they are pretty inpatient. But I don't think they've ever been rude, they're just busy. Overall, I wouldn't necessarily make this a go-to spot for me, but nice to have in my back pocket. read more

I'm not much of a drinker, but the food and drinks did not disappoint! My boyfriend and I ordered lab chamango-- very delicious! 10/10 would recommend. It had the right amount of alcohol, with the perfect blend of something sweet and spicy. Ttbeokki- this is one of the best ttbeokki I have ever tried. It was not so spicy, more on the sweeter side and a little crispy which elevated the taste! Original corn cheese--cant go wrong with ordering this! Very cheesy with a good balance of mayo. Kimchi fried rice-- this was the only item that was okay for me. It was more portions than any items we ordered, but lacked the most flavor. I would probably skip this on my next visit They offer board games to play if you come with a group, or you can just sit around and talk. The music was played at a respectable volume so you can still have a conversation with people. Service was fine for a bar, workers were friendly and checked up on us in a timely manner. read more

A great to sit down to talk, drink, and eat with friends. There are plenty of tables and parking. They check ID at the front before you are seated. You can also book a room online but you have to be specific? We booked online but when we came they reserved the room for a different party because of specification (thats what they told us). It was fine because we were still able to get a table for 7. The workers were helpful and friendly. There's also a 18% gratuity for party of 6+ menu - https://www.lab88.space/menu Food (was bussin): - Chicken wings (10/10): we got 12 wings for $16.88 but honestly get the 20 wings because you will destroy it. it was so good with the ranch. the meat was coming off the bone so easily. We got: - Soy garlic (10/10): definitely recommend this. it was garlicky and flavorful - Lemon pepper (8/10): can taste the lemon, the wings were good but just a bit too salty for me - $10.88 Seasoned House Fries (8/10): we got the original BBQ seasoning. they also had CHILI BBQ / SOUR CREAM & ONION / CHEDDAR. fries came out fresh and super hot!! lots of seasoning too. had a side of ketchup. was delicious Drinks: - $28.88 Soju AMF Bucket (9/10): tasted really good, can taste the lime but can't taste the alcohol. a good drink if you don't like the taste of alcohol. thought the bucket would be bigger. can probably share this with only 2 people - $23.88 Soju pitcher (10/10): this is the better value if you want to be able to share with your party. we got peach and it was good read more

Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. Fun good. read more

Lab 88 - Fun! - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

Cheap, extremely boozy, and drunkies eats. Lab 88 is the first place that made me realized that soju can get you feeling pretty good. Come here during happy hour, and it's a great place to get cheap beer towers and a snack to pre-game or destress after a long day of work. Come here at night, and you'll have a party atmosphere without actually having to be congested in a club or busy bar. I've been here multiple times and they would have djs on the weekends and lots of loud crowds in the evening. Come with a party of 4 or more, and the fish bowl is going to be the best bang for it's buck. It's a huge bowl that would be very impressive if 4-6 people can finish it. The food is going to be mediocre at best. However, it's great to have carb options when you are drinking and I would definitely come here for drinks and atmosphere, not for the food. Food wise, the fries and wings are more worth than the army soup. read more

Lab 88 - Army Soup - Lounges Near Me - El Monte, California

A buddy of mine, Power B, recommended this place to me and couldn't stop raving about the place. Com'n, I already know Power B has poor taste and she couldn't be more wrong about the place. The drinks were mid, value high, decor mid, and service mid. Go bowling instead. read more

Drinks are okay, food is okay, but it is so warm, humid, and musty inside. If there was better ventilation would be so much nicer to hang out in. Good vibes and crowd but bad temperature control. read more

Lab 88 is a fun, late night hang out place with drinks and ok food. I've tried most of the food and it's ehh but I do enjoy the Budaejjigae! We get the cheese and noddles on the side. They play good music. The service is good because when you need something you just push a button on the table! read more

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